Zum Inhalt

New rules regarding public documents

Simplification for EU citizens

EU citizens who live in another member state than their home country often had to struggle with bureaucratic procedures and costs. They had to obtain a stamp to prove that their public documents are authentic. Thanks to a new regulation by the EU regarding public documents, those struggles are over.

Certified copies and translations no longer necessary

According to the new regulation, the prove of authenticity is no longer necessary when presenting public documents issued in one EU country to the authorities of another EU country. Citizens are also no longer required to provide a sworn/ official translation of their public document in many cases. Instead, multilingual standard forms are available in all EU languages and can be attached as translation aid.

An EU authority has to accept the documents as authentic when another EU authority issued them. If the receiving authority has reasonable doubts about the authenticity, it will be able to check it with the issuing authority in the other EU country through an existing IT platform, the Internal Market Information System (IMI).

The Regulation covers public documents in the following areas:

  • birth
  • a person being alive
  • death
  • name
  • marriage, including capacity to marry and marital status
  • divorce, legal separation or marriage annulment
  • registered partnership, including capacity to enter into a registered partnership and registered partnership status
  • dissolution of a registered partnership, legal separation or annulment of a registered partnership
  • parenthood
  • adoption
  • domicile and/or residence
  • nationality
  • absence of a criminal record and
  • the right to vote and stand as a candidate in municipal elections and elections to the European Parliament.

The Regulation introduces multilingual standard forms as translation aids of public documents concerning:

  • birth
  • a person being alive
  • death
  • marriage, including capacity to marry and marital status
  • registered partnership, including capacity to enter into a registered partnership and registered partnership status
  • domicile and/or residence and
  • absence of a criminal record.

Find out more on the website of the EU Commission.

Related Links

Share this post

Facebook Twitter Drucken E-Mail

This could also be of interest:

Viele in einer Warteschlange geparkte Passagierflugzeuge auf einer Runway

Will air passenger rights change soon?

A new attempt for revised passenger rights in air travel is here. The initiative could lead to the replacement of the old Air Passenger Rights Regulation, especially in the area of delays and flight cancellations. This means that air travellers in the EU will get more rights in the future - but also fewer in certain cases.

Logo des Bezahldienstes Klarna auf einem Smartphone vor unscharfem Bildschirm mit Webshop

AK lawsuit against payment service Klarna

The Chamber of Labour registers countless complaints about the payment service Klarna and is now suing this Swedish bank, which grew strongly during the Corona pandemic. Klarna handles online transactions for purchases in online shops and enables payment on account. The ECC also has daily complaint calls about Klarna and is eagerly awaiting the verdict.

Buch mit Aufschrift European Court of Justice und Gerichtshammer

Strike: Airline has to refund says ECJ

A decision by the ECJ has once again clearly strengthened air passenger rights. If a flight is cancelled or significantly delayed due to an announced strike by airline staff, passengers may have a right to compensation.

Collage of staff photos of the ECC-Net with slogan "You never walk alone".

Review of 1 year of legal assistance by ECC in Corona-related consumer cases

In 2020, victims turned more than ever to the European Consumer Centre (ECC) Austria, part of the Austrian Association for Consumer Information (VKI). We used this year's World Consumer Day (15 March) as an opportunity to take a retrospective look at our counselling activities in one year of Corona.

Model of the coronavirus next to stamp with "travel warning" imprint

Worldwide travel warning except for 10 countries

As of midnight tonight, i.e. as of 00:00 on 19.12.2020, a travel warning issued by the Austrian Foreign Ministry applies to practically the entire world. 10 states are exempt from this. What does this mean for a planned trip for the holidays?

Sozialministerium
VKI
EU
ECC
Zum Seitenanfang