How the data is checked
Every fee, timescale and date on this site comes from an official source and carries the date it was checked. Below is how that work is organised and what happens when data does go out of date.
Primary sources only
For each fact we use the primary source: the status table of the Hague Conference for the regimes and accession dates of countries; the text of the Russian Tax Code for the amounts of state fees; federal laws and the regulations of the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Rosobrnadzor for procedures and timescales; the site of the Consular Department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for consular legalisation. We do not take figures from blogs, forums or translation-agency aggregators, however current they look: they have no duty to be accurate.
A date on every page
Every page and every fact carries the date it was last checked, shown in plain view rather than hidden in the footer. The wording is always the same: ‘as at such a date, the following is required’ — because the decision is ultimately made by the authority or the consulate, not by us.
How often we verify
Country data and legalisation regimes: quarterly, against the Hague Conference and the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Fees and timescales by document: quarterly, against the Tax Code and the authorities' regulations. Addresses, opening hours and local practices in the regions: twice a year, on a sample basis, including calls to the authorities.
What we do when data goes out of date
If a field has not been checked for more than two quarters, the page shows a plain warning that the data may be out of date, with a link to the source, rather than quietly presenting a stale figure as current.
Work out the route for your document
The document, the region where it was issued, the destination country. The step-by-step chain with authorities, fees and timescales appears at once.