In a previous post, I explained Malaysia is not a signatory to the Apostille Convention. Consequently, Malaysian public documents for use in foreign jurisdictions are not authenticated by the simple procedure of affixing an apostille. Instead, such documents must undergo a process called legalization. This requires officials in both Malaysia and the foreign country to vet the document concerned.
On the Malaysian side, the authentication is carried out by the Consular Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The documents concerned are both public documents such as passports, birth certificates and other documents issued by relevant authorities but also what may be called quasi-public documents such as statutory declarations and powers of attorney. The ministry sets a target of authenticating documents within one working day after submission.
However, it is important to note that certain earlier steps may need to be taken before submission to the ministry. Some documents require prior certification by other authorities. For example, a Malaysian school certificate must first be certified by the relevant education ministry, and a health certificate by the health ministry. In this connection, it should be mentioned that some types of documents must be notarised prior to submission to the Consular Division. The documents concerned include a) various prescribed forms under the Companies Act, b) powers of attorney, c) affidavits, and d) agreements and contracts.
A further condition is that documents translated from Malay to another language must also be certified as translated by an authorised translator.
More details can be obtained by the ministry’s web site, www.kln.gov.my or you can send your queries by email to konsular@kln.gov.my.
Malaysian Notary Public 