Authentication of Austrian school certificates by the BMBWF
For Austrian certificates to be recognised abroad, diplomatic certification is required in many countries unless there is an agreement in place (see certification rules).
Please note: The ORIGINAL and COPY of the certificate must be notarized by a notary's office!
Only certificates issued by public schools or by private schools with public status can be authenticated by the BMBWF.
These certificates must have already been certified by the competent board of education (in the federal state in which the school is located).
exceptions:
- euniversity colleges of teacher education (teacher training course – compulsory school sector)
- centrally run technical and engineering schools
- and centrally run agricultural and forestry schools.
The school certificates and school attendance letters to be certified can then be delivered to the BMBWF in person or by someone else on your behalf, or by post (registered mail).
Applications may also be sent directly by one of the boards of education to the BMBWF through official channels.
If you send your application by post or through a board of education, it is essential that you include your contact details (phone number or email address) with your application. If you do not deliver your application in person, please allow approx. 14 days for the BMBWF to process your application due to the time taken for postal delivery and for payment to go through. We will send you the account details by post or email so that you can pay the fee. If your application is urgent, we recommend that you use a courier service if you are not able to deliver it to the BMBWF in person.
Postal address
Bundesministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft und Forschung
<Competent official – see areas of responsibility in the BMBWF>
Minoritenplatz 5
1010 Wien
Please note that face-to-face meetings are, without exception, only by appointment with the relevant official. Appointments can be arranged by phone or email and are available on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 12 noon.
Areas of responsibility – contact details
Public (state) schools
Academic secondary school (AHS)
Melanie Jenisch
T +43 1 53120-4452
melanie.jenisch@bmbwf.gv.at
Building: Haidingergasse 1
Pre-vocational schools, part-time vocational schools (only school certificates, not final apprenticeship examination certificates), business administration schools (colleges and schools of business administration)
To make an appointment, please contact:
Gabriella Waldhauser
T +43 1 53120 4434
gabriella.waldhauser@bmbwf.gv.at
Building: Haidingergasse 1
Technical, engineering, and arts and crafts schools (technical colleges – HTL, and technical schools – Fachschulen) and colleges of agriculture and forestry
To make an appointment, please contact:
Natascha Fidler
T +43 1 53120 4433
natascha.fidler@bmbwf.gv.at
Building: Haidingergasse 1
Compulsory schools (primary and secondary schools, etc.); schools of tourism, fashion, and art and design; schools for economic and social professions (NOT healthcare professions);
To make an appointment, please contact:
Ingrid Probst
T +43 1 53120 4409
ingrid.probst@bmbwf.gv.at
Building: Haidingergasse 1
University colleges of teacher education (teacher training course – compulsory school sector), training institutes for early childhood education (kindergarten teaching), training institutes for social pedagogy
To make an appointment, please contact:
Gabriele Osmann
T +43 1 53120 2891
gabriele.osmann@bmbwf.gv.at
Building: Freyung 1
Federal sports academies
To make an appointment, please contact:
Günther Apflauer
T +43 1 53120 2574
guenther.apflauer@bmbwf.gv.at
Building: Freyung 1
Private schools with public status
All school sectors
Certificates from private schools can only be certified if the school in question has public status. This is indicated on the certificate. Educational certificates from private schools that do not have public status or from adult education institutions are not official documents and cannot therefore be certified by the BMBWF.
To make an appointment, please contact:
Bianca Halbauer
T +43 1 53120 2362
bianca.halbauer@bmbwf.gv.at
Building: Freyung 1
The next step required is authentication by the Office of Consular Certifications at the Federal Ministry of European and International Affairs. Address: Minoritenplatz 8, entrance at Leopold-Figl-Gasse 5 (near Herrengasse underground station on the U3 line), 1010 Vienna; customer service hours: Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.
Apostille
For Member States of the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, a simplified procedure in the form of an apostille is required.
The contracting states to this agreement can be found in the following list.
The office of the state government in the federal state in question is responsible for issuing this apostille.
Electronically issued documents can be certified with an electronic apostille at the Office of Consular Certifications.
Information on the certification of documents in the higher education sector (PDF, 75 KB) (in German only).