Legalisation of documents

Iranian documents submitted for legalization at the Embassy of Belgium have to be translated into French, Dutch or German. (English is accepted but for non-official use only)

The translation cannot be older than 6 months.
The original of the document has to be presented together with the document to be legalized.

The consular fee is 20 euro to be paid in cash.

An appointment has to be booked via tehran.legalization@diplobel.fed.be to apply for legalisation. [Please include in your email your contact number and the number of documents you would like to have legalised.]

The legalisation procedure is now digital. When submitting your application for legalisation, an e-mail address must be provided in order to receive the receipt, as well as the reference number allowing you to access your legalisation online on the LegalWeb website.
 

The procedure for legalization of Iranian documents in Iran is the following:

1. Translation of the document by a sworn translator.
2. On the copy of the document the following text need to appear “ certified copy” or “certified to be a true and correct copy of the original and agrees therewith in every respect” or “certified to be a true and correct copy of the original”. To proof that the copy is based on the original document.
3. Legalization by the Iranian Ministry of Justice, followed by the legalization by MFA and followed by the legalization of this Embassy.

The Embassy is only allowed to legalize documents in one of our national languages or in English. Therefore the legalization will be put on the certified copy of the Iranian document.  No legalization will be put on the original Iranian document.

We confirm that in Iran, the certified copy is equal to the original document (on the condition that it is translated by a sworn translator and is based on an original document and is legalized 3 times by the competent authorities and the pages are stapled together and sealed in the upper left corner). Finally, we would like to inform you that this Embassy always asks to have the original document available so that it can check the conformity of the translation with the Persian text.

The procedure for legalization of non-Iranian documents, issued by an Embassy in Iran:

Procedure in Iran

• Iranian MFA need to validate the signature and the stamp of the foreign Embassy or Consulate in Iran by seal.
• Translation by a sworn translator.
• Legalization of the document by Iranian Ministry of Justice.
• Legalization of the document by Iranian MFA.
• Legalization of the document by this Embassy.

Alternative procedure

• Official documents need to be legalized firstly by the competent national authorities of the country that issued the document.
• Legalization by the competent Belgian Embassy.
  Iraq = Belgian Embassy in Amman, Jordan.
  Afghanistan = Belgian Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan.
  Syria = Belgian Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon
• Please check on the website of the competent Belgian Embassy the procedure for legalizations.

General information

A document that is official and legal in one country is not necessarily official and legal in another. Many documents must therefore be legalised if you wish to use them abroad.

The legalisation process involves checking the origin of the relevant document. Legalisation is official confirmation that the signature of the civil servant that has signed a document, or the seal or stamp on the document, is legitimate.

It is not only the signature of the person that has issued the document that is legalised, the process can also legalise the signature of the legalising registrar. Every signature, every seal and every stamp will be legalised by the person authorised to do so and who is familiar with each signature, seal or stamp. This explains why various legalisations are sometimes required, in a specific order.

A country may have signed up to a legalisation treaty that encompasses agreements about how countries accept one another's official documents. Many countries have signed up to the "Apostille Convention" of The Hague of 5 October 1961. With this, just 1 legalisation is required via an apostille stamp.

Questions and answers about the legalisation of documents

For legalisation from abroad, you can also consult the website of our representative at the location concerned, i.e. Belgian embassies and consulates

In order to further refine your question, you can also use the Search criteria