The German Embassy will resume the legalization of civil status documents from the Philippines on 02.09.2024.

Legalization of a foreign document constitutes a proof of authenticity for German authorities (Sec. 13, Para. 1-3 Consular Act, Sec. 438 Para. 2 Civil Procedure Law). However, German authorities are generally free to consider and use Philippine documents as authentic without any further formality by way of free assessment of evidence (Sec. 438 Para 1 Civil Procedure Law).

Legalization is carried out exclusively by the German Embassy in Manila and only for Philippine civil status documents that have been authenticated by the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs within the procedure outlined in the following section.

Only civil status documents newly issued by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) within the process described below can be legalized. This includes birth, marriage and death certificates as well as PSA civil status certificates. Civil status documents and Apostilles issued prior to September 02, 2024 cannot be legalized.

If the PSA certificate is illegible, an additional civil status certificate issued by the Local Civil Registrar (LCR) is required.

In case of delayed registration, the following documents must be submitted additionally:

• Baptismal certificate
• Elementary school certificate (Elementary School Permanent Record / Form 137) of the person to be examined. Please do not submit secondary school certificates or college/university transcripts.

Electronic civil status documents and the E-Apostille cannot be legalized.

For the legalization process, no German translations are required.

Procedure and fees

For the legalization of a Philippine civil status document, an authentication by the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs – Office of Consular Affairs (DFA-OCA) is required first. The authentication of DFA-OCA and the legalization by the German Embassy Manila follow a special closed-circuit procedure. An appointment for the legalization at the Embassy is not necessary. Please accurately follow the procedure described below.

Note that the German Embassy Manila cannot answer requests for status updates.

For the authentication and legalization, please proceed as follows:

1. Apply online at PSA for the Philippine document(s) to be newly issued by PSA: https://psahelpline.ph/dfa-apostille

   When applying for a civil status certificate (CEMAR / CENOMAR) make sure that all personal data is consistent with the personal data in your birth certificate.

   Within the PSA application portal indicate the following address as courier/receiving address:

   Authentication Division, DFA Office of Consular Affairs Aseana Business Park, Bradco Avenue, corner Diosdado Macapagal Blvd, Parañaque, 1714 Metro Manila.

   Do not forget to provide your contact information incl. cell phone and email address.

2. Wait for the email confirmation that the document has been delivered to DFA-OCA. Please also check the SPAM folder of your email inbox regularly. Pay for the authentication via Landbank LinkBiz by following the steps indicated in the email.

3. Once the authentication is successfully paid via Landbank LinkBiz, proceed to DFA-OCA (Authentication Division, DFAMPC Courier Unit, EDA Office of Consular Affairs Aseana Business Park, Bradco Avenue, Ecke Diosdado Macapagal Blvd, Parañaque, 1714 Metro Manila) to pay the service fees and hand in additional documents if required.

   The following fees are due to be paid at DFA-OCA:
   

   - Courier fee: PHP 350.00

   - The fee for legalization is 31.16 € per document in accordance with Section I. 7.1 AABGebV (Special Fee Regulation of the Foreign Office), payable in Philippine pesos at the current exchange rate.

   If necessary, hand in additional documents when visiting DFA-OCA:

   If the PSA certificate is illegible, an additional civil status certificate issued by the Local Civil Registrar (LCR) is required.

   In case of delayed registration of at least 12 years, the following documents must be submitted additionally:
   - Baptismal certificate
   - Elementary school certificate (Elementary School Permanent Record / Form 137) of the person to be examined.

   Note: If you are unable to go to the DFA-OCA in person, you can authorize a representative. The representative must provide: Authorization letter of the document owner, copy of a valid ID with the signature of the document owner, Online Appointment letter (if the representative is unrelated to the document owner) as well as copy and original valid ID of the representative.

4. Once the PSA document has been legalized, the courier will deliver it directly to the address you have provided. Applicants may follow up regarding the status of delivery with the contact number indicated in the courier slip.

The Embassy reserves the right not to carry out legalization in case of irregularities.

Note: The Philippines acceded to the Hague Apostille Convention on 12.09.2018. However, the Federal Republic of Germany has declared an objection to the accession of the Philippines, so that documents issued by the Philippines with Apostilles but without legalization by the German Embassy in Manila continue to have no effect in German law.