Say you’ve been told your document needs to be legalised at the Foreign Commonwealth and Development legalisation office with a Hague Apostille stamp. What does that mean?
Legalisation can mean notarisation, certification, embassy attestation and apostilles. Usually, however, it refers to a Hague Apostille, a stamped official certificate issued by the UK FCDO legalisation office.
The apostille verifies the authenticity of the signature on the document submitted. In the case that your document does not bear the wet-ink signature of a UK official, it will need to be notarised before an apostille can be issued. For more on that topic, please refer to our briefing on Public Officials.
If you’re after information on electronic notarisation and electronic or e-apostilles, please refer to our briefing on the topic.
Notary Services
Notarisation consists of the notary verifying your identity via photo identification before writing on the document that:
- They certify this is a true original document
- They certify this is a true copy of the original document
- They have witnessed your signing of the document
- They have verified your identity with some form of photo identification
The notary will then sign, date and add their business address to the document as well as their stamp and seal. This means that if there is any confusion at the legalisation office as to who signed the document, they can get in touch with the notary public and verify their signature.
Take divorce certificates such as decree absolutes as an example. These certificates may need notarising depending on whether they bear a wet-ink signature of a family court official and the corresponding stamp.
These days, decree absolutes tend to be issued electronically and they will therefore require notarisation. The notary is likely to write that they certify the decree absolute as a true original document that was issued electronically.
In contrast, birth and death certificates can be directly apostilled if they’re originals or certified copies issued by the General Register Office. This is because original and certified copies of GRO certificates are issued with the wet-ink signature of a registrar
We offer same-day notarisation and legalisation services. Where the document allows for it, we can arrange in-person or virtual video call notarisation appointments. We can also arrange call-out notarisation appointments where a notary public will come to your location, both within and outside of working hours, including on the weekends.
When does a document not need to be notarised and can instead be directly apostilled?
It depends on the type of document you have and whether it bears the wet-ink signature of a UK Public Official.
Original documents issued directly from UK authorities, such as the General Register Office and the Criminal Records Office, bear the wet-ink signature of a British Official or Officer and the seal of the issuing authority.
This means it doesn’t need to be notarised by a notary as an original document, as the signature/seal from the issuing UK authority verifies it is an authentic document.
In these cases, it can be directly apostilled at the FCDO legalisation office (UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office) and then attested at an embassy or consulate if needed, without prior notarisation.
Most documents that weren’t issued by a UK authority and do not bear the signature or seal of a UK Public Official will not be accepted for an apostille at the UK FCDO legalisation office. They will need to be notarised by a notary public.
For example, this applies to non-UK birth, death and marriage certificates. A translation of the foreign-issued certificate can be notarised and then apostilled by the UK FCDO, but the original alone cannot be apostilled.
Photocopies of GRO certificates such as UK birth, death and marriage certificates will also be rejected even if certified as true copies of the original by a notary public. The UK FCDO will only accept the original certificate or official certified copies of the original ordered from the GRO.
Not all documents need to be notarised before they can be apostilled, there are exceptions. When the receiving party, country of use and the document allow for it, a document can be certified by those other than a notary public.
We’ll walk you through a non-exhaustive list below!
A Solicitor
A solicitor can certify a document as a true original or true copy of the original as well as witness your signature.
After solicitor certification, the solicitor ought to add their Solicitor Regulation Authority number to the document as well as their office address and contact details.
Therefore at the apostille stage, should there be any concern at the UK FCDO as to who certified the document, they can easily get in contact with the solicitor or check the SRA number to confirm the solicitor has a practising certificate for the current year.
An Official of a UK Authority
Documents issued and signed by an official of a UK authority can be directly apostilled in most cases. A non-exhaustive list of these authorities includes:
- ACPO Criminal Records Office
- Companies House
- Disclosure Scotland (The Disclosure and Barring Service for England and Wales is not included, DBS certificates require prior notarisation before they can be apostilled.)
- General Register Office
- HM Revenue & Customs
An Official of the British Council
Original education certificates, such as degrees, can be signed by an official of the British Council and certified with wording such as the following:
‘I certify that this is an original document issued by a recognised educational establishment in the United Kingdom. I have checked with the issuing body and they have confirmed that they issued this document.’
The official would usually also add the date of certification, their name and their job title.
The British Council can also certify true copies of the original education certificate.
An Official or Authorised Signatory of the Arab British Chambers of Commerce
Officials or Authorised Signatories of the A-BCC can certify some commercial documents without prior notarisation.
The Official or Authorised Signatory would usually add their name, signature, date and country of use to the document. An ABBC stamp with the date of certification would usually be added to each page of the document.
A Doctor registered with the General Medical Council
A doctor’s letter or medical report can be directly apostilled if signed by a doctor registered with the General Medical Council. The letter or report ought to bear the doctor’s name, their signature and their 7-digit General Medical Council number.
A Minister of Religion or an Authorised Person for Marriages
Some marriage certificates issued by a place of worship can be directly apostilled without prior notarisation if the certificate has been issued on official watermarked paper and bears the wet-ink signature and contact details of a Minister of Religion or Authorised Person.
Islamic and Greek Orthodox marriage certificates must be notarised by a notary public or certified by a solicitor and cannot be directly apostilled.
Hague Apostille
After your documents have been notarised as necessary, depending on which country they are to be used in, they then require a Hague Apostille from the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office. (UK FCDO)
The apostille certificate is attached to the back of your document and signed by a UK FCDO official. The apostille confirms the authenticity of the notary, solicitor, or other public official’s signature.
Hague Apostille Services UK
At Pardus Bloom, we can arrange legalisation services such as document notarisation, apostilles, embassy attestation and sworn translations. We can also arrange for couriers and international shipping.
We can arrange three different speeds of apostille services:
- Same-day apostille service – provided the document reaches us before 11 am, Monday to Friday
- One-week apostille service
- One-month apostille service
We pride ourselves on our customer service. We do everything we can to make the document legalisation process as simple and smooth as possible for you.
Need a same-day apostille service for your document? Have a query or concern? Get in touch with a member of our enquiries team today and we will do our utmost to be of assistance!