# Which municipal documents must be issued as DUPLICATES and which as ORIGINALS for legalization?
Source: https://www.lafit-trans.com/en/faq/document-legalization/which-municipal-documents-must-be-issued-as-duplicates-and-which-as-originals-for-legalization/
Originals and duplicate municipal records for use abroad
For Bulgarian birth and marriage certificates, a duplicate is a newly issued official certificate rather than a copy. Other municipal records are assessed by document type, issuing authority and the rules of the country and institution where they will be used.
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The short answer is that a Bulgarian birth certificate or marriage certificate is normally presented as a duplicate once the first certificate has already been issued. Certificates of identity of names, marital or family status, kinship, heirs, or capacity to marry a foreign national are presented as current official documents issued by the competent municipality.
“Original” and “duplicate” have a precise meaning for civil-status certificates. The birth or marriage act is the registration entry held by the municipality. A certificate is issued from that entry: the first certificate following registration is marked as the original and every later certificate is marked as a duplicate. This distinction is set out in Bulgaria's rules governing the unified civil-registration system.
A duplicate is not a photocopy and does not have a lower evidential status. It is a new official certificate issued by a civil-status officer from the register. For a death record, the usual document is an extract from the death act; a full transcript or a certified copy of the act may be required in a particular case.
There is no universal rule requiring every other municipal certificate to be labelled “original” or “duplicate”. The exact certificate, issue date, signature and stamp, as well as its intended use, are relevant. A receiving authority may require a recently issued document or a specific form even if a document with similar content has already been used elsewhere.
The authentication route must also be established for a Bulgarian municipal document intended for use abroad. Since 1 January 2019, apostilles for documents issued by mayors and municipal administrations have been issued by the relevant regional administration. Under another applicable regime, the document may require legalisation or may be exempt from apostille under an EU regulation, a multilateral convention or a bilateral legal-assistance treaty.
The correct form therefore depends neither on the destination country alone nor simply on the document being municipal. The issuing authority, document type, authorised signature, destination and requirements of the receiving institution are considered together. That determines the sequence for an apostille or legalisation, translation and certification of the translation.
La Fit Trans can review a clear copy and the stated purpose of the document. The quotation can cover the municipal document already issued, the applicable authentication, translation and certified copies, coordinating the stages as one service.
Official sources: [Bulgaria's civil-registration regulation](https://www.grao.bg/normact/NaredbaFunkcESGR.pdf) and the [Ministry of Foreign Affairs guidance on authentication and legalisation](https://www.mfa.bg/bg/uslugi-patuvania/konsulski-uslugi/zaverki-legalizacia/obshta-informatsia) .
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