Certify documents issued in Europe and abroad for official use in France
Isarey works across multiple jurisdictions to legalize international documents so that they are valid for submission to French authorities.
We legalize all types of official documents for use in France, including identity documents, birth and marriage certificates, criminal record certificates, academic diplomas and corporate documents.
We work locally with certification specialists, notaries, law firms and certifiedFrenchtranslators in over 100 countries, certifying documents for use in France, including documents issued in:
France is a signatory to the 
Hague Apostille Convention. This means that official documents issued in other signatory countries can be certified by an Apostille Stamp in the country where they have been issued. This stamp will generally be accepted directly by French authorities as confirmation of the document’s authenticity without need for further certification in France.
However, documents from non-Apostille countries must be legalized by the authorities of the issuing country and then attested by the local French embassy or consulate. This applies to documents in countries such as: United Arab Emirates - Taiwan - Malaysia - Thailand - Qatar
Submission within the European Union
Certain documents do not require Apostilles for submission to authorities in France when they are issued in another European Union Member State (the receiving authority should accept the original or a certified copy).
When applying for certain public documents, a multilingual standard form may be requested to accompany the original. A multilingual standard form must always be issued and signed by an authority of the EU country where the public document is issued, providing a translation aid designed to help the receiving authority to understand a public document which is in a language not accepted by France.
See: EU Multilingual standard forms
Documents not requiring Apostilles for use in France include birth, death, marriage certificates, absence of a criminal record (a clean criminal record of a citizen of the issuing country), certificates of nationality and residence:
See: Regulation (EU) 2016/1191
Other documents, including academic certificates, still require Apostille certification and certified translation to be valid in France.
Civil status certificates (multilingual extracts from the civil status registers)
Birth, marriage and death certificates should not require Apostille Stamps for submission in France when issued in accordance with the conventions of the International Commission on Civil and Civil Status by one of following countries:
Austria, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cape Verde, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey
If you have documents issued in France:
Isarey also certifies documents issued in France for use abroad, including French birth, death and marriage certificates, diplomas and criminal record certificates. For further information, please see:
Certified Translation
When documents are written in a language that is not an official language of France, then a certified translation may also be required. It is important to ensure that the certified translation is valid for use in France. Translations not done in France may require separate legalization alongside the original document.
Isarey provides document attestation services to private, corporate and institutional clients worldwide. Our presence in different jurisdictions and our local experience and expertise dealing directly with authorities and embassies in different countries means we can save you time, frustration and money, ensuring that documents are properly prepared so that they are accepted by French authorities.
To find out about certifying documents for use in France, use our online quotation form or email us a scan or description of the documents you need to certify. We will get back to you directly with a quotation and details of how to proceed:
6 steps to certify document for use in France
- Our experts will pre-check your documents to ensure that they are eligible for Apostille certification or consular legalization in the country where they are issued, and we’ll assist you locally in preparing them if required.
- We’ll send you a quotation with the total cost of the process (final price including all fees, certified translation when required and courier costs) and an estimation of how long the process will take to complete.
- We’ll arrange a secure courier to collect your original documents (where electronic versions are not sufficient).
- As soon as we receive your documents, we will confirm your order and proceed with the attestation process. Where appropriate, we will arrange certified copies for the attestation process so that we can return your originals directly.
- We return the attested documents to you by secure international courier.