General information on recognition of signatures

The legalization of documents is an administrative procedure based on successive recognition of signatures, with a dual purpose:



-certificar competition based on which a person signing a document.

- certify the authenticity of the signature (or in cases of impossibility, certify the identity of the seal of the authority has issued document).



In general, we will go to diplomatic legalization procedure to equip a document judicial, administrative or notarized external effectiveness in countries outside of the covenant of has 5 October 1,961. In Spain, when the public document in question has been issued by a local agency, legalization may be conducted indistinctly by any of the two ways:



1. Recognition of signatures made by the General direction of Relations yEntesLocales conlas Autonomous Communities.

1.1.La General direction of Relations conlas Autonomous Communities yEntesLocales performs the recognition of signatures of documents issued by a local entity only when seeks to its effectiveness in a foreign countryNOauthor of the covenant of has 5 October 1,961. to know which are the signatory countries of the covenant of the Hasclick here. To legalize documents effectively in a signatory of this agreement,click here.



1.2. The General direction of Relations yEntesLocales conlas Autonomous CommunitiesNOdoing this procedure for documents issued by the Madrid City Council for this service by their own Municipal bodies. To know the Organs of the Municipality of Madrid responsible for the legalization of documents issued by this municipalityclick here.



1.3. In cases where the object of the document is the registration, due to the international scope intended, the overall direction of Relations conlas Autonomous Communities yEntesLocales only in recognition of signaturescertificatesregistration is the only document attesting to reliably for administrative purposes residence and habitual abode of a citizen. Therefore,NOby this unit recognition of signatures purely informational documents, such asflyersof registration.



2. By way of attorney.

2.1. The document issued by the body Localdeberá be testified by a notary collegiate properly.

2.2. The signature of the notary will subsequently legalized by the dean of the college Of Attorney of the respective CCAA. For more informationclick here.

2.3. Justice ministry. Hyacinth Square Benavente No 3, 28012 Madrid. Contact telephone: 902.007.214.

Finally, regardless of the means used so far (recognition of signatures made by the General direction of Relations conlas Autonomous Communities yEntesLocales or notarized path) in the last phase of the diplomatic legalization of the document and always will successively, the ministry of foreign affairs and cooperation (MAEC) and the diplomatic or consular representation accredited in Spain of the country in which will take effect documentation. If you want to know which are the last procedures diplomatic legalization as well as bodies responsible for their realization, click respectively in:

-Foreign ministry and cooperation

-Diplomatic or consular representation for.