In order for a document to receive an apostille in the U.K., it must have either the seal or signature of a public official. You may be wondering whether your document meets this requirement – what are public officials and how are their credentials verified?
The UK FCDO legalisation office (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) keeps records of the signatures and seals of recognised public officials in order to easily check the validity of documents before issuing an apostille of the Hague. In most cases, public officials can be quickly verified this way. However, as we will cover in the article, at times it is not so straightforward and there can be occasional delays when checking signatures.
Register Office and General Register Office
Birth certificates, adoption certificates, most marriage and civil partnership certificates, and death certificates should all be signed by an official of the local or general register office, or otherwise stamped with the GRO’s official seal.
In most cases, the FCDO can verify the signature or seal of a register office official within a day. However, there are rare cases in which it may take more time – for instance, if the signature is not already on record and the registration district no longer exists or has been merged, making the process of contacting the official more difficult. In these cases, it is possible to obtain duplicate certificates from the GRO, which should be accepted without any issue.
It is important to note that certificates issued from the General Register Office cannot be submitted as a simple copy to the UK FCDO legalisation office. The original GRO certificate should always be submitted for a Hague apostille as the UK FCDO will reject any copies that are simply printed scans of the original. Even in the case that a notary or solicitor certifies a printed scan of the original GRO certificate as a ‘certified copy of the original’, it will still be rejected.
If you have lost your original GRO certificate, you can order an official GRO duplicate/certified copy from their website. Official GRO duplicates/certified copies will be accepted.
General Medical Council
Medical notes, health checks, prescriptions, and vaccination records should all be signed by a medical professional registered with the General Medical Council.
The FCDO may not always be able to immediately verify your doctor’s signature. This may happen if your doctor is not registered with the GMC, or if their signature is simply not on record. In these cases, the FCDO will try to contact them to resolve the query – if they are able to verify their signature, it will be added to their records for future reference.
Companies House
Many corporate documents, such as certificates of incorporation and certificates of good standing, can be ordered as certified documents from Companies House – this means they will come with the Companies House seal or an official’s signature attached.
Depending on your timescales, it can sometimes be quicker and easier to instead work with the digital versions/photocopies which can then be certified by a solicitor or notary. At Pardus Bloom, we can offer virtual notarisation appointments via Zoom. There would be no need for an in-person appointment at our office, we would be able to proceed with having the PDF of the Companies House documents notarised and apostilled post notarisation appointment.
Either an original signed document from Companies House or a notarised copy are accepted by the FCDO, but you should consider all factors before deciding which method to use – copies will not always be accepted by the receiving party, depending on their requirements and their country’s laws.
Solicitors and Notaries
If your document is not otherwise signed off by a public official, it is usually possible to have it certified by a solicitor or notary public.
The way that a document is notarised or certified varies depending on the type of document and the action that must be taken by the solicitor/notary. For instance:
– A DBS check certificate may be certified as an ‘original instrument’,
– A photocopy of a passport may be certified as a ‘certified true copy’,
– On a Power of Attorney, signatures may be witnessed.
These are all common notarial acts, but solicitors and notaries may certify documents in other ways as well.
Notary publics can also carry out additional verification steps when required, such as in the case of MHRA certificates or educational certificates. In these cases, a notarial certificate is often attached detailing how the information has been checked.
In the majority of cases, if you do not want to have the apostille of the Hague put on the original version of your document, it is possible to have a solicitor or notary create a certified true copy which can be legalised in its place. There are, however, certain public documents which can only be accepted as originals or official duplicates. This includes birth and marriage certificates.
These are some of the most common public officials who are able to certify documents, but documents from other U.K. public bodies are also acceptable. If you have a document which requires legalisation but you are in doubt over whether your document meets this requirement, please feel free to get in touch – we are familiar with the FCDO’s requirements for specific documents and can ensure that your document is of an acceptable standard.