Under the new Regulation on Public Documents there is no need for certified and notarised translations of certain public documents issued by EU member states.
The Regulation on Public Documents (Regulation 2016/1191), which was enacted on the 6 July 2016 was officially implemented in all EU member states from the 16th of February 2019. The Regulations govern the authentication and the circulation of certain public documents.
The Regulation removes the requirement for public documents such as birth certificates and marriage certificates originating from another EU member state to be notarised or translated before being submitted to the authorities of another EU member state.
EU citizens living in Ireland are often required to submit an official document from their home state such as their birth certificate or marriage certificate to the Irish authorities. Examples of this arise when an EU national is applying for a Certificate of Naturalisation, the INIS require a certified translated copy of their birth certificate to be submitted with the application. Or when applying for a visa to enter the State as the spouse of an EU national pursuant to the Citizen’s Rights Directive 2004/38/EC (commonly known as the Free Movement of Persons Directive) the visa office will require a notarised and certified translated copy of the marriage certificate if not in English. The documents also had to contain an Apostille stamp to verify that they were a genuine authentic document.
The Regulation on Public Documents (Regulation 2016/1191), which applies from 16 February 2019 ends this requirement. From this date official public documentation issued by another EU member state do not need to contain the Apostille stamp.
Member states must also accept certified copies of documents from the originating country. They can no longer insist that a person provides both the original and certified copy.
The Regulation removes the requirement for citizens to furnish to the requesting authority a translation of their official document. It also provides the option of requesting a multilingual version of the document which is available in all EU languages from their home country. The multilingual version can be attached to the relevant document, for example to their birth certificate. A certified translated copy which can often be expensive to obtain can no longer be required.
So if a person is applying for a visa to enter Ireland, and a document issued by another EU member state which is not in English is required as part of the application, they no longer have to submit a separate certified translated copy. The official multilingual form attached to the relevant document is sufficient.
The actual legal recognition of the document is not covered by the Regulations. This is still subject to the national laws of the country where the document is submitted.
If you have had a problem in submitting an official document to the Irish authorities which has been issued by another EU member state, do not hesitate to contact the team of expert solicitors at Sinnott Solicitors today on 0035314062862 or info@sinnott.ie to discuss the issue further.
