Good News Getting Residency

Apostille – An “apostille” is a form of authentication issued to documents for use in countries that participate in the 1961 Hague Convention. A list of countries that accept apostilles is provided by the Hague Conference on International Law and is available here.

Hello readers:
I am glad to inform you than Nicaragua now is part of The Hague Convention (Apostille Treaty) which entered into force in Nicaragua on 14 May 2013, abolishing the requirement for legalization or authentication of foreign public documents by the local and state authorities and by the Nicaraguan Consulate abroad, for the countries which are members of the Convention.
According with article 1 of the Convention: “The present Convention shall apply to public documents which have been executed in the territory of one Contracting State and which have to be produced in the territory of another Contracting State.
For the purposes of the present Convention, the following are deemed to be public documents:
a)  documents emanating from an authority or an official connected with the courts or tribunals of the State, including those emanating from a public prosecutor, a clerk of a court or a process-server (“huissier de justice“);
b)  administrative documents;
c)  notarial acts;
d)  official certificates which are placed on documents signed by persons in their private capacity, such as official certificates recording the registration of a document or the fact that it was in existence on a certain date and official and notarial authentications of signatures.
However, the present Convention shall not apply:
a)  to documents executed by diplomatic or consular agents;
b)  to administrative documents dealing directly with commercial or customs operations”.
In Nicaragua as of now any residency applicant under any sub category from the countries under the Convention, just need to Apostille their documents – Birth Certificate, Police Record,  Health Certificate, Marriage LicensePension letter etc., and have them translated to be accepted in Nicaragua.This new rule will make a simpler process to the people who need to submit their documents in Nicaragua as retirees, foreign investors, missioners, etc. In any country part of the Convention of Hague there is an office or agency from the government to Apostille public documents, with is small seal the document is accepted in any other country member of the Convention; the document must be stamp in the back part or in an extension of the document, the small seal will be done in the official language of the authority which issues it. The standard terms appearing therein may be in a second language also. The title “Apostille (Convention de La Haye du 5 octobre 1961)” shall be in the French language.
In USA the agency in charge to Apostille is NAAS – National Association of Secretaries of States – and can be contacted by: http://www.nass.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=262&Itemid=484
I am afraid Canada is not part of the Convention of Hague for Apostille, so they must continue authenticating. They have two options:
First legalized in the Department of Foreign Affair and International Trade in Ottawa, and then in any Nicaraguan Consulate in USA.
Second and faster is to legalize in Canada in the Department of Foreign Affair and International Trade, in Ottawa and then in the Canadian Consulate in Managua, for retirees is free of charge.
The list of the countries is:Albania, Alemania, Andorra, Antigua y Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaiyán, Bahamas, Barbados, Belarús o Bielorrusia, Bélgica, Belice, Bosnia y Herzegovina, Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Cabo Verde, China Popular, Chipre, Colombia, Cook, Islas, Corea del Sur, Costa Rica, Croacia, Dinamarca, Dominica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Eslovaquia, Eslovenia, España, Estados Unidos de América*,Estonia, Fiji (Fiyi), Finlandia, Francia, Georgia, Granada, Grecia, Honduras, Hungría, India, Irlanda, Islandia, Israel, Italia, Japón, Kazajstán, Kirguistán, La ex República Yugoslava de Macedonia, Lesotho, Letonia, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lituania, Luxemburgo, Malawi, Malta, Marshall, Islas, Mauricio, México, Mónaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Namibia, Nicaragua, Niue, Noruega, Nueva Zelandia, Omán, Países Bajos, Panamá, Perú, Polonia, Portugal, Reino Unido de Gran Bretaña e Irlanda del Norte, República Checa, República de Moldavia, República Dominicana, Rumania, Rusia, Federación de, Saint Kitts-Nevis(San Cristobal y Nieves), Samoa, San Marino, San Vicente y las Granadinas, Santa Lucía, Santo Tomé y Príncipe, Serbia, Seychelles, Sudáfrica, Suecia, Suiza, Suriname, Swazilandia, Tonga, Trinidad y Tabago, Turquía, Ucrania, Uruguay, Uzbekistán, Vanuatu, Venezuela.
Best Regards,
Paul Tiffer
Attorney at Law
Paul Tiffer is a English-speaking lawyer in Managua with the firm Tiffer & Asociados. He can be reached at tel. (505) 8884-1652 , or by email: [email protected]

Update to Article on Apostille

From Canada, you must be notarized and then send it to the Foreign Affair and International Trade Department in Ottawa, they will be stamped, so this document can be legalized in the Canadian Embassy in Managua, if you are a retiree it is free of charge for you.

From USA, you must be legalized in USA using the apostille, the link I posted before will explain how, once apostille, those documents will be legal and accepted in Nicaragua according the Hague Convention.

Best Regards,

Paul Tiffer
Attorney at law
[email protected]

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