Apostille and Legalization Process Temporarily Suspended

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At a Glance

• Apostille and legalization services have been suspended for maintenance on the Ministry of Foreign Affair’s website.
• Immigration processes in other countries that require apostilled or legalized Venezuelan documents may be delayed until the suspension is over. Individuals with an urgent need for apostilled or legalized documents that were issued in Venezuela should contact their immigration provider for specific advice. It is unknown when services will resume.

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The situation

Due to maintenance on the Venezuela Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ website, apostilles and legalizations are currently unavailable until further notice.

Background

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Venezuela processes all apostille and document legalizations for documents issued in Venezuela. Foreign and Venezuelan nationals seeking apostilles and legalizations for Venezuela-issued documents must request an appointment through the Ministry’s website, which is often inoperable.

Since 2017, amidst the country’s political crisis, foreign and Venezuelan nationals continue to experience immigration processing delays and administratively burdensome processes due to the constant closures of government offices, process changes and inoperability of government websites.

Impact

• Immigration processes that require apostilled or legalized documents from Venezuela may be delayed.
• Though the Ministry also handles visa and other immigration status processing, at this time, only the issuance of apostilles and legalizations are impacted by the system maintenance.
• Individuals or companies that require apostilles or legalized versions of documents originally issued in Venezuela should contact their immigration provider for specific advice, particularly those with urgent travel plans or approaching immigration expiration dates.

 

Looking ahead

Fragomen will continue to monitor the Ministry’s website operability and will report on developments as they occur.

This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to [email protected].