Authentication of BTU Certificates for use abroad
In order for your graduation certificates to be accepted in your home or destination country, please ask the recipient whether a diplomatic attestation of the original or a copy is required. Depending on the country, one of the following variants is accepted:
The apostille is the most common contractual agreement between countries. It is issued for a specific country and thus, is only recognised by that country.
To request an apostille, please submit the following documents to the International Relations Office:
- Fully completed form Antrag_Apostille_BTU from BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg
- The original documents to be certified (certificates, transcripts of records etc.)
- Fully completed form Antrag_Apostlle_LHP from the state capital of Potsdam
The apostille will be issued in a two-step procedure. Processing time is at least 14 days, so please plan accordingly.
Your documents and the invoice will be sent to you directly from the state capital of Potsdam. At the moment, the fee is 28 € per document and must be paid in advance.
For countries which have not signed on to the agreement concerning the acceptance of apostilles, you must submit your documents, including the completed form Antrag_Apostille_BWA to the
Bundesverwaltungsamt, Referat ZMV II 6 - Beglaubigungen, 50728 Kölnfollowing the same procedure as described above (pre-authentication by BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg and Landeshauptstadt Potsdam).
The fee is currently 25 € per document plus an additional 2 € for delivery to a German address (in this case, the 28 € fee per document charged by the state capital of Potsdam will not be incurred).
Afterwards, the documents will then be endorsed by the embassy/ consulate of the respective country. For certain documents, no legalization is required by the respective recipient state. Please inquire at the relevant embassy.