Legalization

Foreign documents give the same evidential value as domestic public documents only if they hold the mandatory legalization form on the original documents.

Therefore, the legalization must already be on the documents when the application is submitted! Documents without the required legalization cannot be considered.

There are three types of legalization:  

1. Full diplomatic legalization
2. Legalization by “Apostille”
3. Exemption from any legalization

This mode of legalization means that original documents first have to pass the internal legalization procedure within the country in which they have been issued and the last authority definitely has to be the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the respective country. Afterwards the documents must additionally be legalized (over-legalized) diplomatically by the Austrian diplomatic representation (embassy, consulate, honorary consulate) in the respective country.

Documents from countries which are Contracting States to the “Hague Legalization Convention" do not need the full diplomatic legalization. The legalisation with a so called Apostille is sufficient.

Documents from countries with which Austria has concluded a bilateral agreement concerning exemption from legalization are exempted from all kind of legalization procedure.

The required legalization must be on the documents at the time of application! 

Applicants who have the status refugee or seeking asylum in Austria can be exempted from the legalisation due to the political circumstances. This means the above mentioned documents can be handed in without additional legalisation of for example the Austrian Embassy or an Apostille. This only applies if the documents were issued in the country the applicant has fled from.

To prove that status, a copy of the convention pass or the asylum card (f.e. white card, grey card) has to be handed in with the application.