Document legalisation is the validation of an act or document by a public official or office.
It’s the official attestation or legal recognition of the person who has placed his or her signature on deeds or certificates and of the authenticity of the signature itself.
Legalisation will be done by a public official and, in it, there must be stated:
• name and surname of the person whose signature is to be legalised
• place and date of legalisation
• name, surname and title of the public official.
It is possible to legalise any type of document such as invoices and certificates of origin for the export of goods abroad, birth certificates, divorce certificates, diplomas, etc.
According to Italian law, the signature legalisation of a document is necessary in two cases:
It is used when the signatures affixed to any deed or document issued in Italy must have legal value, even abroad.
According to Article 33, paragraph 1 of Presidential Decree 28/12/2000 n° 445:
“The signatures on the deeds and documents formed in the State and to be valid abroad before foreign authorities are, where requested by the latter, legalized by the competent central or peripheral bodies of the competent Ministry, or other bodies and authorities delegated by the same. “
It is necessary when it is needed to use, in Italy, a document issued abroad.
The Agenzia Bip2 deals with the translation of foreign documents already legalised in the country of origin.
Always according to the D.P.R. 28/12/2000 n° 445, Art. 33, paragraph 2:
“The signatures on the deeds and documents formed abroad by foreign authorities and to be valid in the State are legalised by the Italian diplomatic or consular representations abroad. The signatures affixed to deeds and documents by the competent bodies of the Italian diplomatic or consular representations or by the officials delegated by them are not subject to legalisation. See article 31. “
Legalisation is necessary because it is required by many countries to allow a movable economic good or goods to be imported into their country.
Therefore, documents such as invoices and certificates of origin must be legalised at the Consulates of the country of destination of the goods. In this case, in order to obtain the stamp of the Diplomatic Representation, it’s firstly required the stamp of the Chamber of Commerce of the city where the company that exports the goods resides.
For some Arab countries, the stamp of the Italian-Arab Chamber of Commerce is also required.
For example, if an Italian citizen wants to marry a foreign person, the bureaucratic process would be:
1. Legalise the document at an Italian Public Office such as the Prosecutor’s Office or the Prefecture
2. make a sworn translation of the document
3. legalise the document at the Consulate.
For the countries that adhere to the 1961 Aja convention, you can find more information on the page dedicated to the Prefecture of Milan Apostille Aja
The Agenzia Bip2 also deals with everything related to translation, certification of the translation at the Court and Legalisation at the Public Prosecutor’s Office (Court), the Prefecture or the Chamber of Commerce, depending on the consular regulations, which must be done before bringing the documents to the Consulate or Embassy for legalisation.
Click here for more information on sworn translation or legal translation
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