Authentication of documents in Nigeria, like most procedures that involve government institutions, can be stressful and confusing for people not familiar with the process. To simply the process for you, this detailed guide explains the steps involved and the key points to note about authentication at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abuja (where authentication of documents is done). Depending on your specific purposes, you may need to authenticate documents such as academic results, birth certificate, marriage certificate, company incorporation (CAC) documents, police character certificate and other documents you intended for use abroad.
In general, the key steps to authenticate documents in Nigeria at the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs may be summarized as follows:
- Get a Notary Public to notarize the document – if required by the embassy or destination country (e.g. Chinese Embassy and Qatar Embassy), otherwise you may skip this step.
- Take the document to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters in Abuja and fill the authentication forms at the Legal Services Division (LSD) of the Ministry.
- Obtain the applicable official document authentication fees for the document(s) you wish to attest, which is priced per page and then head to any major commercial bank to make a REMITA payment to the designated government account (provided by the assigned officer of the Legal Services Department).
- After making payment, return to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Legal Services Department to deposit the proof of payment (bank deposit tellers) and obtain an acknowledgement receipt issued by the ministry.
- Submit the document for authentication at the appropriate desk of the LSD at the ministry, after which you would be told when to check back for the authenticated document.
There is no guarantee that the document authentication process would be completed at the recommended date, so you need to be patient and possibly endure repeated visits to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to ascertain the status of the authentication process.
The time frame for authentication of documents in Nigeria may depend on the kind of document or certificate in question, as different documents may require different follow up actions on the part of the ministry, prior to final authentication.
Accordingly, it is important to shed more light on the requirements for attestation of documents commonly handled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nigeria.
Authentication of Birth Certificate or Attestation of Birth
The Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs would authenticate birth certificate after determining that it is duly issued by the National Population Commission (NPC), or that an affidavit to that effect is duly sworn or attested to at an appropriate court.
Note that birth certificates issued outside Nigeria (for individuals born abroad) cannot be authenticated by Nigeria’s ministry of Foreign Affairs. Instead, you have to authenticate it in the issuing country (i.e. country of birth).
Authentication of Marriage Certificate, Divorce Certificate, and Single Status Affidavit
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will authenticate marriage certificate only after determining that the marriage was duly contracted and that the certificate is authentic and issued by a competent registry or court.
On the other hand, authentication of divorce certificate by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is usually very rigorous and time-consuming if you follow the official protocol.
The Ministry will need to confirm that the divorce certificate is authentic, and was duly issued by a court to dissolve a lawfully contracted marriage.
Single Status Affidavit is also authenticated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after determining that you deposed a legal affidavit affirming that you are indeed single and not currently in any marriage contracted under customary or statutory law.
Authentication of Police Character Certificate
The Police Character Certificate is the equivalent of what is known as Certificate of Good Standing in other countries abroad.
It essentially certifies that you do not have a criminal record and that you are not facing any criminal investigation in Nigeria currently. In other words, the Police Character Certificate certifies that your character is ‘clean’ in terms of criminal matters in Nigeria.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the only body authorized to authenticate a police character certificate. Note that there’s are two types of police character certificate. There is the old standard, which comes in two pages – the main certificate/information page and an accompanying fingerprints and identity photograph page. The second type of police character certificate is the new standard digital certificate typically delivered via email, which comes in a single page bearing all information, your identifying photograph, and a confirmable QR code. You need to confirm with the embassy or consular authority to be sure which type of police character certificate will be acceptable. As a general rule, however, the new standard digital form police character certificate is typically required for diasporan Nigerians who live abroad.
Nigerian International Passport Data Page
After confirming that your passport number corresponds with a duly issued and authentic Nigerian passport, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will authenticate your passport data page to validate your identity in line with the embassy’s requirement.
Authentication of Results and Academic Certificates (Degree Certificate, Transcripts, WAEC, NECO, Etc.)
To authenticate your academic results or other academic documents at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, you must first certify the documents at the Ministry of Education. However, as of January, 2024, the Ministry of Education has issued new prerequisites for the authentication of degree certificates, HND, OND, and other similar certificates issued by higher institutions in Nigeria.
The Ministry of Education now requires that before presenting your degree or similar high institution certificate for authentication, you must first get your school to verify the degree certificate. Your school would address the verification letter to the Ministry of Education, and effectively confirm that you graduated from the school at the date and with the grade indicated on your certificate. A sample of this degree verification letter is provided below for guidance purposes:
Sample of degree verification letter to be obtained from your higher institution
EDIT: As of October 2024, the Ministry of Education seems to have revised this verification requirement. Rather than having to obtain the verification letter from your higher institution, the Ministry of Education now directly contacts your school to verify the result via official channels. This means that, as things stand, you are no longer required to contact your school for by yourself for the purpose of verification.
Since the purpose of authentication or attestation is to certify that a document is authentic and duly issued by the appropriate authority, the Ministry of Education has the responsibility to determine the authenticity of your degree certificate, WAEC, etc. After the Ministry of Education certifies the academic document, you can then take it to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for authentication.
Bear in mind that these academic documents will be authenticated on a page by page basis. For example, if you want to attest your university transcripts, each page of the transcripts must be authenticated separately and costed accordingly.
Authentication of Other Documents
In addition to the common documents mentioned above, there are numerous other documents that you may need to authenticate, depending on the purpose for which you intend to use them in the destination country. Some of these other documents include:
- Corporate documents (Corporate Affairs Commission CAC Certificate of Incorporation, notarized contracts, affidavits, etc.)
- Letter of Sponsorship
- Medical Report
- Declaration of Assets and Income
- Bank Statements
- Etc.
The authentication of these documents by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs generally follow some kind of confirmatory actions to determine their authenticity and legal status.
Helpful Information and Important Points to Note
If you need to authenticate documents in Nigeria, it is advisable to make thorough inquiries from the embassy of your destination country (or the foreign authorities you will present the documents to) whether any additional conditions ought to be fulfilled as part of the legalization requirements.
For example, the Italian Embassy in Nigeria typically requires the authentication receipt issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for legalization of Italy bound documents. In essence, when you must present the receipt along with the authenticated documents when dealing with the Italian Embassy.
For individuals traveling to countries like Poland, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Malaysia, Czech Republic, and India for studies, the embassies typically require what is known as Letter of Eligibility along with the authenticated academic documents.
The letter of Eligibility is issued by the Ministry of Education a part of the procedure to certify your documents (especially degree certificate). In this case, you must obtain the Letter of Eligibility from the Ministry of Education, and then authenticate the letter along with your degree certificate and other academic documents at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Assistance for Authentication of Documents in Nigeria (Apostille/Attestation/Legalization Services)
We provide very reliable apostille services for people who need to authenticate documents in Nigeria. No matter the document or certificate you need to authenticate, you can get it done faster and more conveniently by engaging our services to handle the process on your behalf (exceptions apply).
This service is especially useful if you are based outside Abuja, or even outside Nigeria, and you need a reliable agency to get your document authentication or legalization done and delivered to your location.
Our customers value the promptness and reliability with which we execute document authentication services and facilitate the logistics of delivering attested documents to their various locations.
If you place great premium on your time, convenience and peace of mind, you may want to contact us to discuss your document authentication and legalization needs.
Email: Antarchconsulting@yahoo.com
Phone: +234 905 6137 169
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