Business
Contract legalisation
A contract's signatures are first certified in Finland (DVV or a notary, depending on the document), and then it gets an apostille or goes through the full legalisation chain, depending on the destination country. The UAE, Kuwait and Qatar require the full chain. We handle it for your company.
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Contract legalisation: the key facts
- Signature certification
- Required. For a contract signed on behalf of a company, DVV confirms the signatories' competence; private persons' signatures are certified by a notary public. We check from the document which one is needed.
- Apostille or legalisation
- The destination country decides. For Hague Convention countries, Saudi Arabia included, a DVV apostille is enough. The UAE, Kuwait and Qatar require full consular legalisation.
- Price
- Service fee €100 per document + authority fees. For the full chain DVV from €27 and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs €30 per signature, plus the embassy fee. For apostille countries the notarisation and the DVV apostille €38.
- UAE
- A commercial contract falls in the UAE embassy's commercial class: AED 2 000 (about €468). Depending on its content a contract can be charged as several documents, so we confirm the class and the price before we start.
- Time
- UAE Finnish stages typically 2 to 3 working days, Kuwait and Qatar about 1 to 2 weeks.
- Invoicing
- Agreed per company: e-invoice or email invoice. New and foreign customers may be asked for an advance payment.
What's needed
When does a contract need legalising?
When a contract is presented to a foreign authority, court, bank or register, it may require legalisation to confirm its authenticity. A contract's signatures are first certified in Finland, after which it proceeds to an apostille or full legalisation depending on the destination.
Process
How legalisation proceeds
- 01
1. Certification in Finland
The signature is first certified in Finland, depending on the document: DVV's confirmation of the signatory's competence (€27 per signature) or a notary public's certification. For Hague Convention countries the document then gets a DVV apostille.
- 02
2. Ministry for Foreign Affairs
The Finnish MFA legalises the document for the full chain (€30/signature).
- 03
3. Embassy
The destination country's embassy in Helsinki attests the document.
- 04
4. Destination MFA
Final attestation at the destination country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on arrival.
Destinations
Which countries are contracts usually legalised for?
Contracts are legalised for export and partnership relationships. Common destinations include:
- United Arab Emirates (UAE) · full legalisation
- Kuwait and Qatar · full legalisation
- Saudi Arabia · apostille (since 2022)
- Hague Convention countries · apostille
Destinations
Chain and fees by country
The destination country decides which chain the document goes through. Below are the requirements, authority fees and chain steps for each country; you get an exact quote and timeline before we start.
The UAE
Sales, agency and distribution agreements often have to be legalised to be accepted by the destination country's authorities and courts. The UAE is not a member of the Hague Apostille Convention, so an apostille alone is not accepted. The document goes through the full consular chain. We handle every stage for you.
Chain steps
- 1Attesting the signatures
- 2Ministry for Foreign Affairs
- 3Embassy legalisation
- 4Confirmation at destination
The total consists of authority fees (DVV from €27 per signature, MFA €30 per signature; the embassy charges about €35 (AED 150) for standard documents and about €468 (AED 2 000) for commercial ones, the classification decides) and our service fee (€100).
Kuwait
Kuwait is not a member of the Hague Apostille Convention, so an apostille alone is not accepted. The document goes through the full consular chain. We handle every stage for you.
Chain steps
- 1Attesting the signatures
- 2Ministry for Foreign Affairs
- 3Embassy legalisation
- 4Confirmation at destination
The total consists of authority fees (DVV from €27 per signature, MFA €30 per signature; the Kuwaiti Embassy in Stockholm confirms its own fee per order) and our service fee (€100).
Qatar
Qatar is not a member of the Hague Apostille Convention, so an apostille alone is not accepted. The document goes through the full consular chain. We handle every stage for you.
Chain steps
- 1Attesting the signatures
- 2Ministry for Foreign Affairs
- 3Embassy legalisation
- 4Confirmation at destination
The total consists of authority fees (DVV from €27 per signature, MFA €30 per signature; the embassy fee depends on document type and is confirmed once the embassy has received the documents) and our service fee (€100).
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia joined the Hague Apostille Convention on 7 December 2022, so a DVV apostille is all that is needed. The full consular chain no longer applies. We still confirm the receiving party's requirements, as some authorities additionally ask for an official translation.
Chain steps
- 1Attesting the signatures
- 2DVV apostille
The total consists of the notarisation, the DVV apostille (€38) and our service fee (€100). We confirm the exact price before we start.
The cost builds up step by step: DVV from €27/signature, MFA €30/signature, an embassy fee that depends on the country and document class, our service fee €100. The final cost depends on the destination country.
See legalisationFAQ
Frequently asked questions
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