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Procedure for Authentication of Documents in Nigeria

Authentication of documents involves a procedure of confirming and certifying documents in Nigeria. Before the legalization of a document, such a document must be authenticated at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abuja. Since Nigeria is not a part member of the Hague Apostille Convention, which abolishes the necessity of legalization for Foreign Public Documents, the apostille stamp is not issued in Nigeria. The replacement of the apostille in Nigeria is the authentication of document done at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abuja.

STEPS FOR AUTHENTICATION DOCUMENTS IN NIGERIA

  • The first step is to notarize the document since it is will be required to be used abroad. The notary public is usually a lawyer specially authorized to notarize documents.
  • The next important step is to take the document required to be certified to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters in Abuja for the authentication.
  • The applicant must pay the prescribed fee and submit proof of payment at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
  • The Ministry will carry out their necessary confirmation and subsequently authenticate the documents if found to be genuine.
  • Thereafter, the applicant can apply for the legalization of the same document at the relevant embassy, if it requires a legalization.
  • Where the document to be authenticated or legalized involves an academic certificate or transcripts, an attestation of the document must be done at the Federal Ministry of Education, Abuja before proceeding for authentication.

TYPES OF DOCUMENTS THAT CAN BE AUTHENTICATED IN NIGERIA

  • Birth Certificate or Attestation of Birth Certificate
  • Marriage Certificate
  • Divorce Judgement and Certificates
  • Single Status Certificate
  • Police Character Certificate
  • Academic Records (results, degree certificates, and transcripts)
  • Certificate of Incorporation & other incorporation documents         
  • Commercial Transaction Documents, among others.

In summary, where a birth certificate, police character certificate, or any other certificate is usually to be legalized, such a document may be notarized firstly by a Notary Pubic; authenticated at the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abuja, before finally legalized at the relevant embassy. However, where educational certificates require legalization, the process is actually the same save for the fact that it must be initially attested by the Federal Ministry of Education before the subsequent authentication and legalization.

Finally, it is noteworthy to state that some documents may not be appropriate for legalization. For example, most embassies will not legalize some documents, which may conflict with their domestic laws, or perhaps the content of it may inflict harm to the citizens of their own country. Any applicant may personally authenticate a document on his own or engage the services of an attorney for such a process.

Source: www.lexology.com