Apostille

Last modified: 15. November 2022

AUTHENTICATION - official documents to be legalised in Hungary

Do I need Apostille?
Several authorities or other bodies (for example university) of foreign countries only accept documents issued by the Hungarian authorities if the documents are legalized for international use. Please check it at the country you are going to use your decree, whether the Hungarian decree is accepted automatically or need authentication.

The procedure consists of two steps:

1. The attestation of the validity of degrees obtained in Hungarian higher education institutions and other certificates issued by the institutions falls within the competence of the Consultation Office of the Educational Authority (Oktatási Hivatal).  If you wish to attain the interim authentication stamp for your higher education qualification, you need to bring your qualification to the Consultation Office of the Education Authority during office hours.
   Address: 19-21. Maros street, H-1122 (XII. district) Budapest
   Office hours in person: Monday-Thursday: 8.00–12.00 and 13.00–16.00, Friday: 8.00–13.30
   Office hours on phone and via E-mail: Monday-Thursday: 8.00–16.30, Friday 8.00–14.00
   Phone: (+36-1) 374-2100
   E-mail: info@oh.gov.hu
   Web: https://www.oktatas.hu/kapcsolat/kozponti_ugyfelszolgalat 
   https://www.oktatas.hu/felsooktatas/apostille_kulfoldi_fel_okirat_felulhit
   Please note that the Office is only able to authenticate documents that contain the original stamp and signatures of the issuing higher education institution, consequently, the office can only stamp and sign the original documents or their copies certified by the issuing higher education institution.
   Prior to bringing your documents, please send their scanned copy to the Education Authority to the address info@oh.gov.hu. The Office will contact the issuing institution and once the institution confirms the validity of the documents, they shall inform you. Only following this procedure should you bring your documents to the Consultation Office.
   It is not possible to conduct the authentication procedure by mail, thus the Office requests that you or a person representing you (no formal authorization is necessary) bring the documents to the Consultation Office in person during the office hours.
   There procedure is free of charge in the Educational Authority, and it is not necessary to make an appointment.
2. The issuing of the Hague Apostille, thus the international authentication of Hungarian documents falls within the competence of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
   The Educational Authority’s competence is the interim authentication, following which the stamped documents should be submitted in person by you or by an authorized person to the Consular and Legal Affairs Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs during office hours. (Address: Ministry of Foreign Affairs – „E” Building 4. Nagy Imre square, H-1027 Budapest).
   The consular fee of legalisation is 5,500 HUF per signature, which amount must be paid upon submission of the document. We have introduced card payment at the customer service. Costumer hours: Monday to Thursday from 9.00am to 12.00pm.
   After the submission of the documents, the administrator will provide information on the exact date when the documents will be available for collection.
   The processing time of the documents is governed by Act CL of 2016 on General Public Administration Procedures. A simplified summary proceeding (processing time maximum 8 days) will be used if the application is complete, and all the necessary data are at the authority’s disposal. Otherwise, the full processing time will be up to 60 days.

For more information, please visit: https://konzuliszolgalat.kormany.hu/information-on-the-legalisation-procedure-of-documents-to-be-used-abroad