Documents legalization and its recognition within EU

This answer will be short:

Yes, you need every time provide new documents because they must be not older than six months since you applied for those documents.

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

You haven't told us what your current status is in Holland; assuming you already have a permanent residence permit issued in Holland, then that, together with a valid passport,  should suffice for you to travel to and from other Schengen signatory countries, you should be aware that not all EU countries have signed up to the Schengen scheme, for example, there is no way you would be allowed entry to the UK without the appropriate visa.  You should also be aware that Schengen is about travel, not long-term residence in any particular country; there is no link between the 2.

If you are in Holland on a temporary travel/tourist visa, then, unfortunately, no, or perhaps maybe in as much, it will depend on what individual treaties are in place between your home country and where you are travelling to.  The rules regarding legalised documents are from the 1961 Hague Conference on Private International Law; the problem is that not all countries have signed up to it (including Pakistan).  So the fact that not all countries have signed up for it means there is no single yes/no answer to your question.  Your home nation has not signed up, so you need to look at the individual treaties.  You know the Dutch will accept Pakistani apostilled documents and because we know Pakistan is not a signatory of the 1961 convention, then there must be an individual treaty in place to permit this, the same may not be true for other countries, I don't know what treaties Pakistan has signed around the world.

Late addition - On checking there appears to be no regulated length of validity attached to any apostilled document, it is entirely up to the accepting country as to whether they accept your document, or not.  Some countries will accept a document up to 3 months old, some 6, 12 months old.  As posted above, Holland requires them to be less than 6 months old.

Not sure how much I've helped, but if you have any further specific questions, please come back.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

Dear Cynic,

Let me explain you my situation. I was a M.Sc. student in the Netherlands. I obtained my documents legalization from the Embassy of the Netherlands in order to get family reunification visa for my wife. I am my wife lived together in the Netherlands for 1 year and it was really pleasant experience. We returned back to Pakistan once I completed my study period.

Currently, I am pursuing PhD on a scholarship since October 2017, whereas, my wife is still in Pakistan. I have completed all complicated and exhaustive bureaucratic procedures in Italy. Now, the Embassy of Italy simply needs to issue a visa to my wife (similar like Netherlands Embassy issues visa after MVV approval from IND). However, the Embassy of Italy prerequisite documents legalization from their own embassy. This legalization procedure is really complicated (unlike the Netherlands which legalized my documents in one week) and it takes around 2 months according to the outsourcing company who is doing this things on behalf Italian Embassy. 

My wife and I are seriously facing a terrible situation. It has been almost 6 months and now my PhD is on the stake either I sacrifice my PhD or my family. Therefore, I was asking if someone I could get exemption of this 2 months lengthy documents legalization procedure then it could save my time and stressful period being facing homesickness and other issues.
I hope now you can give me a better solution.

Well, the original documents such as birth certificate and marriage certificate are usually issued once in a life time (unless you do not request new documents in case if you have lost them) by the relevant authorities. So, how could someone get new documents after every six month or why should someone take new if they already have the older ones? It sounds illogical for me.
I assume that you are saying the legalization should done every time I apply for any country visa. It also sounds crazy to me because unfortunately in my home country these procedures are really hectic and frustrating.

Hi and thanks for the reply; I'm sorry to read about your situation.  To be frank with you, I know nothing about the Italian immigration system and I don't speak Italian, so any information I have about Italy is at best speculation and not much use to you or your family; perhaps the fact that Italy is currently flooded by refugees, explains why the Italian regulators are taking an inordinate length of time to sort out your situation.

Immigration matters for non-EU citizens are absolutely the responsibility of the country you find yourself in, there is no EU law saying that the Italians must accept what you previously supplied to the Dutch Embassy in Pakistan.  If the Italian regulators have told you they need a certain document in a certain manner, then that's what they want - they are ticking boxes, there are no provisions for an individual assessment of how this may be affecting you or your family.  So the fact that you previously supplied these to the Dutch Embassy in Pakistan is unfortunately irrelevant; you need to do as they are asking.

You may get a better response from somebody in our Italian Forum who has gone through what you are currently experiencing; this link will take you there.

Sorry I could not have been of more help.

Cynic
Expat Team

Thanks once again. I highly appreciate your kindness. Unfortunately, I am having worst experience in Italy comparing to my last experience in the Netherlands. It is also true that even the Italians cannot help anyone because even the Italians are unhappy with complicated bureaucratic procedures in Italy.

owais.truefriend wrote:

Well, the original documents such as birth certificate and marriage certificate are usually issued once in a life time (unless you do not request new documents in case if you have lost them) by the relevant authorities. So, how could someone get new documents after every six month or why should someone take new if they already have the older ones?

In a certain period of time lots of things could happen such as divorce, remarriage, dying etc. In your case you travel and settle down a lot in several European countries so for you as a non Eu citizen it is a lot but unfortunately you need to confirm to the laws of the country where you want to settle. Europe or not.