If you want to get married in another EU country or look for work, you may need to present a public document – i.e., a document issued by an authority – such as a birth certificate or a criminal record certificate.

Bilateral international treaties and EU regulations on international document exchange simplify the process that public authorities must follow when processing documents issued in other countries.

Bilateral international treaties

Germany has concluded bilateral agreements with Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Austria, and Switzerland, according to which certain documents are exempt from any certification if they are sealed by the responsible administrative authorities.

International multilingual documents (under CIEC Convention)

Civil status certificates and certificates of no impediment to marriage, which are issued by one of the contracting states according to the model of the Convention of the International Commission (CIEC Convention) for Civil and Civil Status Affairs (CIEC), are exempt from any certification in the EU.

Contracting states of the Vienna CIEC Convention of 08.09.1976 (issuance of multilingual extracts from civil status registers: birth, marriage, and death certificate) are:

• Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Germany, Estonia, France, Italy, Cape Verde, Croatia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Switzerland, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain and Turkey.

Contracting states of the Munich CIEC Convention of 05.09.1980 (issuance of multilingual certificates of marriageability) are:

• Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Moldova, Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Switzerland, Spain and Turkey.

Regulation on public documents (EU) 2016/1191 of 6 July 2016

Furthermore, Regulation (EU) 2016/1191 of 6 July 2016 on public documents simplifies the circulation of certain public documents that must be presented in an EU Member State and have been issued in another EU Member State, thus exempting public documents from the confirmation of authenticity with the Apostille with the aim of reducing administrative burden and costs for citizens.

The Regulation deals with the authenticity of public documents but not with the recognition of their legal effects in another EU Member State. The recognition of the legal effects of a public document continues to be governed by the national law of the EU Member State in which the document is presented.

The Regulation applies to public documents:

• Civil status certificates: birth, life, death, name change
• Marriage certificates, certificates of no impediment to marriage, certificates of single status, the status of registered partnership
• Documents on residence and/or domicile
• Documents on the acquisition or change of citizenship
• Criminal record certificate
• Notarial documents and their notarial copies
• Court judgments

The Regulation also abolishes the obligation to provide a translation of the public document. If the public document is not written in an official language of the EU Member State, authorities may request a multilingual form available in all EU official languages.

The Regulation provides for multilingual forms in 11 areas, which can be attached to a public document to avoid a translation. These forms can be attached to the public document as translation aids in other Member States, so that a translation can be waived.

If, in exceptional cases, the authorities require a certified translation, it is sufficient to have the document translated into the official language of the destination country by a sworn translator and have the translation certified with the translator's seal. The authorities must accept a certified translation of the public document prepared in any EU Member State.

Since February 1, 2020, the United Kingdom is no longer an EU Member State. According to the withdrawal agreement, the conditions for the certification of documents from the United Kingdom apply until 31 December 2020; thereafter, documents from the United Kingdom must be certified for use in the EU with an Apostille.

In summary, the bilateral international treaties, EU regulations, and multilingual document conventions simplify the process for handling public documents issued in other countries. These provisions facilitate the circulation and recognition of documents such as civil status certificates, criminal record certificates, and notarial documents, among others.