According The Hague Convention of 1951 for an official document of one country to be valid in another country, it must be officially translated into the language of the destination country and follow an authentication protocol known as “Apostille”. However, Canada didn’t sign that agreement and follows a parallel “Apostille” protocol consisting of the following five steps:
1. Spanish translation by an official translator, professionally typewritten without corrections or erasures, accompanied by the translator’s statement and official accreditations.
2. Certification by Notary Public of the translator’s credentials, signature and seal on the above statement are true.
3. Authentication by the Canadian Provincial Government, that the above Notary’s appointment is real and in good standing, and that the notary’s signature and seal are authentic.
4. Authentication by the Canadian Federal Government (Ministry of Global Affairs in Ottawa) as the following case may be:
a) For Canadian documents: Certifying that the appointment, good standing, signature and seal of the Canadian officer (Registrar, Judge, Minister, etc.) issuing the document are valid (See step [5.a] below).
b) For documents from a third country: Certifying that the signing consular officer of the country which issued the document is accredited with the Canadian government. For example, on the validation of a foreign birth certificate of a naturalized Canadian, just to mention a typical case.
5. Legalization in Canada by the Consulate of the destination country.
a) Consulates of some countries waive the above requisite (4a) for their Consular legalization.
b) Some countries require further authentication of their consular officer by their Ministry of Foreign Affairs in their country.
Sounds complicated? Don’t worry!
In 48 hours (or less) Victor will have your notarized translation (steps 1 & 2) ready for steps 3 to 5, for which you can opt for one of the following alternatives:
1. The Do It Yourself option, where you take care of steps 3 to 5. In this case, together with the notarized translation, Victor will provide you all the details on where to go, payments you have to make at each stop and estimated time frames.
2. The SMAT® option. Based on his 20+ years of experience, Victor can also take care of steps 3 to 5, which for you translates into Saving Money, Aggravation and Time.