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.

Following a change in the law, the German missions will no longer be able 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

Foreign documents or certificates are often only recognized by the authorities of a state if their authenticity and evidentiary value has been determined by a special procedure. A range of internationally accepted procedures has been developed for this purpose. In most cases, documents which are to be used in legal procedures in Germany have to be proven authentic through means of either an “Apostille” or legalization.

An “Apostille” is a certificate of authenticity issued by a designated authority in a contracting state to The Hague Convention on Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents of 5 October 1961. Zimbabwe, unlike Germany, is not a contracting state to this convention. Thus “Apostilles” cannot be issued for Zimbabwean documents; they need to be legalized before being submitted to German authorities.

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. Please note that laminated documents cannot be stamped for legalization. In cases where the original document has been laminated, authentic copies of the same, obtained from the relevant ministry and certified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade will be accepted.

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.