Do you need help issuing certificates on company documents, signatures, copies, authorized translations and other similar documents?
Do you also need help getting an apostille or confirming that an authority or an official is authorized to perform certain services? Then you have come to the right place!
We, legalisering.se, cooperate with several notaries public. We are located at Kungsgatan 37, 5tr, 11156, Stockholm. You can visit us in the office or send documents to Legalisering.se, Box 7145, 10387, Stockholm.
What is a Notary Public?
A Notary Public is a person who is basically a trained lawyer or jurist, who is tasked by the County Administrative Board to assist the public in authenticating and witnessing a wide range of legal documents. A Notary Public fills an important position as a public official and provides a range of legal services related to, for example, powers of attorney, foreign and international business.
A Notary Public does not determine the content of the documents nor formulate such documents. If you want to have a document notarized by a Notary Public, you are responsible for ensuring that the content of the document meets the requirements of the country in which the document will be used.
What does a Notary Public do in Sweden?
The task of a notary public is to assist the public in verifying and certifying signatures, copies, translations and other documents and information relating to the content of actions. They must also be present as a witness when rooms for storage are opened or closed, or when seals are put on or broken, check lottery draws and confirm that someone has the authority or competence to do certain things or that they are in a position to represent someone else. The notary public can also provide documents with an apostille, which is an authorized stamp that certifies that a signature on the document is genuine.
Notary Publicus charges for its assignments.
Which documents must the notary public first certify before they can be legalized?
Before certain documents can be legalized at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the embassy or receive an apostille, they must first be certified by a notary public.
These documents may include:
- copies that do not have a signature on the original;
- documents issued by private individuals;
- powers of attorney;
- grades/documents from schools that are not universities or colleges;
- invoices, VAT reports, certificates of origin, trademark registration and other import and export documents (these can also be certified by the Chamber of Commerce);
- documents from banks, lawyers, private companies;
- documents from county council archives and municipal archives;
- marriage certificate from non-civil marriage officiants (Church of Sweden, foreign religious communities in Sweden); documents translated by a translator who is not authorized by the Chamber of Commerce.
What do I need to bring with me?
Before your visit to a Notary Public and you are to have a signature notarized, for example a power of attorney, you should bring the documents unsigned as you will be signing them under oath in front of a Notary Public. If you are going to certify a copy of a document, you must bring the original document, for example your passport.
In order to prove your identity, you must bring a valid identity document with you. Most Notaries Public only accept photo identification issued by a Swedish authority such as a Swedish driving license or an SIS-marked ID Card. Foreign and Swedish passports are also approved ID documents.
What is the price for a legalization at a Notary Public?
The price depends on the location of the Notary Public and the type of service required for your particular document. There is no standard price, but it is usually SEK 499 per stamp.
How long will it take to get my document legalized?
The processing time is different depending on the Notary Public’s location and service. Some offices handle the documents immediately while others need a few days to process the documents.
Another factor which may affect the processing time is the type of document that is going be legalized. For an education certificate for example, the Notary Public first needs to contact the signatory and have the certificate verified, which will take time.
Can I have my documents legalized online?
In some situations we can arrange legalization with a Notary Public online, via video call.
Can a Notary Public translate documents?
No, a Notary Public does not translate documents. Translations of documents must be done by an authorized translator appointed by the Kammarkollegiet.
We at legalisering.se can help you with translation. We have good contact with authorized translator, we can first legalize the document and then submit to the translator for translation or we can have the document translated first and then legalize it. It is up to you to decide which order you want, mainly: if you want to legalize the original document or the translation.
In many situations, there is no authorized translator in Sweden, and we will then work with non-authorized translators. If you need us to legalize the translation, we can do it.
Certification of copy
The notary public can verify a variety of different types of documents.
One of the most common tasks is the verification of copies (vidimering), usually copies of passports or grades before studying or working abroad.
Cover of signature
Attestation of signature means that we witness your signature. You must therefore appear in person at our expedition and sign your document. if you have difficulty visiting us at the office, you can contact us, we will solve it for you!
Power of attorney
If you buy/sell real estate abroad, you need a power of attorney legalized and apostille for the Hague Convention countries or legalized from the Department of Foreign Affairs and the embassy.
In this situation, we will help you to apostille/legalize your power of attorney, depending on the country in which you will use it.
You must print the power of attorney that you intend to use, visit us or send to us, together with your identification, we will notarize your signature first and then apostille it or get it legalised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since its respective embassy.
Apostille
Apostille is an authorized stamp on a document that certifies that a signature on it is genuine. When a document has received an apostille, it no longer needs to be legalized or approved in any way, for those countries that have joined the Hague Convention.
Notaries public and assistant notaries public are authorized to issue certificates according to Article 6 of the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 on the abolition of the requirement for legalization of foreign public documents (apostille).
For more information regarding apostille, you can read here.
How can Legalisering.se help me get in touch with a Notary Public?
We work with a network of Notaries Public which enables us to assist with the legalization of documents around Sweden. We also arrange multiple company visits to allow multiple signatories/signatures to be witnessed at the same time. This is to ensure that document processing is handled efficiently. For further information about our legalization services, please use our digital contact form.
