South Africa - How to legalise official documents and end user certificates

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Procedure

Apply In-Person:

1. To legalise official documents and end user certificates in person, the applicant has to visit the office of Department of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa or South African diplomatic or consular representative abroad in his/her country.
2. The contact and address details of the office of Department of International Relations and Cooperation can be found on the right side of the following page: Contact link
3. Before visiting the office, the applicant will have to make an appointment for the visit by completing the following appointment form: Appointment
4. Complete the form and email it to the following email address: [email protected]. On the request form, indicate the type of service that is required to schedule an appointment.
5. Once your appointment has been scheduled, you will receive a confirmation of appointment via e-mail. You will have to keep a print out of this confirmation when you visit the office.
6. The applicant should report at the main entrance of the office at least half-an-hour before the scheduled time, in order to complete some formal procedures before you enter into the office.
7. Comply with all the processes that are performed at the DIRCO office and the conditions set for the submission of documents.
8. Then, proceed to submit your documents to be legalised and the documents as required by the official at the office.
9. Necessary processes will be conducted for legalisation of the submitted documents after which the applicant will be informed about the time and requirements for collection of legalised documents.

Apply via courier

1. To legalise official documents and end user certificates via courier service, the applicant has to send the documents to the physical address of Department of International Relations and Cooperation via courier service.
2. The contact and address details of the office of Department of International Relations and Cooperation can be found on the right side of the following page: contact
3. Before the courier person visits the office for submission for documents, the courier service that you choose will have to make an appointment for the visit by completing the following appointment form: Appointment
4. Complete the form and email it to the following email address: [email protected]. On the request form, indicate the type of service that is required to schedule an appointment.
5. Once the appointment has been scheduled, the concerned courier service will receive a confirmation of appointment via e-mail. The person going to deliver the courier will have to keep a print out of this confirmation when he/she visits the DIRCO office.
6. Also, note that a cover letter must be completed by the applicant including email address of the applicant (through which he/she can be contacted by the Legalisation section) and attached with the documents to be legalised. Cover letter: Link
7. The courier person should report at the main entrance of the office at least half-an-hour before the scheduled time, in order to complete some formal procedures before entering into the office.
8. He/she should comply with all the processes that are performed at the DIRCO office and the conditions set for the submission of documents.
9. After the receipt and completion of legalisation, the applicant will receive an email intimating the same and the procedures to be followed for collecting the documents. Then the applicant should make the arrangements via courier service for the collection of legalised documents.
10. An appointment should be made same as before and the applicant should complete a Letter of authority including the address of receipt and specific reference number (sent through email). LOA: Link
11. This letter should accompany the copy of appointment form of the courier person and should be provided to the official who hands over the legalised documents by the courier person.

Apply through Registered mail

1. To legalise official documents and end user certificates through registered mail, the applicant has to send the documents to the postal address of Department of International Relations and Cooperation through a Registered mail.
2. The postal address of the office of Department of International Relations and Cooperation can be found on the right side of the following page: Link
3. Choose a registered mail for your service (Please do not use fast mail or ordinary mail) and proceed to send all your documents to be legalised via that mail service.
4. Note that a cover letter indicating the number of documents to be legalised, the country for which the legalisation is required as well as the full contact (telephone/e-mail) details of the sender, should be included in the mail.
5. Also, an A4-size self-addressed/pre-paid return envelope (registered mail), to allow the Legalisation Section to return the documents to the customer upon completion, should be attached.
6. Necessary processes will be conducted for legalisation of the submitted documents after which the legalised documents will be sent via mail by the DIRCO in the return envelope.

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Required Documents

• Original Documents to be legalised and corresponding scanned copies
• Certified Identity Document/Passport and a copy of applicant
• Appointment confirmation copy
• Original blue slip issued by DIRCO (for collection)
• Affidavit from police station (for lost blue slips)
• Cover letter (submission via courier or registered mail)
• Letter of Authority (collection via courier)
• Certified Identity Document/Passport and a copy of courier person
• Relevant Flyer/packaging/airway bills (courier)
• Self-addressed/pre-paid return envelope for collection via mail (A4-size) and apt stamps value

Office Locations & Contacts

Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) - Head Office
Physical Address: O R Tambo Building,
460 Soutpansberg Road,
Rietondale,
0084,Pretoria,
South Africa,
Postal Address : Private Bag X152
Pretoria
0001,
South Africa
Tel No: + 27 12 351 1000
Fax: +27 12 329 1000
Website: Link

South African Representation Abroad

Eligibility

• Any South African citizen or foreign national, requiring South African official (public) documents to be legalised for using them abroad, can apply.
• The documents to be legalised or authenticated by the legalisation section, must be still valid.
• Refer the following page for more clarifications: Link

Fees

The Legalisation Section currently does not charge for the processing of documents.

Validity

Explain the time until which the certificate/document is valid.
e.g. Birth Certificate Valid Forever

Documents to Use

Appointment form: Link
Cover letter: Link
Letter of Authority: Link

Sample Documents

Please attach sample completed documents that would help other people.

Processing Time

Please click the following link: Link

Related Videos

Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications.
Attach videos using the following tag <&video type='website'>video ID|width|height<&/video&> from external websites.
Please remove the '&' inside the tags during implementation.
Website = allocine, blip, dailymotion, facebook, gametrailers, googlevideo, html5, metacafe, myspace, revver,
sevenload, viddler, vimeo, youku, youtube
width = 560, height = 340, Video ID = Can be obtained from the URL of webpage where the video is displayed.
e.g In the following url 'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0US7oR_t3M' Video ID is 'Y0US7oR_t3M'.

Instructions

• You will not be allowed access to the building if you do not comply with the health and safety regulations in relation to COVID-19.

• You will not be allowed access to the building or the Legalisation Section, if you are not wearing a mask that properly covers both your mouth and nose.

• It is recommended that you bring your own pen to minimise your contact with objects that many people touched. This is for your own safety.

• Refer “How to submit documentation to the Legalisation Section” section in the following page for more instructions: Link

Required Information

• Full names and surname
• ID number
• Contact details and email address
• Number and type of documents to be legalised
• Date of submission
• Address of receipt of legalised documents

Need for the Document

If your documents originate in South Africa and will be used in another country they must first be "authenticated" or "legalised". This is a process in which various seals are placed on the document so they will be recognised as legal documents in other countries.

Information which might help

Refer for complete information: Link

Other uses of the Document/Certificate

Please explain what are other uses of obtaining this document/certificate.
e.g. Birth Certificate can be used as proof of identity.

External Links

Place some external links which might help.

Others

More information which might help people.