BIRCHAM INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY

INTERNATIONAL LEGALIZATION

Legalization of your diploma and transcript with the Apostille for all Hague Convention signatory countries or with a Consulate Legalization for those countries NOT signing the Hague Convention.

To order any of these services you must fill out and fax the Graduate Services Order Form that you may download from the BIU Web. >

• Hague Apostille

BIU diploma and academic transcripts can be internationally validated by the Apostille. In accordance with the resolutions reached at The Hague Convention held on October 5th, 1961, documents issued by institutions in one country can be officially legalized in other countries if they are accompanied by a notary certification, the Apostille, which authenticates the signatures and stamps appearing on such documents. Increasingly countries around the world are adopting this validation procedure for its simplicity and worldwide acceptance. All BIU online university degrees & transcripts may be certified and legalized at: the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, the United States of America (State of Delaware) or the European Union (Spain). The Apostille must be issued by the same country the online diploma is issued from. The Apostille automatically validates your diploma in all the countries that signed the Hague Convention. Check the list of countries that accept this Apostille.

• Consulate Authentication

This legalization process is conducted through the embassy of the country where you want the diploma authenticated. This legalization is only valid for this specific country. Check the list of countries that require this type of international legalization.

The Legalization Process
BIU does not issue the legalization of the documents. BIU acts as an intermediary to provide an all inclusive and easy service to the graduates that require the  authentication of their online diplomas and transcripts. The cost of the legalization itself is not expensive. It is the process involving notaries, lawyers and couriers what makes it more costly. Due to the high cost of this process BIU accumulates the legalization orders from the different BIU offices and graduates and establishes the authentication process five times a year. Once the process is completed the documents are collected and sent to BIU and the students.

The common process:

1. An original diploma and transcript must be issued in the country where the legalization will take place.
2. A notary public will verify the corporate good standing of Bircham International University.
3. The BIU registrar will verify in front of the notary the authorized signatures on the diploma and transcript.
4. The BIU registrar will then sign the diploma and transcript at the notary public.
5. The notary public will then certify the validity of the signatures and the BIU documents.
6. The validated documents are presented to a higher body for official legalization:  Official College of Public Notaries in the case of Spain (European Union) or The Secretary of State in the case of the United States of America

In the case of the Hague Apostille

1. The higher body certifies the official legalization of the documents with the Hague Apostille
2. The authenticated documents are sent to the graduate.

In the case of the Consulate Authentication

1. The higher body verifies the authorized signatures accepted by the Embassy of the receiving country.
2. The higher body certifies the official legalization of the documents with the authorized signatures.
3. The certified documents are presented to the receiving country Embassy or consulate.
4. The Embassy legalizes the documents with the Consulate Authentication.
5. This consulate authentication may need to be ratified at the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
6. The authenticated documents are sent to the graduate.

• Timing: 7 to 15 weeks since the order is placed

If the graduate services order form arrives once the process has been started the order will have to wait for the following shipment after 9 weeks. The apostille process itself may take around 5 weeks so expect a processing time ranging 7 to 15 weeks since the order is placed.

Each issuing country has established different formatting styles for the Hague Apostille and Consulate Authentication Certificates. Also the departments in charge of the document authentication are different in each of the issuing countries: USA-Legalization is issued by the Secretary of State in the USA and it consists of a set of additional papers attached to the legalized documents; Spain-Legalization is issued is issued by the National Notary Public with a set of seals stamped on the back of the legalized documents.

Example of Legalization in Spain

Example of Legalization in the USA