Other Consular Services
LEGALIZATIONS
What is it?
Every public document originating abroad requires legalization in a Brazilian Embassy or Consulate to produce legal effects and be endowed with public faith in Brazil. A document of a private nature that has been recognized by a notary or competent foreign authority is considered public.
Legalization consists of recognizing the authenticity of the signature of the public notary or the competent foreign authority. Therefore, it does not imply acceptance of the document's content.
For the authentication of the document or the signature on the document made by a foreign public notary, the Embassy will verify the corresponding certification or officialization that authorized the notary.
Can documents of any origin be legalized?
A document that presents signatures collected and already notarized in a country other than the jurisdiction of the Embassy (Ethiopia, Djibouti and South Sudan), must first be legalized by the Brazilian consular office with jurisdiction over the place where the signatures were collected.
Only original documents can be legalized. Photocopies of a foreign document whose original has been previously legalized by a Brazilian Consular Department can be authenticated. Translations are not legalized.
Documents that evidently constitute a legal act contrary to Brazilian or local legislation are not legalized.
ATTENTION: The “Apostila Convention”, applied by Brazil since 2016, eliminates the requirement of legalization of foreign public documents between its States Parties. However, Ethiopia, Djibouti and South Sudan are not signatories to that treaty and the legalization requirement remains unchanged for documents from these three countries.
Which kind of documents can be legalized?
- Documents containing signatures of local authorities in the countries of its jurisdiction;or
- Signatures of authorities of foreign diplomatic offices, accredited in our jurisdiction, provided that the signature of the diplomatic authority is previously legalized by the local Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- Documents from public or private schools located in our jurisdiction can also be legalized.
How do I do the legalization?
Bring the original documents to be legalized to the Embassy:
• in the case of private documents: present the original document, which must always be authenticated by the public notary. Authentication can be done on the back of the document or on a separate sheet attached to the original document;
• in the case of public documents: only original documents signed and stamped by the competent authorities or with the agency's stamp or letterhead are accepted.
• in the case of a Police Record/Police good conduct certificate/Non-criminal record: issued in the last 90 days by the local police in the person's place of residence, on letterhead or with the agency's dry seal. Notarization by a public notary is not required, but the document must be legalized by the local Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
PAYMENT OF THE CONSULAR FEE: only by bank deposit. Check the amount here.
The bank details of the Embassy's consular account are as follows:
Commercial Bank of Ethiopia Current Account #1000 1977 43593