Studying at the University of Vienna

Legalisation

Whether you need to have your documents legalised and translated before applying depends on which country they come from. You can find out here what requirements apply to your documents.

Ian Ehm

These documents must be legalised

You will need these legalisations

Look up the country of issue of your documents in the list of countries and find out what legalisation is required. Documents from an EU/EEA country or Switzerland are exempt from all legalisation requirements.

Your steps towards legalisation

Have you checked the list of countries to see what type of legalisation is required for your documents? We explain the four options and how to proceed in each case.

This is how you get your full diplomatic certification:

Inform yourself in the issuing country about the national public authority responsible for legalising documents. The process of legalisation usually begins at the ministry of education, followed by the ministry for foreign affairs. In some countries, in lieu of the ministry of foreign affairs, the ministry of justice is responsible for legalising documents. Finally, the appropriate Austrian representation authority (embassy or consulate) issues an over-legalisation. 

Have your documents legalised by the relevant authorities at both ministries.

Schedule an appointment with the appropriate representation authority and provide them with your legalised documents. The embassy or consulate will issue an over-legalisation.

Please have your documents translated if they were not issued in German or English. Please ensure you follow the guidelines for translation.

Scan all pages of your documents, including all seals and (if necessary) the translation. After assuring yourself that the scan is legible, combine your documents into a PDF-file. Follow the next steps in the admission procedure.

This is how you get your apostille:

Inform yourself in the issuing country which national public authority may issue an apostille, and if there are any requirements.

The apostille can be added on the document itself, on an attached page, or by means of an electronic apostille. Do not detach the apostille! The apostille must attest any signature(s) by the issuing educational institution (directorate, rectorate, or deanship) that the document bears and not the signature of the notary or translation agency.

Please have your documents translated if they were not issued in German or English. Please ensure you follow the guidelines for translation.

Scan all pages of your document, including all seals and (if necessary) the translation. After assuring yourself that the scan is legible, combine your documents into a PDF-file. Follow the next steps in the admission procedure.

DDocuments issued in certain countries do not need to be diplomatically certified. However, we require an official translation in German or English, if the documents were not issued in either of these languages.

Documents issued in an EU/EEA country or Switzerland are exempt from all legalisation requirements.

The over-legalisation by the Austrian representation authority is deferred in some countries. In this case, you only need the domestic attestation clauses of the ministry of education and the ministry of foreign affairs.

Getting your documents translated

We only accept documents in German or English. If they are written in another language, please have them translated. Please note the following points:

  • Have your documents translated by translators who are sworn in and certified by the courts.
  • The translation must be attached to the original document in such a way that they cannot be separated. Do not detach them – not even when scanning! Otherwise, the translation will be invalid.
Ian Ehm

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