In case you need a document issued or verified by a Czech authority, court, notary or the like (e.g. extract from the Commercial Register, extract from the criminal record, marriage or birth certificate, power of attorney, etc.) to use abroad, it is necessary to find out in advance what conditions are set for  its use in the country of destination.

There are usually three possible situations:

• Based on a international agreement between the Czech Republic and the relevant country of destination (or Regulation (EU) 2016/1191 of the European Parliament and of the Council), the document is exempt from any further verification; or

• The international agreement does not apply to the document, but the country of destination is a signatory to the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents of 5 October 1961. In such a case, it is sufficient to provide the document with a so-called apostille clause, an apostille, or

• Neither the bilateral international agreement nor the Hague Convention apply. In such a case, it is necessary to go through the most demanding process and provide the document with so-called superlegalization. This usually means appropriate verifications of the Czech ministries, followed by verification by the diplomatic or consular office of the state in whose territory the document is to be used.