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.