Certification of photocopies

Certified copies can be made by the diplomatic mission upon presentation of the original document and for a fee.

The documents to be certified are copied by the diplomatic mission itself. It is not necessary to bring your own copies.

Please note: If a certified copy is required as part of an application to study in Germany, this copy certification is free of charge.

However, the purpose must be proven by appropriate means, such as a letter from the university stating the need for the certified copy, a certificate of enrollment, or similar.

To have the copy of the desired document certified, please make an appointment at the German Embassy in Abuja or the German Consulate General in Lagos.

When booking an appointment at the German Consulate General in Lagos, please note the following:

The correct appointment category for certifying copies for study purposes is: Legal and consular affairs > Services for study applicants, language course participants, and students already admitted to study in Germany.

The category for all other copy certifications is: Legal and Consular Affairs > Consular Services for German and Nigerian Citizens Abroad.

Please note: If you have booked the wrong appointment category for your request, you will be denied entry and will have to rebook a correct appointment.

Certifications of signatures

Within the scope of signature certification, the German Embassy or Consulate General confirms that a signature was actually executed by the person indicated. This provides the recipient or the contracting party with certainty about the authenticity of the signature.

To have your signature certified on a document, please book an appointment at the German Embassy Abuja or the German Consulate General Lagos.

Please note that the fee for a signature authentication depends on the value of the respective legal transaction (e.g. purchase contract), but is at least 56.43 EUR. The equivalent value in Nigerian Naira depends on the daily exchange rate of the responsible foreign mission. At the Consulate General in Lagos, the fees can only be paid with POS. The Embassy in Abuja exclusively accepts cash payments.

Notarisation

For some legal transactions, a certified signature is not sufficient; instead, a higher formal requirement applies, the so-called notarisation. This is the case for the following legal transactions, among others (the list is not exhaustive):

• Acknowledgement of paternity and declaration of consent
• Declaration of custody
• Affidavit
• Application for a certificate of inheritance
• Property purchase agreement

If a notarisation is required, the Embassy or Consulate General can carry out a notarisation. Therefore an appropriate preparation is necessary. We kindly ask you to contact us via our contact form in the above-mentioned cases in order to discuss the procedure. In this context, we can also provide you with information on the fees that will be charged.