Korea Notarizations, Apostille, Power of Attorneys, Consularizations, Legalizations of Korean Translations and Documents

Our Korean lawyers at our law firm in Korea receive numerous emails requesting our services in assisting with either legalization of a Korean translation for use in court, authentication, notarization, or apostille of a Korean, Chinese, American, British, French, German, Russian or other country document for either use in Korea or use in another country.

We, normally, receive these calls from fellow attorneys, financial institutions, or an individual with the need for an important document to be “legalized” for an important transaction. Many times these documents are required for foreign or Korean courts, administrative agencies, and quasi-government institutions. Usually, the person contacting us believes the procedure shall take a trivial amount of time – it never does.

Usually, the party contacting us believes that we can just stamp the document and the matter is complete. We wish things were so easy.

Often getting documents recognized by a Korean government entity or recognized by a foreign government entity requires much more than a mere stamp and prayer. Normally, it requires one of our Korean attorneys or Korean-speaking international attorneys or staff to understand the specific intended use of the document and requires this individual to contact the respective government entity that shall require the document. In many cases, the document that is believed necessary is not the only document necessary.

We, also, often need to coordinate the notarization and appostille process with the individual. Yes – seems like all a waste of time. However, in civil law systems, these types of procedures are intended to be official and important government or quasi-government functions. Thus . . . time.

Please when attempting to “legalize” a document avoid wasting your time and get someone who will take the time and effort to do the work necessary to help to ensure that the document is recognized by the authority that you need it recognized by.

For an article on obtaining your Korean criminal record please see: Obtaining a Korean Criminal Record Check.

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Sean’s profile may be found at: Sean C. Hayes. Sean Hayes is the first non-Korean attorney to have worked for the Korean court system (Constitutional Court of Korea) and one of the first non-Koreans to be a regular member of a Korean law faculty. Sean is ranked, for Korea, as one of only two non-Korean lawyers as a Top Attorney by AsiaLaw, and IPG Legal is consistently ranked Top Dispute Resolution Law for our litigation services.

If you would like a consultation with an English-speaking lawyer in Korea, please schedule a call at: Schedule a Call with an Attorney.