When to apply for an apostille / legalization of a public document issued in the education sector?
You need to apply for an apostille / legalization if a foreign office requires you to provide a higher level of authentication of documents related to your studies in the Slovak Republic. The terms apostille and superlegalization refer to the verification of the authenticity of a signature and/or stamp on public documents issued in the Slovak Republic as a requirement of foreign offices.
The Ministry of Education, Research, Development and Youth of the Slovak Republic verifies Slovak educational documents and other documents issued by educational institutions within its jurisdiction (i.e. schools with the exception of secondary medical schools, police schools, military schools, documents issued by the Slovak University of Health Sciences, Police force academy in Bratislava and Armed Forces academy of Gen. Milan Rastislav Štefánik in Liptovský Mikuláš).
Apostille applies to states that have acceded to the so-called Hague Apostille Convention (Notification No. 213/2002 Coll.) Superlegalization is a more complex process of higher authentication that applies to other states.
Therefore, it is always necessary to indicate in the application the state in which the authentication is required, on the basis of which the corresponding type of stamp will be issued.
The application applies only to documents issued and signed by public officials of the Slovak Republic (issued under the authority of the Slovak Republic or at schools included in the network of schools and school facilities).
If you are required to apostille or superlegalize a document that was issued by a foreign school or a document issued under the authority of another state, please contact the apostille authorities of the state of origin, or its diplomatic and consular representation.
Given that it is always the original issue of the document that is verified, the application can only be submitted in paper form (by post or in person at the registry room of the Ministry of Education, Research, Development and Youth of the Slovak Republic).
Processing period
The processing time for this type of application is up to 1 month. The processing time starts upon receipt of a complete application.
Result of the application and further action
The outcome of the application is:
- an apostille clause (sample) firmly attached to the original document
- a legalisation clause affixed firmly to the original document
In the case of legalisation, the process is not complete, further steps are required to complete the process of superlegalisation of the document. For more information, please visit the website of the Document Verification Department of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic.
