Notary Services and Legalisation

Notary Services

According to the Foreign Service Act, Section 13, the foreign service can perform any notary service that a Notarius Publicus in Norway can perform, if it is in favor of a Norwegian citizen or the matter is otherwise connected to Norway or Norwegian interests.

The Embassy in Cairo can perform any notary service that a Notarius Publicus in Norway can perform. This includes, among others:

• Certifying that a document is original.
• Certifying the accuracy of a transcript ("True copy").
• Certifying signatures.
• Certifying that a person is alive (life certificate).
• Certifying that a declaration of intent has been made by a specific person.

The foreign service can only certify a True copy of Norwegian original documents, such as Norwegian passports, diplomas, birth certificates, and certificates of residency. This means that the embassy cannot certify a True copy of other countries' ID documents or other documents issued in other countries.

Legalisation

Legalisation is a formality that may be necessary for a document to have legal effect in a country other than where it was issued. Apostille, on the other hand, is a simplified form of Legalisation that applies to countries that are parties to the Hague Convention on Apostille. Norway has joined this convention, but Egypt is not currently a party to it, and therefore the embassy's verification of documents for use in Norway is included as part of the legalisation process. This is the list of countries that are parties to the Hague Convention on Apostille.

Legalisation means confirmation of a public official's signature, as well as confirmation that the signer holds the position indicated in the document and has the right to issue such a document in that capacity.

Legalisation does not confirm the correctness of the document's contents.

To legalise documents issued in Egypt, the document must be in the original and be translated into English by a state-certified translator, legalised by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs before the Norwegian Embassy in Cairo can certify it. The embassy is not authorised to legalise/certify documents issued outside of Egypt and Libya.

To legalise documents issued in Norway, the procedure described on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website must be followed.

Fees, appointment booking, and processing time

• Apart from True copy, the fee for other notarial services is EGP 515.
• The fee for a True copy is EGP 100 per page or part of a page. The minimum fee is EGP 515.
• There is no fee for notarial services, such as True copy, if the embassy requires the copy as part of its processing of, for example, application for passport or national identification number for first-time passport.
• There is no fee for marriage ceremonies.
• There is no fee for legalisations.
• Fees are regularly adjusted according to the current exchange rates.
• All fees must be paid in cash.

The embassy only performs notarial services and legalisation on Wednesdays by appointment during opening hours, 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Contact us at consular.cairo@mfa.no for an appointment, and note that we do not respond to inquiries about this over the phone. Please provide the following in the email:

• Name.
• Purpose.
• Phone number.
• Preferred date and time of the appointment.