Legalization of Documents and Hague Apostille Convention
Attention:
This service is not responsibility of the Brazilian consular offices.
Therefore, it cannot be carried out at the Embassies of Brazil.
This page contains information on how to forward your request directly to the competent Brazilian Authority.
The "Hague Apostille Convention", which entered into force in Brazil on August 14, 2016, is a multilateral treaty that was signed in the second half of 2015 by Brazil and aims to speed up and simplify the legalization of documents between the 112 signatory countries (including Finland), allowing mutual recognition of Brazilian documents abroad and foreign documents in Brazil.
I. Documents issued in Finland (for use in Brazil)
II. Documents issued in Brazil (for use in Finland)
III. More information about the Hague Apostille Convention and document apostille
IV. Documents issued in non-signatory countries of the Hague Apostille Convention, destined for Brazil
V. Documents issued in Brazil, destined for non-signatory countries of the Hague Apostille Convention
I. Documents issued in Finland (for use in Brazil):
According to the Hague Apostille Convention, Finnish public documents no longer require consular legalization at the Embassy of Brazil in Helsinki.
For a Finnish public document to be valid in Brazil, as of August 2016, it is sufficient for the Finnish notary (Maistraatti) to affix the Hague Apostille ("Apostille") to the document.
Information and instructions for the apostille in Finland are available at https://dvv.fi/en/individuals
According to Brazilian legislation, for a Finnish document to produce legal effects in Brazilian territory, it must still be translated, in Brazil, by a sworn public translator.
Any document originally signed by any Finnish Public Authority or public official is public for the purposes of the Hague Apostille Convention.
If a document is initially private, and not issued by a Finnish authority or public official, it can be made public for the purposes of the Apostille Convention, simply by having the signature notarized (by authentication or own haind in-person signature recognition) by the Finnish notary (Maistraatti), who will then be able to issue the apostille for the document.
Consular legalization at the Embassy is therefore no longer allowed for originally private documents that have been authenticated by a Finnish notary (Maistraatti).
Important:
Documents issued in Finland (for example, diplomas, school documents, civil registry certificates, general certificates, criminal record certificates, among others) cannot be legalized by the Embassy of Brazil, by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Brazil, nor apostilled by Brazilian notaries.
To be valid in Brazil, the original document issued abroad must be apostilled with the competent foreing Apostille Authority (in FInland, Maistraatti).
According to Brazilian legislation, for a foreign document to produce legal effects in Brazilian territory, it must still be translated, in Brazil, by a sworn public translator.
More information about the apostille is avaialble at Maistraatti's website at: https://dvv.fi/en/individuals
More information about sworn translations is available at Sworn Translations.
II. Documents issued in Brazil (for use in Finland):
Under the Hague Apostille Convention, documents issued in Brazil (for example, diplomas, school documents, civil registry certificates, general certificates, criminal record certificates, among others) that are intended for use in Finland can not be legalized by the Embassy of Brazil in Helsinki.
Since August 14, 2016, the Embassies of Brazil and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Itamaraty) no longer legalize Brazilian documents intended for member countries of the Hague Apostille Convention.
Interested parties should go to notary offices ("cartórios") located in their city of residence, in Brazil, to obtain the hague Hague Apostille ("Apostila de Haia") of Brazilian documents, under the terms of the Apostille Convention.
Instructions for apostille in Brazil must be requested directly to the notary office ("cartório") in Brazil.
III. More information on the Hague Apostille and Apostille:
Information about the Convention can be obtained at:
On the website of the National Council of Justice - CNJ it is possible to check:
- Member countries of the Apostille Convention
- Address of the apostille foreign authorities
- The list of Brazilian notaries authorized to apostille documents
- Frequently Asked Questions about the Apostille Convention
- More information about the Hague Apostille
Other questions and complaints regarding the Convention should be sent directly to the National Council of Justice (CNJ), to the email:
IV. Documents issued in non-signatory countries of the Hague Apostille Convention, destined for Brazil
Documents issued in countries that are not part of the Hague Apostille Convention and intended for use in Brazil (including at Brazilian Embassies and Consulates abroad) must generally go through two procedures to be valid:
a) Legalization by the Brazilian Embassy / Consulate in the country where they were issued;
b) Sworn translation into Portuguese, in Brazil, by a sworn public translator.
Documents destined to be presented at the Embassy in Helsinki that are written in a language other than Portuguese or English must be accompanied by a certified translation into Portuguese or English.
Information on legalization must be requested directly from the Brazilian Embassy / Consulate in the country where the document was issued.
The list of all Embassies and Consulates of Brazil in the world can be found at Brazilian Consular Offices abroad.
Information about sworn translations is available at Sworn Translations.
V. Documents issued in Brazil, destined for non-signatory countries of the Hague Apostille Convention
Documents issued in Brazil destined for countries that are not part of the Apostille Convention must, in general, go through the following procedures to be valid:
a) Legalization in Brazil by the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MRE) (either at Itamaraty, in Brasília-DF, or at the MRE Representative Offices, in the states of the Federation);
b) Seal of foreign authority (foreign Embassy or Consulate located in Brazil);
c) Sworn translation into local language.
In order to enable the legalization by MRE, some documents may require additional procedures, such as notarization by a Brazilian Public Notary and / or sworn translations.
Before carrying out the legalization, consult the Embassy or Consulate of the country to which the document is destined to verify which procedures are necessary for the validation of Brazilian documents in its territory.
The list of foreign Embassies and Consulates in Brazil can be obtained from Foreign Missions in Brazil.
Check instructions for legalizing documents by the Itamaraty, in Brasília-DF, on the page of the General Coordination of Legalization of the MRE.
Instructions for legalizing documents in the states of the Federation are available on the pages of the MRE Representative Offices.
Information about sworn translations is available at Sworn Translations.
VI. More information on legalization of documents - countries not signatories to the Hague Apostille Convention
More information on legalization of documents is available at the Consular Portal.