Legalising German Documents for Qatar

Most German documents will need to go through an initial stage of certification. This could be either verification from some governmental authority, or simply the need to take a certified and notarised copy of the original documents. This step in the process is not however needed in the case of government-issued documents such as birth, marriage or death certificates.

As the Qatar Embassy only accepts documents written in either English or Arabic, any documents that are not already in English will need to be translated. The original document is translated from German to English, then the translator will make an affidavit to swear that the translation is accurate. The original document and its translation are then bound together and this bundle is attested.

Check out our translations page to learn more about the different types of translations, and what they're used for.

In the German federated system, prior to federal legalisation, documents must be certified by one of any number of supervisory authorities. These are usually government departments within a specific ministry, and can vary based on locality too. In the case of a sworn translation, once it has been completed, the supervisory authority is the District court that will check the translator or translation company is registered with them before being certified.

Once a document has been seen by the relevant supervisory authority, it can then be presented to the Federal Administration Office (Bundesverwaltungsamt) for legalisation. During this process, the officials will add a paper sticker to the document which is their validation that the supervisory authority certification has been completed correctly.

The final step in Germany is to have the document stamped, known as legalised, by the Qatar Embassy in Berlin. During this stage an official Qatar-government sticker and seal is applied to the document. This confirms to the authorities in Qatar that the document has completed all the required steps in Germany.

Once the document has reached Qatar, it requires a further legalisation stamp by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Qatar which validates that your document has been processed correctly in Germany. Some employers make arrangements to handle this for you, so you should check whether this needs completing by you or not.

In certain circumstances, your document may also require translation into Arabic. Again, your employer may handle this for you so best to check. If required, the whole document and its relevant stamps are translated from English into Arabic by a recognised certified translator. Once the translation has been done, then everything has been completed to make it fully useable within Qatar.