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Legalization of Documents and Issuing of Apostilles

Legalization of Documents and Issuing of Apostilles

IMPORTANT: With Canada joining the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 on Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents, from 01/11/2024 onward, documents issued in Canada will have to be certified with an Apostille and will no longer be required to be legalized by Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania to Canada. The process of "double legalization" will no longer be necessary. Issuance of apostilles is carried out directly by Canadian authorities. An apostilled document can be recognized in Lithuania or any other country that has signed the Hague Convention.

Legalization of Documents Issued in Canada

If a document has already been legalized by the Global Affairs Canada before 11/01/2024, it will need to be additionally legalized at the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania to Canada prior to submitting the document in Lithuania.

Apostille Authentication of Documents Issued in Canada

Information about issuance of apostilles and the state institutions where this service is available on the Global Affairs Canada website.

Registering your documents for legalisation at the Embassy

Person submitting documents must register in advance for an appointment at the Embassy of Lithuania in Ottawa (https://keliauk.urm.lt/en/consult_registration). When registering for the 'Legalisation of a document issued in Lithuania' or 'Legalisation of documents' service, person must upload the document to be legalised in the compulsory field 'Copy of the document you wish to legalise'. The possible formats for submitting the document are jpg, git, heic, pdf.

Apostille Authentication for Documents Issued in Lithuania

Before submitting Lithuanian issued documents to Canadian institutions, documents must first be apostilled, unless the receiving institution specifies otherwise.

Lithuanian issued documents could be apostilled:

  • By any notary office in the Republic of Lithuania personally, through relatives or authorized persons.
  • Applying at the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania to Canada with a request to act as an intermediary by forwarding the documents to the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania, either in person (appointments must be booked online) or by registered mail. This process may take about 2 months.

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS

Individuals residing in Canada who seek to legalize or apostille a document through the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania to Canada must:

  • Submit a free-form request to legalize or apostille the document, noting the contact information of the submitter (phone, email, address) and the country to which the document will be addressed.
  • Provide the document to be legalized or apostilled (original or a notarized copy).
  • Present a valid passport or another document confirming the person's identity (if the request is made by registered mail – a notarized copy of the passport).
  • Provide a prepaid registered envelope if you want to receive the documents by registered mail.
  • Pay a consular fee for legalization or apostille of the document.

Submitted documents must be neat and legible. If a document consists of multiple pages, they must be stapled together. Each document is certified separately (e.g., a diploma and its supplement are considered as 2 separate documents). The document cannot be laminated.

Important! Documents issued before 11/03/1990, bearing the attributes of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (LSSR), cannot be legalized or apostilled. They must be replaced with new documents.

Documents do not require legalization or apostille when they are drawn up or issued by foreign diplomatic missions or consular offices residing in the Republic of Lithuania.

For more information on document legalization or apostille, please visit the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania.

Legalisation of documents issued by other countries

The Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania to Canada accepts legalisation of documents issued by other countries only if they meet the following criteria:

  • Person providing the document must be residing in Canada legally;
  • Foreign nationals must submit documents for themselves or their family members (spouse, parents, children, and adopted children);
  • The document must be additionally legalised at the diplomatic mission of the issuing country in Canada.

If the documents do not meet the above criteria, they will not be accepted. Such documents must be submitted directly to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania for legalisation, in accordance with the procedures by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania - Legalisation of documents and approval certificate (Apostille) | URM.

Documents issued by countries with which the Republic of Lithuania has not established diplomatic relations (Bhutan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Papua New Guinea, South Sudan and Equatorial Guinea), will not be accepted at the Embassy of Lithuania and will not be legalised. 

Consular certificates and criminal records of foreign nationals applying to educational institutions are accepted for document legalisation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania from educational institutions. Individuals intending to study in Lithuania must contact the educational institution where they plan to study regarding document legalization.