- What is a legalization?
A legalization is an authentication of a document, i.e. a confirmation that a document is true and genuine. Most Swiss documents (including diploma, power of attorneys, birth certificates and many more documents) are not legal in Taiwan without a legalization. This means R.O.C. government offices, Universities, institutions as well as private corporations will often only accept Swiss documents if they have been legalized by an overseas representative office such as ours.
When you are asked to submit a document to an R.O.C. government office, University, institution or a corporation in Taiwan, please always ask them whether they need the document to be authenticated.
- Why are legalizations necessary?
A private or government office overseas usually has no way of knowing whether a document in German, French or Italian is genuine or fake. Most countries in the world therefore request legalizations. Taiwanese documents likewise need to be legalized before they are accepted in Switzerland. Only a few countries with strong bilateral treaties with Switzerland (i.e. many EU-countries) accept Swiss documents without legalization.
The idea behind the process is that it is very difficult for someone in Taiwan to check whether a Swiss document or signature is genuine. But databases with the signatures and stamps of every Taiwanese consular officer exist in Taiwan and can be checked.
- How does the legalization process work? Why can you only legalize documents that have been legalized by a Swiss Chancery? Why can you only legalize Swiss documents?
To legalize a document, someone needs to check whether its contents are true and genuine. Is the signature genuine? Is the signatory authorized to issue this document? Does the attorney/doctor have a license? Is the school/university/institution accredited? Was the driving license really issued by this authority? Did the couple marry at this exact date?
It is almost impossible to answer any of these questions for anyone except for Swiss government officials. For this reason, official Swiss documents will usually have a signature applied to it by a Swiss government official who made the document or verified its content. The signature means that this person takes the responsibility for the authenticity of the document. Since the person who signed the document takes responsibility for the authenticity, we now no longer need to ask whether the information in the document is true, we only need to know if the signature is true.
The same logic applies to personal documents notarized by a Swiss public notary. When someone signs a contract in front of a notary, the notary applies his signature. The notary thus confirms: I guarantee this is the signature of person X, I know it is them because I saw their I.D., and I know it is really their signature, because I saw them sign it. Afterwards, when someone needs to know whether person X really signed the contract, they don’t need to check person X’s signature, they just need to check the notary’s signature. The notary takes responsibility for person X’s signature being genuine.
If the signature is genuine, then the document is as well. Checking if a signature is genuine is a lot easier than checking the document’s contents. For this reason, we essentially make a chain of signatures that confirm the document is genuine.
There are Swiss government offices whose specialty it is to know signatures. They are called the Federal Chancery of Switzerland (Bundeskanzlei, Chancellerie Fédérale), the Chanceries of State (Staatskanzlei, Chancellerie d’État, Cancelleria dello Stato), and the Government Chancery (Regierungskanzlei) of Liechtenstein. They have signature databases for government officials, attorneys, doctors, universities and others. The first step for a legalization is thus to contact the relevant chancery and ask them to legalize your document.
The Swiss Chanceries will check whether the signature of the person guaranteeing the document is genuine. Then they apply their stamp and one of their authorized signatories applies their signature to the document. The chancery’s signature guarantees the other signature.
Our office now has a database with the signatures of the Swiss chanceries. We check their signatures, apply our own and issue a document proclaiming: “We certify that the signature of person X working for the chancery Y is genuine.” All our legalizations also proclaim in Chinese: “Verification by signature, content of document not verified.” All our legalizations will bear our stamp and the signature of our consular officer.
Because the process works this way, there are three immediate consequences for our work:
First, our office can only legalize documents that have previously been legalized by the Swiss Federal Chancery, one of the Chanceries of State or the government Chancery of Liechtenstein. Those are the only offices whose signatures we have and thus the only ones we can verify. The only exceptions to this rule are rare cases, where we legalize your signature on a Chinese document directly (usually either a translation or a power of attorney in Chinese language, for more details on translation legalizations, check question 10 in this FAQ), and legalizations of Taiwanese driver’s licenses.
Second, because the Swiss Chanceries can only legalize Swiss documents, we can only legalize Swiss documents as well. If you have a foreign document, you need to contact the Taiwanese representative office in the document’s country of origin to find out which steps you need to take and which offices you need to contact for a legalization. The only exception is Liechtenstein, since we can legalize documents legalized by the Government Chancery (Regierungskanzlei) of Liechtenstein.
Third, because every canton in Switzerland has its own constitution and laws, the Swiss chanceries don’t necessarily all have the same procedures. Depending on the document, some Chanceries might require you to visit another office first (See also Question 12 in this FAQ). Our office can’t stay updated on all those different procedures. We can’t give you up-to-date information on how the Swiss Chanceries operate.
- I need a legalization for a non-Swiss document. How should I proceed?
We can only legalize Swiss and Taiwanese documents (for the reason, please check question 3). Normally, documents need to be legalized in their country of origin. For example, if you have a German birth certificate, please contact a R.O.C. representative office in Germany on how to proceed.
- Can you give me the address of the relevant Swiss Chancery?
A list of all the Chanceries of State in Switzerland and Liechtenstein with their official names and phone numbers can be found here: https://www.roc-taiwan.org/ch_en/post/124.html
- Can I send the documents to you by post or do I have to come in person?
It depends. Legalizations of ordinary Swiss documents can be sent to us by post. If you want to legalize a translation that you made yourself, you need to make an appointment with us. This includes translations of Taiwanese driver’s licenses.
Please be advised that same-day legalizations are not possible and coming in person does not speed up the legalization process.
- Why do you need a copy of our firm’s registry of Commerce?
There are two reasons: First we need to confirm the identity of the applicant and register who applied for the legalization. For private documents like birth certificates, diploma, etc. this means we need a copy of the passport. For company documents this means we need a copy of the registry of commerce (Handelsregisterauszug).
Second, whenever we legalize a power of attorney for a firm, we need to check in the registry of Commerce that the person issuing the power of attorney is an authorized signatory (unterschriftsberechtigte Person) of the company.
- Can you legalize true copies? Do I have to send you my original diploma?
In general, we can only legalize true copies if we have already legalized the original.
For diploma, we can legalize true copies and make apply the legalization to the copy instead of the original under the following conditions:
- We need to see the original. Even if we legalize the copy and not the original, we still need to check the original.
- The legalization you get from the relevant Swiss State Chancery (or the Federal Chancery in the case of ETH/EPFL) must confirm the authenticity of the signature on your diploma. It must confirm that the signature of the person who issued your diploma is correct.
- Can you translate a document for me?
No. We can legalize translations, but the translation has to be made either by you or a translator. Templates for translating Swiss Excerpts of Civil Status, Birth Certificates, Marriage Certificates and Criminal Records are available together with general instructions for the legalization of a translation under: https://roc-taiwan.org/ch_en/post/3235.html
- Why do translation legalizations work different?
To confirm the authenticity of a translated document, the untranslated original must first be legalized to ensure it is authentic. Then there are two options:
Option 1, if the translation of the document was done by a professional translator, the translator must make a statement declaring this translation is correct and true to the best of their knowledge and apply their signature to the statement. A Swiss public notary has to notarize and confirm the signature of the translator. The signature and stamp of the notary will then be authenticated by a Swiss Chancery and then the translation can be legalized by us.
Option 2, if you made the translation yourself, call us to make an appointment. Bring your passport with you. Our consular officer will confirm your identity and then check your ability to translate the document to ensure it was actually made by you. You will declare in front of our consular officer that this translation is correct and true to the best of your knowledge and sign before the eyes of the consular officer. The consular officer will issue a legalization that confirms the signature is actually your signature. The completed legalization will then be sent to you by post later.
- How long will it take to legalize my document?
When all the necessary documents - including the signed application form - have arrived at our office, it usually takes 3 to 4 working days. However, at busy times during the year, legalizations can take longer. We do not guarantee that 4 working days will suffice.
Express service costs more and is only available upon previous consultation with our office. Under no circumstance can a legalization be issued on the same day. If you send us many documents at the same time, the process will take longer.
- I have heard that before I can legalize my document with a Swiss Chancery, I have to go to X first. Is this true?
We don’t know. State Chanceries are regulated by the cantons of Switzerland. Each State Chancery is subject to the laws and the constitution of its canton, and therefore has its own procedure. Please contact the relevant Chancery and check with them.
- I need to legalize a Taiwanese driving license. How should I proceed?
The relevant information can be found in Chinese at: https://roc-taiwan.org/ch/post/1582.html
- I need to legalize a Taiwanese document for use in Switzerland. How should I proceed?
For the legalization of Taiwanese driving licenses, please check: https://roc-taiwan.org/ch/post/1582.html
For any other documents, our legalizations usually only work if the document is used in Taiwan. The Swiss government needs to legalize Taiwanese documents if they should be used in Switzerland.
The Trade Office of Swiss Industries (TOSI) is the official overseas representative office of Switzerland in Taiwan. They legalize Taiwanese documents for use in Switzerland, issue Swiss passports and grant visa to enter Switzerland. For more information, please check their website at: https://www.eda.admin.ch/countries/taiwan/en/home/representations/trade-office-of-swiss-industries.html
