Legalization & Authentication

An "authentication" or "legalization" is a governmental act by which a designated public official (e.g. consular officer at an embassy or a consulate) certifies to the genuineness of the signature and/or seal and the position of the person/official who has executed, issued, or certified (a copy of) a document.

Please note that authentication services are also provided by Honorary Consulates. Exception: Signatures and seals of the Canadian Foreign Ministry (DFAIT) are certified only by the Austrian Embassy in Ottawa.

Fees to be paid for acts of authentication are listed under: "Practical Advice + Fees" (on the right of your computer screen).

Authentication is provided for:
1) private (e.g. agreements, power-of-attorney) and official/public signatures
2) transcripts and copies (stating that original and copy are identical)

Please note:
a) The Consulate does NOT provide translation services. The accuracy of a translation is NOT the responsibility of the Consulate.
b) The Consulate is NOT to be held liable/responsible for the content of a document.
c) The person asking for authentication services must provide proper ID (e.g. passport).

Since there is no "authentication" agreement between Canada and Austria in place, public documents (e.g. birth certificates, marriage certificates, notarial deeds, university diplomas etc.) issued in one state and to be served in the other state must be legalized/authenticated in line with the procedure below:

a) authentication by the competent authorities of the one state that issued the document (in general, the Foreign Ministry of the one state will be involved in the legalization process).
b) legalization by the Embassy or Consulate of the other state residing in the one state.
This procedure is often called the "full diplomatic legalization procedure."

Speaking in concrete terms this means that public documents issued in Canada and to be served/used in Austria must first be authenticated by local and/or provincial authorities and then by Foreign Affairs Canada. Thereafter, the Austrian Embassy in Ottawa will legalize the document. Only then may it be used in Austria.

Austrian public documents to be used/served in Canada must be authenticated following ordinary legalization procedures as well. The Authentication Office of the Austrian Foreign Ministry will be the last one in a (long) line of authorities in Austria needed to authenticate your document. Once this process is completed, you might, potentially, need to head to the Canadian Embassy in Vienna to get your final legalization stamp.