Q1007. What steps are involved in getting German document translations certified by the embassy and MFA?

Answered by the NYC Visa & Translation certified translation team

Germany is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention and Thailand is not, so German documents for Thai use follow the full legalisation chain, not an apostille. The sequence: Step 1 — the German document (birth certificate, marriage certificate, certificate of no impediment, commercial register extract) is issued by the Standesamt or local authority, ideally within 3 months of use. Step 2 — pre-certification by the competent German authority (Regierungspräsidium or equivalent, depending on the document type and federal state). Step 3 — legalisation by the German Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt) where required for the document class. Step 4 — legalisation by the Royal Thai Embassy in Berlin. Step 5 — after arrival in Thailand, translation into Thai or English and MFA certification (200/quoted on request per stamp) before submission to the Thai authority. Timing: the German domestic layers typically take 2–6 weeks depending on the state, the Thai Embassy layer about 1–2 weeks, and the Thai-side translation and MFA certification about a week. Cautions: each German federal state has a different pre-certification office, and sending the document to the wrong one restarts the clock; some Thai offices accept the embassy-legalised original plus MFA-certified translation only, so confirm the exact chain with the receiving office before starting.