If you’ve accepted a job or will be studying outside of Canada, you’ll likely need to present your educational documents. There is also a good chance that you will be required to first have these documents “authenticated and legalized”, or “apostilled”, before they will be accepted. In Canada, the apostille process can be called apostille, or document authentication and legalization. So if you’ve been told you need to obtain any of these terms, we can help. Acquiring this certification can mean the difference between achieving your educational dreams and being denied enrollment entirely.
In this article, we cover all you need to know about how to get your Canadian educational documents apostilled, or authenticated and legalized, to be used abroad.
Do You Have the Correct Report Card or Diploma for Apostille?
The first thing you’ll need to do is to check that the educational documents you need are versions that will be accepted by the apostille authority (the first step of the process). If you need more information about the types of documents accepted by these offices, send us an email or give us a call so that we can make sure you either have or know how to get versions of your documents that are suitable for processing.
Other Documents You May Need to Have Apostilled
Depending on what you’ll be using your educational documents for, you might also be required to have additional documents processed, such as your birth certificate, marriage certificate, driver’s license, or any number of other documents. To apostille these, you’ll be following the same general process described here. Having accompanying documents processed at the same time as your educational documents will save you time and money, so make sure you know exactly which documents you are required to submit before starting.
The Apostille and Legalization Process
There are multiple steps to the Apostille and Legalization process:
1. Document preparation – Both the apostille authority (Step 2 below) and the relevant embassy or consulate (Step 3 below) have strict requirements that must be met before they will process your documents. Document preparation might involve notarization by a Canadian notary public, other notarial services such as Certified True Copies, translation, and you may be required to provide accompanying documents.
2. Document apostille – Documents must be submitted to the appropriate apostille authority that is responsible for documents from the region where your documents originated. Their staff will check that all is in order with your documents, and if satisfied, will place a certificate of apostille directly on your documents, confirming that they have been apostilled. You can find out more about document apostille here. If your documents are going to another apostille member country, you are done. If they are going to a non-apostille country, you will need a further step.
3. Document legalization – This final step is done by the embassy or consulate of the country in which you will be presenting your educational documents. Their consular staff will review your documents, and if all is in order, will place a stamp, sticker or certificate (depends on the embassy) directly on your documents, confirming they have been legalized. Note that each embassy and consulate sets its own unique requirements for document submission. Similarly, the processing time can vary widely between different embassies and consulates. You can learn more about embassy legalization here.
Working with a reliable apostille and legalization service like International Documents Canada is one of the best ways to streamline the process and ensure nothing is overlooked, avoiding long delays and extra costs.
Contact us for the apostille or legalization of educational documents and more!
If you need to apostille or legalize educational documents to be used abroad, contact us online today or call us toll-free at 1 (888) 433-1011.
