Home   >   Front Page   >   Featured Articles   >   Legalizing Documents for Residency

Legalizing Documents for Residency

How to legalize your documents to apply for Residency in Nicaragua:

One of the most complicated parts of completing a Residency application is how to legalize the documentation required. Basically any applicant must bring to Nicaragua in originals: a) Birth Certificate. b) Police Record Certificate (usually is a simple letter saying the applicant doesn´t has any criminal record in his/her city), (for a US citizen INTERPOL doesn’t provide information, so it must be obtained from the local police). – c) Health Certificate, which is a letter (on letterhead) from a doctor explaining the applicant is in good health and doesn´t have any contagious diseases. When the applicant is a retiree they must bring the pension letter or document proving the income. Bank statements showing savings are not accepted by the Nicaraguan government for retirees. If they a Rentier or person with a private income, produced by investments in stocks, annuity and so on, the statement must be issued by the company which handles this investment and pays the revenues.

To be legal in Nicaragua and accepted by the Nicaraguan Government, any document must be Apostilled (legalized by a State authority according to the Hague Convention for public documents). 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.

As of now any residency applicant under any category from the countries under the Convention, just need to Apostille their documents – Birth Certificate, Police Record, Health Certificate, Marriage License 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 USA documents can be legalized by every Secretary of State from the State it were issued.-

The list of the countries is:

Albania, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan,Bahamas, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bermuda, Botswana, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Cape Verde, China (Macau), China (Hong Kong), Colombia, Cook Islands, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic,Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Grenada, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Republic of, Latvia, Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malawi, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Republic of Monaco, Montenegro, Namibia ,Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, New Zealand, Niue, Norway, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania , Russian Federation, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines , Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Serbia, Seychelles, Slovakia , Slovenia, South Africa , South Korea, Spain, St. Marteen, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden ,Switzerland , The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Tonga , Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Ukraine ,United Kingdom of Great Britain (U.K) and Northern Ireland, United States of America, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Vatican City and Venezuela. (Country list courtesy of Documents International, LLC US Document Legalization and Apostille services).

The easy way to find where to get Apostille for your documents is to use Google, just write: Apostille in …. The name of the city or state, for example: Apostille in New York; and Google will give you several links to check.

Because Canada is not part of The Hague Convention for public documents, documents can be authenticated at the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and them at the Canadian Consulate in Managua. For Retirees the authentication at the Canadian Consulate in Managua is free of charge.

For further information of the Nicaraguan law for Retired or Rentier People please check http://www.nicaragua-guide.com/residency.html.

*** Please be aware this is an informative article, not a manual to follow, the applicant must ask a professional with experience in this area or topic.

Best Regards,

Paul Tiffer

Nicaraguan Attorney at law

[email protected]