Consular regulations: Saudi Arabia

Since December 7, 2022, only commercial documents that have been pre-certified by the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (commercial invoice, certificate of origin or ADCO) will be certified by the embassy. For all other documents (manufacturer's declarations, commercial register extracts, powers of attorney, contracts, analysis certificates, health certificates, dioxin certificates, marriage and divorce certificates, birth and death certificates, halal certificates, veterinary certificates, and certificates of fitness for human consumption), an apostille from the district court is now sufficient.

• The following documents from the Chamber of Commerce require prior certification: commercial invoices, certificates of origin, SASO certificates, packing lists and insurance policies. Please note that commercial invoices can only be certified in conjunction with a certificate of origin:

a) health certificate only with certificate of origin

b) The recipient in Saudi Arabia must be listed in box 2 of the certificate of origin. If the goods are not sent directly to Saudi Arabia, the address in Saudi Arabia must be indicated in box 5.

c) The country of manufacture or the exact countries must be indicated in box 3 of the certificate of origin (e.g. the European Union is not sufficient). If the goods come from only one foreign country, the name and address of the manufacturer must be indicated on the back of the certificate of origin.

d) Information regarding the transport (air, sea or land freight) must be entered in box 4.

e) The following clause must be indicated on the back of each certificate of origin: “We hereby declare that the mentioned merchandise is being exported on our own account. The goods are of pure German origin.” (please note: ‘merchandise’ for goods, ‘foodstuff’ for food). If the goods come from several countries, the countries must be listed in the clause with the names and addresses of the manufacturers in the various countries. This clause must then be certified by the Chamber of Industry and Commerce.

• Appended Declaration (ADCO)

a) Appended Declaration to Certificate of Origin is only required if two or more countries of origin are indicated on the certificate of origin (the form can be obtained from Ghorfa and must be requested by fax).

b) Appended Declaration to Insurance Company is only required if an insurance policy is to be legalized by the consulate (see above).

c) Appended Declaration to Bill of Lading or Airway-Bill This is only required if a bill of lading is to be legalized by the consulate.

The Appended Declaration must be certified in advance by a German notary and then legalized by the Ghorfa and the consulate. In exceptional cases, the responsible Saudi Arabian authorities or Saudi Arabian business partners require the documents listed in groups 2 and 3 to be certified by the BfAA. Please note whether such conditions apply.

• Regulations for food shipments:

a) A health certificate is required for food, live animals and animal products.

b) Each consignment of meat and poultry must be accompanied by a HALAL certificate issued by an Islamic center in Germany recognized by the consulate.

c) Food consignments of foreign origin must be accompanied by health certificates or halal certificates from the country of origin. Please note that these must be authenticated by the local consulate of Saudi Arabia and enclosed with the documents submitted for legalization.

Points a) and b) must be pre-certified by the BfAA.

• Legalization procedure and fees:

a) All commercial documents (except powers of attorney) to be notarized by the consulate must first be pre-certified by the GHORFA. This means that all applications must be submitted directly to Ghorfa and will be forwarded to the consular section by a Ghorfa representative after pre-certification.

Commercial documents in German are only accepted if they have been translated into English or Arabic by a certified translator. The translation must be authenticated by the competent district court and undergoes the same process as the original (German) document.

b) A detailed cover letter (original company letterhead, DIN A4) about the attached documents must always be included with the documents to be legalized. The cover letter must include: Sender, recipient, type of goods (for foodstuffs, indicate whether of animal or plant origin), value, weight, quantity, mode of transport, ship details, number of documents, fees paid (if applicable). A sample can be found here.

NEW: In addition, a passport copy is required, either of the person who signed the document or a person mentioned in the document.

SERVISUM will be happy to take care of the preliminary certification for you at the Federal Office for Foreign Affairs (BfAA) and GHORFA.

Please submit one copy of each document to the embassy.

Processing time (without guarantee):
approx. 1 week to 10 days