Legalization

Notary services (power of attorney, certification of a signature or ceritifaction of a copy of Lithuanian document, etc.) in Lithuanian consular offices are performed for Lithuanian citizens only. Lithuanian citizen for notary services must apply in person.

Non-citizens or Lithuanian citizens who cannot apply in person have to obtain Apostille in order for the U.S. notary certification to be valid in Lithuania.

Apostille is also used to certify documents (except passports) which are not issued in Lithuania so they can be accepted by Lithuanian institutions.

In the United States Apostille is issued by Federal Government for federal documents (Naturalization certificate, etc.).

Birth, Marriage, Death, Divorce certificates are certified by Secretary of State of the state where the document was issued. The Consulate General will accept only certified by Apostille original (original duplicates) long forms of these documents.

Powers of attorneys, copies of documents, certifications of signature are certified by Secretary of State of the state where the notary public is active.

Documents which Require Legalisation

Consular legalization of a document is a consular officer's certification that a signature, a seal and duties of the undersigned individual on a document are genuine. Legalization is necessary to allow documents issued in one country to be accepted and used by institutions of other countries.

The following documents are subject to legalization:

• Civil status certificates (birth certificate, paternity verification, certificate of adoption, certificate of marriage, certificate of divorce, verification of change of family name, death certificate);
• Company documents (incorporation agreement, certificate of incorporation, articles of association of a company);
• Education and study documents;
• Certificates and verification issued by companies, offices and organizations;
• Other documents may also be legalized provided that their contents shall not contradict laws and international agreements.

Legalization requirements: copies shall be certified in compliance with notarial procedures.

Foreign Documents Submitted to a Lithuanian Authority

1. Documents to be submitted in Lithuania without legalisation:

• Documents issued in the countries which have acceded to the Hague Convention, 1961 abolishing the requirement of legalisation for foreign public documents. (The Republic of Lithuania has acceded to the Hague Convention. Documents issued in the foreign countries which have acceded to the Hague Convention should be approved by ''Apostille'' established in the Hague Convention and issued by a competent institution of the foreign country which originates a document. The documents mentioned shall be exempt from legalisation in consular offices of the Republic of Lithuania);
• Documents issued in the countries the Republic of Lithuania has entered into agreement with concerning legal support and relationship in civil, family and criminal cases. (Such documents, appropriately executed and certified by a competent institution in the country of issue, shall be accepted without legalisation or other approval in the Republic of Lithuania).

2. Documents that require legalisation to be submitted in Lithuania.

The following documents should be legalised.

Documents to be submitted in Lithuania and issued by countries:

• which have not acceded to the Hague Convention, 1961 abolishing the requirement of legalisation for foreign public documents, or
• with which the Republic of Lithuania has not entered into an agreement concerning legal support and relationship in civil, family and criminal cases.

3. Legalisation procedures:

• These documents shall be legalised in the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or diplomatic mission or consular post of the country having issued the documents mentioned;
• These documents shall be legalised in diplomatic mission or consular post of the Republic of Lithuanian or in the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania.

Lithuanian Documents Submitted to a Foreign Authority

1. Documents to be submitted in foreign countries without legalisation:

Documents issued in the Republic of Lithuania to be submitted in foreign countries which have acceded to the 1961 the Hague Convention abolishing the requirement of legalisation for foreign public documents. (Such documents should be approved by ''Apostille'' in the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania. These documents shall be exempt from legalisation in consular offices of foreign countries).

2. Documents that require legalisation to be submitted in foreign countries:

Documents issued in Lithuania and to be submitted in foreign countries, which have not acceded to the 1961 Hague Convention abolishing the requirement of legalisation for foreign public documents.

3. Legalisation procedures:

• These documents shall be legalised in the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania or diplomatic mission or consular post of the Republic of Lithuania located in the foreign country where these documents shall be submitted;
• These documents shall be legalised in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or diplomatic mission or consular post of the foreign country where the aforementioned documents are to be submitted.

Legalization procedure. The following documents shall be submitted:

•     valid document of identification;
•     a document for legalization (certification by Apostille);
•     a power of attorney might be requested if documents are being submitted by a third person;
•     pay a consular fee

Please note that the documents issued by authorities of Lithuanian Soviet Socialistic Republic will not be legalized nor certified by Apostille. They have to be replaced with new ones.