notar.ee Certification of Public Document with an Apostille Certificate Estonia : Chamber of Notaries

Organization : Chamber of Notaries of Republic of Estonia
Type of Facility : Certification of Public Document with an Apostille Certificate
Country: Estonia

Website : https://www.notar.ee/et

Certification of Public Document with an Apostille Certificate:

From 1st January 2010, the public documents of Estonia will be authenticated by apostille by notaries. Ministries will continue issuing apostilles until 30th December 2009 at ordinary reception hours

Related : Police & Border Guard Board Apply e-Resident Digital Identity Card Estonia : www.statusin.org/27590.html

If you submit an application to a ministry by post, please make sure that the application, the document to be authenticated, and the payment order certifying the payment of state fee reach the ministry no later than on 30th December 2009. Applications that arrive in the ministry after 30th December will be returned to the applicants without reviewing and for refunding the paid state fee, the applicant must submit an application for refund of state fee. The ministry will not send belatedly submitted applications to the notary for review. Paid state fee will not be considered as notary’s fee.

A notary will authenticate documents by apostille irrespective of his or her work area, but not documents notarised or authenticated by himself or herself.

Procedure for Authentication and Annulment of Estonian Public Document by Certificate i.e. Apostille
The Regulation is established pursuant to § 5 of the Act on Accession to the Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents.

General Provisions:
1. Scope of application of Regulation:
The Regulation establishes the terms and procedure for the authentication of Estonian public documents (hereinafter documents) by a certificate (apostille) (hereinafter certificate), the list of information to be submitted upon application for the authentication of documents by a certificate and the terms and procedure for the annulment of a certificate.

2. Issuer of certificate:
(1) Any notary of Estonia may issue a certificate.
(2) A notary shall not issue a certificate for a document certified or authenticated thereby.

Authentication of Document by Certificate:
3. Authentication by certificate:
A notary shall authenticate a document by a certificate if he or she has the specimen signature and, if necessary, the specimen impression of the seal of the person who signed the document, or a confirmation of a competent agency on the basis of which the notary is convinced that the document may be authenticated on the basis of the Act on Accession to the Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents.

4. Application for authentication of document by certificate:
(1) A person who applies for the authentication of a document by a certificate shall submit a corresponding written application to the notary. The application may also be submitted by post or be communicated bearing a digital signature.
(2) An application shall contain the following information:
1) the given name and surname of the applicant or the name of the legal person;
2) the name of the document which is to be authenticated by a certificate;
3) the state where the document is to be used;
4) the manner of delivery of the document authenticated by a certificate;
5) the contact details of the applicant;
6) the date of submission of the application;
7) the signature of the person submitting the application.
(3) A document the authentication of which by a certificate is applied for shall be appended to the application. If the application is submitted by post or is communicated bearing a digital signature, the application is deemed to have arrived if the document the authentication of which is applied for has also arrived in addition to the application. If the application and document are sent separately, information regarding the application in which the authentication of the document by a certificate is applied for shall be sent together with the document.
(4) An entry regarding the issue of a certificate shall be made in the book concerning professional activities at the same time when the certificate is registered in the register of certificates.

5. Application through consular posts:
(1) If a person applies for the authentication of a document by a certificate pursuant to subsection 42 (1) of the Consular Act, the name of the notary to whom the application is to be forwarded shall be set out in the application.
(2) A notary shall forward a document authenticated by a certificate and an invoice for the payment of the notary fee to the consular post.

6. Requirements for document:
The original of a document which conforms to the formal requirements or the notarised or officially certified copy, print-out or extract of the document, which sets out the signature, given name, surname and position of the person who signed the document and, if necessary, the seal of the agency which issued the document shall be authenticated by a certificate.

7. Preparation of certificate and attachment to document:
(1) A certificate shall be prepared in the register of certificates (apostilles). A certificate shall be printed on an A5-format security paper the requirements for which are established by a resolution of the Board of the Chamber of Notaries.
(2) A notary shall sign a certificate and affix his or her seal to the signature. The provisions of § 16 and subsection § 61 (3) of Regulation No. 23 of the Minister of Justice of 19 June 2009 “Regulations of Notaries’ Offices“ regarding signing do not apply to affixing the signature.
(3) The following information shall be set out on a certificate:
1) the name of the state where the document has been issued;
2) the given name and surname of the person who signed the document;
3) the position of the person who signed the document;
4) information regarding the seal or stamp on the document;
5) the place of authentication by the certificate;
6) the date of authentication by the certificate;
7) the given name, surname and official title of the signatory;
8) the registration number of the certificate;
9) the seal of the notary;
10) the signature of the notary.
(4) A certificate shall be attached to the upper left corner of the front page of a document by an eyelet. If the document consists of several pages, all pages shall be bound with the eyelet.
(5) If a document which consists of several pages cannot be bound with an eyelet in the manner specified in subsection (4) of this section, the certificate shall be attached to a page with the name of the person who signed the document, his or her position and, if existent, the seal of the agency which issued the document.

8. Language of certificate:
The fields of a certificate shall be completed in English. If the applicant so wishes, the fields of a certificate may also be completed in the language of another Contracting Party to the Convention if the notary is sufficiently proficient in this language and the register of certificates (apostilles) so permits. The certificate field codes and the content of the certificate shall be in one language. The title of the certificate “Apostille (Conventsion de La Haye du 5 octobre 1961)” is in French.

9. Refusal to accept application :
(1) A notary shall refuse to accept an application if:
1) the document the authentication of which by a certificate is applied for is not a public document according to the Convention or the Convention does not apply to the document;
2) the basis for refusal specified in § 3 of the Act on Accession to the Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents exist;
3) the notary is not competent to issue a certificate according to subsection 2 (2) of this Regulation.
(2) Upon refusal to accept a personally submitted application, the reasons for refusal shall be explained to the applicant and the application together with annexes shall be immediately returned.
(3) Upon refusal to accept an application submitted by post or communicated bearing a digital signature, the reasons for refusal shall be explained to the applicant in writing and the application together with annexes shall be returned to the address indicated in the application within three working days after the date of receipt of the application.
(4) In the case provided for in clause (1) 3) of this section, a notary shall forward an application to another notary unless the application sets out that forwarding is not requested. The notary shall inform the applicant of the name of the notary to whom the application was forwarded and the contact details of the notary’s office. If the notary operates a common office with the other notary, he or she shall forward the application to the notary with whom he or she operates the common office without notifying the applicant thereof. If the application is forwarded, subsections (2) and (3) of this section do not apply.

10. Sending of application by post:
If an applicant wishes to receive a document authenticated by a certificate by post, the document together with annexes shall be sent to the applicant by registered letter to the address indicated in the application.

11. Termination of proceedings without issue of certificate:
If it is impossible to receive a confirmation regarding the competence of the official who signed the document, the authenticity of his or her signature or, if necessary, the authenticity of the seal of the administrative agency, or if a basis specified in clause 9 (1) 2) of this Regulation becomes evident after acceptance of an application, the notary shall terminate the proceedings without issue of the certificate. The notary shall explain the reasons for the termination of proceedings and return the application together with its annexes to the applicant.

Terms for Authentication by Certificate:
12. Term for review of application for authentication by certificate:
(1) An application shall be accepted on the date of submission of the application. An application submitted by post or communicated bearing a digital signature shall be accepted not later than on the working day after the receipt of the document related to the application.
(2) A notary shall issue a certificate within five working days as of the date of acceptance of the application.

13. Extension of term for proceedings:
(1) The terms for proceedings provided for in subsection 12 (2) of this Regulation may be extended if the receipt of a confirmation regarding the authenticity of the signature of the official who signed the document, his or her competence or, if necessary, the authenticity of the seal continues for longer than the term established for the review of the application.
(2) For each specific extension of the term for proceedings, the length of a new term shall not exceed the initial term for proceedings provided for in this Regulation.
(3) A notary shall inform the applicant immediately of extension of the term for proceedings, shall indicate the reasons for the extension of the term for proceedings and specify a new term.

Annulment of Certificate:
14. Annulment of certificate:
(1) Upon becoming aware of a basis for the annulment of a certificate, a notary shall annul the certificate and make a notation “kehtetu” [annulled] together with a reference to the basis for annulment according to § 4 of the Act on Accession to the Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents to the registry entry of the certificate in the register of certificates (apostilles). If the certificate is annulled by the notary who did not issue the certificate, he or she shall inform the notary who issued the certificate thereof.
(2) If a basis for the annulment of a certificate becomes evident and the certificate has not been lost or destroyed and has been submitted to the notary, the notary shall remove the certificate from the document if possible. If removal of the certificate without damaging the document is impossible, the notary shall draw one red diagonal line on the certificate.
(3) A notary who annuls a certificate shall, if possible, make a corresponding notation on the annulled certificate or render it unusable in any other manner.
(4) A notary shall immediately inform the applicant of annulment of a certificate and the reasons therefor.
(5) A certificate shall be annulled not later than five working days after the information which constitute the bases for the annulment of the certificate become known.

15. Annulment of certificate by Chamber of Notaries :
(1) If the notary who has issued a certificate has resigned from office, the certificate issued by the notary shall be annulled by the Chamber of Notaries.
(2) Section 14 of this Regulation, except for the last sentence of subsection 14 (1), applies to annulment of certificates by the Chamber of Notaries.

16. Registration of annulment of certificate:
The following information shall be set out in the register of certificates (apostilles) in the entry regarding an issued certificate if the certificate is annulled:
1) the basis for annulment;
2) the official title and name of the person who annuls the certificate;
3) the date of annulment;
4) comments.

Implementing Provisions:
17. Specifications for annulment of certificate:
A decision to annul a certificate issued before 1 January 2010 shall be made by the agency which issued the certificate. The agency shall send the decision on the annulment to the Chamber of Notaries which shall make an entry regarding annulment in the register of certificates (apostilles).

18. Entry into force of Regulation:
This Regulation enters into force on 1 January 2010.

Chamber of Notaries of the Republic of Estonia:
Address: Tatari 25 10116 Tallinn
Phone: +372 617 7900
Fax: +372 617 7901
E-mail: koda@notar.ee