Certification of signatures

By certifying a signature, the consular officer confirms that the person indicated in the document was physically present and signed it in front of him or her. It is a simple form of authenticating a signature.

German missions are not authorized to carry out identity checks in connection with opening a bank account, taking out a loan and similar purposes. Please ask your bank for further information. The legalisation department is only allowed to certify your signature if you are a student applying for a visa for Germany and need to open a blocked account.

For the certification of a signature, please bring:

- your valid passport

- the document to be signed

Fees:

The fee for the certification of a signature is dependent on the purpose of the certification as well as the value of the matter and can vary between the USD equivalent of 60 to 250 Euros, payable in USD CASH ONLY.

Certified Copies

For certified copies, please bring:

- the original documents,

Fees:

The current fee for the certification of each photocopy is the USD equivalent of 26 Euros depending on the exchange rate (app. 31 US $) payable in USD CASH ONLY.

A fee waiver may be applicable for the first set of copies if you are applying to study at a German University (please bring the application letter).

Legalization

The Embassy can legalize Zimbabwean personal documents such as birth certificates, marriage certificates, non-marriage certificate etc. only if they have been certified by the Zimbabwean Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

For all enquiries, contact the Director for Legal and Consular:

Pearl House, cnr 1^st Street/Samora Machel Avenue , Harare

Telephones: + 263-242-780878

E mail: legalconsular@gmail.com

Once the necessary documents have been certified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, they can be submitted to the Embassy only by making an appointment. Processing time for legalization is up to 7 days. Kindly note that original documents that have been laminated, cannot be legalized. However, german law, specifically, § 438 I ZPO (analogue), allows german authorities to use their discretion to accept unlegalized documents on a case-by-case basis.

As such, if you are in possession of laminated original documents that have not been legalized, you are advised to make a direct enquiry with the relevant german authority about whether that authority is willing to accept your documents in their state.

Kindly note that if you are not able to attend your appointment to submit documents for legalization, you may authorize someone or a lawyer to attend the appointment on your behalf. The authorized person should carry an authorization letter signed by you and a passport/ID at the time of the appointment.

Fees:

The current fee for the legalization is the USD equivalent of 31 Euros per document payable in USD CASH ONLY depending on the exchange rate (app. 37 US $). Kindly note that we kindly bring as close to this amount as possible as change may not be available.

Please refer to the Embassy of Zimbabwe in Berlin for guidance on the legalisation of german certificates for use in Zimbabwe and to the german Federal Foreign Office for guidance on the legalisation of german certificates needed elsewhere internationally.