Instructions on the procedure for consular legalization

Registered in the Unified Register of Regulatory Legal Acts of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Tajikistan on 27 November 2008, No. 464
Approved by Order of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan of 19 November 2008, No. 428

INSTRUCTION ON THE PROCEDURE FOR CONSULAR LEGALIZATION

Chapter I. General provisions

1. This Instruction on the procedure for consular legalization (hereinafter – the Instruction) has been developed on the basis of Article 53 of the Consular Statute of the Republic of Tajikistan, approved by Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan of 30 July 1998 No. 275, and determines the procedure for consular legalization.

2. Consular legalization consists in confirming that documents and acts comply with the legislation in force of the state of their origin and is the establishment and certification of the authenticity of the signature of an official and of the seal of an authorized state body on documents and acts for the purpose of using them in another state.

3. Consular legalization confirms the validity of documents and acts in international intercourse.

4. Legalization is carried out in accordance with this Instruction, the Consular Statute of the Republic of Tajikistan, the laws of the Republic of Tajikistan, other regulatory legal acts of the Republic of Tajikistan, and international treaties recognized by the Republic of Tajikistan.

5. The functions of consular legalization are performed by:

a) in the Republic of Tajikistan – the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan (hereinafter – the Consular Department);

b) abroad – consular institutions of the Republic of Tajikistan.

6. State bodies of the Republic of Tajikistan accept for consideration documents and acts drawn up by the authorities or with the participation of the authorities of a foreign state only if they have consular legalization, unless otherwise provided by the legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan or by an international treaty to which the Republic of Tajikistan and the state from whose organizations and institutions the documents and acts originate are parties.

7. Documents and acts that contradict the legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan or that by their content may harm the national interests of the Republic of Tajikistan or defame the honour and dignity of its citizens shall not be subject to legalization.

Chapter II. Legalization of documents and acts in the Republic of Tajikistan

8. The Consular Department legalizes documents and acts issued by diplomatic missions or consular institutions of foreign states accredited in the Republic of Tajikistan and intended for use in the territory of the Republic of Tajikistan.

9. The Consular Department also legalizes documents and acts drawn up by the authorities or with the participation of the authorities of a foreign state and intended for use in the territory of the Republic of Tajikistan, if they have first been legalized at the diplomatic mission or consular institution of the foreign state of origin of the documents and acts accredited in the Republic of Tajikistan.

10. If there is no diplomatic mission or consular institution in the Republic of Tajikistan of the foreign state that issued the document or act, the Consular Department shall send a corresponding request to establish the authenticity of the signatures and seals on the documents and acts to the foreign ministry of the country from which the document or act originated.

11. The Consular Department must have specimens of signatures and impressions of seals of officials of foreign diplomatic missions and consular institutions accredited in the Republic of Tajikistan who perform duties of legalizing documents and acts.

12. The Consular Department also legalizes documents and acts drawn up in the territory of the Republic of Tajikistan by state bodies or with their participation and intended for presentation abroad.

13. The Consular Department may request confirmation of the authenticity of the signatures of officials and of the impressions of seals of state institutions of the Republic of Tajikistan authorized to perform acts of certification (attestation) or to draw up documents and acts submitted for legalization.

The Consular Department, within its competence, takes measures aimed at obtaining the specimens of signatures and impressions of seals specified in this Chapter.

Chapter III. Legalization of documents and acts at consular institutions of the Republic of Tajikistan abroad

14. Consular institutions of the Republic of Tajikistan abroad carry out legalization of documents and acts drawn up with the participation of the authorities of the consular district or originating from those authorities and intended for use in the territory of the Republic of Tajikistan. Documents and acts submitted for legalization must first be legalized at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or another authorized official institution of the receiving state.

15. Consular institutions may request confirmation of the authenticity of the signatures and of the impressions of seals of officials of the consular district authorized to perform acts of legalization of documents and acts originating from official authorities or drawn up with their participation.

16. In certain cases the Consul may legalize documents and acts of a third state intended for use in the Republic of Tajikistan if there are no consular institutions of the Republic of Tajikistan in the territory of that state, and provided that the Consul has specimens of the signatures and impressions of seals of officials authorized to perform acts of legalization of documents and acts originating from the official authorities or drawn up with their participation of that other state.

17. In cases where the Consul has doubts that the documents and acts submitted for legalization do not comply with the laws of the receiving state, he has the right to apply to the authorities of the receiving country for an official clarification.

18. If individual citizens, organizations and institutions submit for legalization documents and acts drawn up in the territory of the Republic of Tajikistan but not legalized at the Consular Department, the Consul shall send such documents and acts to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan for determination of their authenticity. Upon receipt of a positive reply, the Consul shall legalize such documents and acts in the general manner provided by this Instruction.

19. The Consul sends to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan requests for documents and acts requested by citizens, and legalizes them in the manner provided by this Instruction.

Chapter IV. Documents and acts not subject to legalization

20. Originals of the following documents and acts shall not be subject to legalization: a passport, identity cards, trade union cards, military IDs, employment record books, documents on affiliation to estates and religions, driving licences, as well as technical passports on the registration of vehicles.

21. Foreign documents and acts drawn up abroad and imported into the territory of the Republic of Tajikistan without consular legalization of the country of origin of the document are not legalized at the Consular Department.

22. Documents and acts executed in violation of the rules specified in this Instruction shall not be subject to legalization and shall be returned for re-execution in official form.

23. Officials of the Consular Department and of consular institutions of the Republic of Tajikistan abroad exercise control over the correctness of the execution of conclusions and the issuance of diplomas and extracts from semester and examination records, and also have the right to verify documents issued to citizens of the Republic of Tajikistan and to foreign citizens who have graduated from specialized secondary and higher educational institutions of the Republic of Tajikistan upon their legalization.

24. In the event of an application for repeated legalization of a document or act (in case of loss of the legalized document, mechanical damage, or for other reasons), the document is legalized again under the previously made legalization endorsement and register number with the mark “repeatedly”. Upon repeated legalization, the date of re-issuance of the document is affixed. A consular fee is charged for repeated legalization of a document or act in accordance with the regulatory legal acts of the Republic of Tajikistan.

Chapter V. Requirements for documents and acts submitted for legalization. Legalization endorsement

25. Documents and acts are accepted for legalization both as originals and as notarized copies.

26. Constituent documents of legal entities are legalized in notarized copies provided that these documents are registered with the authorized state body, bear the corresponding marks and seals of registration, and a certificate of their state registration is submitted.

27. If legalization is conditioned on the submission of a translation of a document or act from the state language or Russian into a foreign language and vice versa, legalization of a notarized document or act may be performed together with its translation. The translation may be placed in a column on the right side of the page, or on a separate page. In the latter case, the translation is bound to the document or act in notarial procedure. The translator’s signature must be certified by a notary or by a consular official of the Republic of Tajikistan abroad.

28. Notarial certification at a consular institution of the Republic of Tajikistan abroad of a translation of a document or act into the state language or Russian does not replace its legalization.

29. Documents and acts submitted for legalization must be written clearly and distinctly. The signatures of officials and the impressions of seals must be legible.

30. After the official has ascertained that, in accordance with the requirements of this Instruction, the document or act may be legalized, an endorsement of the prescribed form is made on the last sheet.

31. The legalization endorsement may be written by hand in ink, typed, or affixed by a stamp with subsequent completion of the relevant fields on the document or act. It may also be executed on a separate sheet with text printed typographically according to the stamp specimen. In this case the sheet is bound to the document or act and fastened to them with the seal and signature of the person performing the legalization.

32. The legalization endorsement on a document or act is made by the Consular Department in the state language and in English, and by consular institutions of the Republic of Tajikistan abroad in the state language and in the language of the receiving country.

33. Corrections and additions must be stipulated before the signatures of the persons who signed the act, and repeated in the legalization endorsement. These additions and corrections must be made so that everything erroneously written and then corrected and crossed out can be read in its original form. If corrections and additions are made in the legalization endorsement, they are stipulated and signed only by the official performing the legalization.

34. Consideration of documents and acts submitted for legalization is carried out by a consular official within 3–5 working days. In exceptional cases this period may be extended to 10 working days.

35. In certain cases consular officials have the right to request from applicants additional documents and information necessary for performing legalization. In this case, the period of consideration is calculated from the moment of submission of all necessary documents.

36. The Consular Department and consular institutions of the Republic of Tajikistan abroad keep registers of the legalization of documents and acts.

37. A consular fee is charged from interested persons for performing acts of legalization, in accordance with the regulatory legal acts of the Republic of Tajikistan.

38. Notification of a refusal to legalize a document or act is provided to the applicant in writing.