Certification of notarial deeds, certificates and translations for use abroad (apostille/legalization)

If you want to use a document or certificate from a Berlin notary, or a translation by a translator authorized for the Berlin courts, abroad, you may need to have these documents confirmed. There are two forms of this confirmation: apostille and legalization (Legalisation). Apostille The abbreviated form is called an "apostille." You can obtain the apostille for notarial documents or certificates and translations from the Landgericht Berlin II (Berlin Regional Court II) -Dienststelle Littenstraße- (Littenstraße office). However, the apostille is only possible for certain countries. You can find out which countries these are, for example, on the website of the Auswärtiges Amt (Federal Foreign Office), see the section "Further information," or at the court. Legalization For all other countries, you need a so-called "legalization" (Legalisation). To do this, the Landgericht Berlin II -Dienststelle Littenstraße- first issues you a preliminary certification (Vorbeglaubigung). With this preliminary certification, you then apply to the diplomatic mission (Auslandsvertretung) of the country in which you want to use the document. The diplomatic mission issues you the legalization. Some countries require certification by the Bundesamt für Auswärtige Angelegenheiten (Federal Office for Foreign Affairs) before the legalization. You can find out more about this from the Bundesamt für Auswärtige Angelegenheiten, see the section "Further information."