This service facilitates legalizing foreign documents from abroad to be used in Rwanda. To initiate this process, applicants must first secure legalization from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in their respective country of residence. It's important to note that this service specifically caters to documents from countries not signatories to the Apostille Convention. For documents originating from countries that are signatories to the Apostille Convention, applicants are advised to obtain Apostille certification from the competent authorities in their respective countries. This service is provided by The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (MINAFFET)
The processing time is 3 days, and the service fee depends on the following cases.
If the documents will be used in a country that is part of Apostille Countries, then the application will be free of charge.
If the documents will be used in a country NOT part of Apostille countries, the service cost is 10,000 Rwf.
Find the list of Apostille countries here.
Prerequisites:
Applicants with or without an account can apply for this service
Rwandan applicants must have national IDs, and foreigners must have passport numbers
Foreigners residing in Rwanda must have foreign IDs
Refugees must have Refugee IDs
Conditional attachments depend on the type of ligalization document.
Follow these simple steps to apply for this service.
Step1: Visit IremboGov platform www.irembo.gov.rw ,under legalization services
Step 2: Under legalization services, select “Legalization of public documents from abroad to be used in Rwanda.”.
Step 3: Read the service description and the required attachments and click apply
Step 4: Fill in your information, “ applicant details,” and residence details,” then select the type of documents to be legalized, the Embassy office, and the Name of the foreign legalizing Institution
Step 5: Upload the requested supporting documents and click next.
Note: The attachments will be requested depending on the type of documents to be legalized.
Step 5.1: Required attachments when the documents to be legalized are the Civil Registry Documents
Step 5.2: Required attachments when the documents to be legalized are Academic Documents
Step 5.3: Required attachments when the documents to be legalized are Judicial Documents
Step 5.4: Required attachments when the documents are to be legalized are Notarial acts Documents
Step 6: Verify that the information is true, enter a phone number and email address, check the verification box, and click Submit.
Step 7: A billing Number/ID (88…) will be generated for payment. Click Pay.
Step 8: Applicants choose the mode of payment. For more information about payment modes, click here.
Upon submission, your application will be processed by the selected Embassy offices and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rwanda. You will receive an email or SMS notifying you about any change in the status of your application.
Once the processing officers approve your application, you will receive your e-certificate containing a QR code via email or download it on the IremboGov platform. This QR code will have the legalized documents embedded in it.