Ever wanted to move to another country for work? Your employer may ask for an apostilled degree certificate. Don’t worry, we’re here to explain how an Apostille works.
First and foremost, what is an Apostille?
History of the Apostille
An Apostille is an international legal certification that states a document is valid for use in foreign countries. The “competent authority” that issues apostilles is usually the foreign affairs branch of a given government. In the United Kingdom, the competent authority that issues Apostilles is the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (or FCDO). You might need an apostilled document to prove your identity or education, or execute a legal action in another country, such as selling a property or setting up a company. The FCDO can legalise a whole range of documents, both personal and commercial. Common examples are birth certificates, Powers of Attorney, bank statements and passport copies.
Before 1961, in order for a document to be legal in two different countries, it would have had to be certified by the country of origin and by the receiving country. For example, if you needed a British birth certificate legalised for use in the United States, you would have had to get the document legalised by the foreign affairs branch of the British government and then feed it through the United States embassy for further legalisation. In 1961, however, the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, otherwise known as the Apostille Convention or simply the Hague Convention, created a congregation of states in which one legal certificate, named the Apostille, would be recognised as valid in all signatory countries. This made the document legalisation process more efficient by removing the need for double-certification.
Out of the 195 countries in the world, 120 are part of the Hague Convention. This means that the process of legalising a document for use in those countries is fairly straightforward. Those states include the entirety of the European Union [1] and most of the British Commonwealth, as well as a big part of South America and Northern Asia. Countries that are not members of the Convention, such as China or Saudi Arabia, still go through the double-certification method.
Process
The process of legalising a document in the UK usually consists of two steps. Firstly, you will need to have your document certified by a solicitor or notarised by a notary public. After having done this, you will need to submit the document to the FCDO for them to affix the Apostille. Depending on the service you choose, it can be as fast as you need it to be. The express service goes through the FCDO in Westminster and takes one working day. Meanwhile, the standard service goes through the FCDO in Milton Keynes and takes around one month.
Here at Pardus Bloom, we make life easier for you by taking care of the Apostille process. The range of our services go from the primary certification by a solicitor or notary public to collecting your apostilled documents and sending them back to you. All you need to do is contact us to discuss your situation and requirements – we’ll take it from there.
[1] If a public document (ie birth certificates, marriage certificates etc.) originates from the EU and is going to another EU state, an apostille might not be necessary. A certified copy of the document may be enough, as per the Regulation on Public Documents adopted in 2016.