Document Authentication
1.
Details of requirements that must be
fulfilled for documents issued by Ethiopian government offices.
1.1.
Birth, marriage, death certificates and
documents declaring applicant's marital status as single
Documents issued by
Addis Ababa city administration municipality and in sub-cities and Dire Dawa
city Administration Municipality shall be given services without any requirements
of certification.
Where a document is
issued by different organs of national regional governments, the document shall
be certified by the concerned regional bureau.
Where birth and a marriage certificate is issued by religious institutions; it shall be certified
by supreme organs of the respective religious institutions residing in Addis
Ababa.
Death certificates
issued by medical institutions shall be certified, in the case of documents
issued by institutions in Addis Ababa and Dire-Dawa by the respective health
bureaus and in the case of regional governments by regional health bureaus.
Death certificates
and documents declaring a status of the applicant as single shall not be issued by
religious institutions and where such document is submitted to the directorate
such documents shall not be regarded as a valid document.
1.2.
Educational Credentials
1.2.1.
Elementary school and high
school transcripts
Educational
documents issued by educational institutions in Dire Dewa and Addis Ababa shall
be certified by education bureaus of the respective cities.
All
Educational documents issued by regional educational institutions shall be
certified by regional education health bureaus.
1.2.2. Grade
10 and 12 General School Leaving Certificate Examination
Certificates attesting completion of 10th
and 12th grade shall be authenticated by the National Examination Agency of
Ethiopia.
1.2.3. Education
diplomas and certificates
Diplomas issued by regional technical and
vocational training institution shall be authenticated by regional technical
and vocational agencies, and diploma certificates issued by private colleges
shall be authenticated by Addis Ababa Technical and Vocational Agency. Degree
certificates issued by private colleges shall be authenticated by Higher Education
Quality and Relevance Agency.
1.2.4. Graduate
and post-graduate degrees from Ethiopian private universities
Documents issued by private and
non-governmental institutions shall be authenticated by the Ethiopian Higher
Education Quality and Relevance Agency.
1.2.5. Education
documents from Ethiopian public universities signed and sealed by the relevant
registrar offices
Documents issued by Addis Ababa
University and institutions under the university shall be certified by the
University Registrar.
Documents issued by Higher Education
institutions and universities in regional governments shall be certified by
registrar office of the issuing institution.
1.3. Medical
certificates and other documents issued by medical institutions
Documents issued by the medical
institutions in Dire Dewa and Addis Ababa shall be certified by respective
health bureaus.
Documents issued by medical institutions
in regions shall be certified by regional health bureaus or authorized regional
body.
Documents issued by medical institutions
under the Ministry of Health shall be certified by the Ministry.
1.4.
Driving License
Driving a license issued by regional offices shall be certified by regional transport
bureaus.
Where
it is required to authenticate driving license and other documents issued in
relation to the profession of driving by city administrations (Addis Ababa and
Dire Dewa) and regional states it shall be certified by the respective transport
bureaus.
1.5.
Forensic (criminal record)
evidence
Any
forensic or criminal record evidence shall be issued by the Federal Police
Forensic Bureau.
1.6.
Ethiopian Passport copy
Where
authentication of a passport copy is required, the copy shall be authenticated
by the Main Department of Immigration and Nationality Affairs.
1.7.
Documents related to court
Judgment, Order Decree
Documents
issued by first instance courts of Addis Ababa and Dire Dewa city
administrations shall be authenticated by the registrar of the issuing court.
Documents
issued by courts of all level in national regional states shall be
authenticated by the registrar office of the Supreme Court or by any other
authorized body.
Documents
issued by the Federal High Court and Federal Supreme Court shall be
authenticated by the registrars of the respective courts.
Documents
issued by the Sharia courts shall be authenticated by the Supreme Council of
Ethiopian Islamic Affairs.
1.8.
Power of Attorney,
Declaration, Affidavits
Documents
issued by Addis Ababa and Dire Dewa city administrations and national regional the state shall be authenticated by document authentication and registration
offices established at all levels.
Documents
issued by different organs of the national regional state, shall be authenticated
by regional states justice bureaus or documents authentication and registration
offices.
1.9.
Translated Documents
Applicants
submitting translated documents for authentication shall also furnish the original document that fulfilled the preconditions set for such documents.
Translation
of documents shall be done by a translation office that has a valid translation
license.
Documents
translated by translation offices in Addis Ababa and Diredewa shall be
authenticated by the documents authentication and registration offices in the
respective cities.
Documents
translated in various languages in translation offices of national regional the state shall be authenticated by regional justice bureaus or documents
authentication offices.
Applicants
requesting authentication shall submit the original document attached with the
translated document to be authenticated.
1.10.
Trade license and trade
related documents
Documents
issued by the Addis Ababa and Diredewa trade bureaus shall be certified by the
same authorities.
Documents
issued by Addis Ababa city Administration Sub-cities shall be certified by the
issuing sub-city or by Addis Ababa Trade and Industry Bureau.
Documents
issued by regional state bureaus shall be certified by the relevant bureaus.
Certificate
of origin shall be certified by the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce or Authorized
Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Documents
related to quarantine and sanitation of export products shall be certified by
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and its branch offices.
1.11.
Investment license and
investment-related documents
Documents
issued by Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa city administration offices shall be
certified by Addis Ababa and Diredewa investment bureaus.
Documents
issued by various organs of national regional states shall be certified by the
relevant organ.
Documents
issued by the Federal Investment Agency shall be certified by authorized
official.
1.12. Adoption
documents
Documents originating from Ethiopia shall
be issued by a court of law having the requisite jurisdiction certified by the
issuing the court's registrar.
1.13. Documents
related to the declaration of matters titled "to whom it may concern"
Documents issued by Woredas of Addis
Ababa City Administration shall be certified by Sub-Cities or the City
Administration.
Documents issued by Diredewa city
administration shall be certified by the Regional Justice Bureau.
Documents issued by various organs of
national regional states shall be certified by the regional justice bureau of
the issuing region or any authorized bureau.
Documents issued by the federal government
organs shall be certified by authorized officials of the issuing organ.
1.14. Other
relevant documents not included in the above categories
Documents not included in the categories
1-14 shall only be authenticated when submitted after duly being authenticated
by the relevant government body.
Documents issued by any non –governmental the organization shall be certified by a governmental organ mandated to issue
operation license to the organization.
1.15. Documents
originating from foreign countries
Any document originating from a foreign the country shall be authenticated by Ethiopian mission in the concerned country or
the country's mission to Ethiopia before it is submitted for authentication by
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Where there is no Ethiopian mission in
the country of the origin of the document or where the country has no mission
in Ethiopia, the document shall be in authenticated in a convenient country
first by the mission of the country where the document originated and second by
Ethiopian mission.
2. Previously
issued documents require replacement or renewal,
2.1. When
the documents issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs require renewal and
documents submitted must be originals
2.2. When
the documents issued by the Ministry are found incorrect in details and when
they are submitted for replacement or for renewal.
3.
Request letters for document
authentication services shall be served,
3.1.
When various organizations request for
authentication over the verification of the doubtful of the issuance of the
documents.
3.2.
When foreign missions based in Addis Ababa,
regional and international organizations submit requests for the passes of
their samples of seal mark and signature to the Ethiopian Revenues and Customs
Authority, Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, and other government institutions.
4.
Documents submitted for
authentication timeframe
4.1.
Support letters issued by Ethiopian missions
abroad for the importation of goods by Ethiopians returning to Ethiopia after
completing their stay abroad shall be authenticated within a year starting from
the date of the issuance of letters. If not, the document shall not be
authenticated.
4.2.
If the samples of authorized signature and
stamp of the applicant's education credentials, birth, and death certificates
are found in the Ministry's sample of the signature database, the document can
always be authenticated.
4.3.
With regard to other documents not included in
the above sub-categories, documents can be authenticated if they do not surpass
the two years period starting from the issuance of those documents by the authorized official of the Ministry.
4.4.
As per the above sub-categories, expired
service documents are not legible for authentication.
4.5.
A certified document that surpasses two years
starting from its issuance shall be renewed or changed with a new one for
submission to the authorized institutions.
4.6.
A previously authenticated document by the
Ministry that is required renewal can only access services up to ten years
starting from its issuance.