Legalisation
Legalisation/Apostille
Legalisation in the UK is carried out by the Foreign Office who issue Apostilles. The Apostille confirms that a document has been signed and sealed by a UK Public Official, such as a Notary Public. Once the Foreign Office are satisfied that the signature and/or seal of the Notary or other public official are genuine, they attach a paper certificate, known as an Apostille that incorporates an embossed stamp that appears on the original document. The Apostille is in three languages – English, French, and Spanish, and includes a code that can be used to verify it online. This confirms to an overseas authority that the document has been signed and sealed by a Notary Public or other public official without having to carry out their own checks.
Legalisation is not always required. Some countries accept documents signed and sealed by a Notary Public without further proof, but it is always best to check this in the receiving jurisdiction.
If you require me to obtain an Apostille for a document or documents that I have notarised, I charge a one off administration fee of £50 irrespective of the number of documents/apostilles required. I will then send the document by Royal Mail Special Delivery at a cost of £12 to CDN Consular Services Ltd on your behalf. They will obtain the apostille in two working days. The cost of obtaining an Apostille through CDN is £64. Once legalised, the document can be returned to you by Royal Mail Special Delivery or DHL the following day for £11.94, or sent to any country in the world directly from CDN by DHL Express Worldwide for £69.
If you would like me to obtain an Apostille for you without notarisation, I charge a one off apostille consultation and administration fee starting at £100 that depends on the number of documents and the complexity of the work, plus the cost of the legalisation as detailed above. Legalised documents are often required for visa applications. Please email me for a quote.
Countries that are not signatories to the Hague Apostille Convention of 1961, such as the U.A.E., Quatar, require the Apostille itself to be verified by their own Embassy or Consulate in London. This process is known as ‘attestation’ or ’embassy/consular legalisation’. If this is required, I will obtain a quote and time scale for doing so from CDN and send it to you for your approval.
Certain documents, such as UK General Registry Office Certifcates, ACRO police certificates, some Companies House Certificates, and some HMRC documents, can be legalised without first being notarised.
You can arrange for documents to be legalised yourself. It is important to check the current processing time for apostilles before you apply, as it can be much longer than the Consular Agent route that I use.
