Frequently Asked Questions

An apostille is a certificate attached to a UK document that confirms the signature, seal or stamp on it is genuine. It lets the document be accepted in the more than 120 countries that belong to the Apostille Convention. It doesn’t confirm that the content of the document is correct.

Only the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) Legalisation Office. We’re not the FCDO: we check your documents, arrange solicitor certification where needed, submit them to the FCDO and return them to you.

Check whether the document can go straight to the FCDO or needs certifying by a solicitor first, then submit it to the FCDO and wait for it to come back. With us, you order online, send or bring the document, and we handle every step.

You need one when a UK document will be used officially in another country, for example for a visa, marriage, job, study or company abroad. If you’re unsure, ask the authority that will receive the document, or send us their request and we’ll tell you.

Yes. You can bring your documents to our office at 17 Hanover Square, London W1S 1BN, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm, and collect them free when they’re ready.

Yes. Post your documents to our London office, ideally by tracked or Special Delivery. We return them by UK Special Delivery (£10) or DHL International (£40).

Yes, as long as the document is a UK document. Send it to us by courier, or for many document types send a scan, and we’ll return it by DHL to anywhere in the world.

£59 per document with our standard service, including the document check, the FCDO fee and the apostille. Next day is £79. Solicitor certification, where needed, is £20 per document. Collection from our office is free.

3–5 working days with our standard service. Our next day service returns it the next working day if we receive it by 10:30am.

Only for genuine emergencies, and the FCDO decides whether to accept them. Our same day service is £250. Call us before sending anything.

Applying to the FCDO yourself costs the FCDO fee plus postage, but a refused document means paying again. Our £59 standard service includes the FCDO fee and a check of your document before it’s submitted, so it isn’t rejected.

Prices are per document, because each document gets its own apostille. Contact us for large or regular company orders.

UK public documents, such as birth, marriage and death certificates, court documents and ACRO certificates, and any document certified by a UK solicitor or notary, such as degrees, letters and company documents. See our documents list.

Yes. We need the original certificate issued by the General Register Office or a local register office. See birth certificate apostille.

With us, in London or by post. We need the original certificate issued by the register office. See marriage certificate apostille.

Yes. We need an original certificate issued by the General Register Office or the register office where the death was registered.

Yes. A solicitor certifies a copy, so you keep your original, and the FCDO apostilles it. See degree and transcript apostille.

Yes. The letter should be on company letterhead and signed. A solicitor certifies it, then the FCDO apostilles it.

Yes, but only the original. A solicitor certifies the original, then the FCDO apostilles it. We also handle Disclosure Scotland and AccessNI certificates. See DBS apostille.

It confirms the court seal or signature on your decree absolute (since April 2022, a final order) is genuine, so the divorce can be recognised abroad, for example to remarry. See decree absolute apostille.

The FCDO only apostilles UK documents. A UK solicitor can certify a copy of a foreign document, and the apostille then confirms the solicitor’s signature, but many authorities won’t accept that. Check with the receiving authority first.

Not for documents the FCDO can verify directly, such as birth and marriage certificates. Copies, educational and personal documents usually need certifying by a UK solicitor first. We arrange it for £20 per document and tell you which applies when you order.

For an apostille, the document must be certified by a practising UK solicitor or notary public, because the FCDO checks their signature. A friend, teacher or other professional isn’t enough.

At our office at 17 Hanover Square, W1S 1BN. Solicitor certification is £20 per document, and we can send it straight to the FCDO for the apostille.

Not a plain photocopy. A copy certified by a UK solicitor can be apostilled, and for degrees and most letters that’s the usual route. Some documents, such as DBS certificates, must be the original.

The FCDO issues e-Apostilles for some PDF documents digitally signed by a UK solicitor or notary. Not every country accepts them. Send us the document and tell us where it’s going, and we’ll advise.

Some countries and documents, such as powers of attorney for property abroad, affidavits or statutory declarations, need a notary public. Our notary service starts from £120, in our office or by video call.

Sometimes. Many countries ask for a translation of the document and the apostille into their language. Ask the receiving authority, and we can arrange a certified translation.

Yes. A UK solicitor certifies the translation, and the FCDO then apostilles it. We can do the translation, certification and apostille together.

It depends on the country. Some want the translation of the apostilled document, others want a separate apostille on the translation. Tell us the country and we’ll advise.

The more than 120 members of the Apostille Convention, including all EU countries, the USA, Australia, India, China, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and, since September 2026, Vietnam. Some may still ask for a translation.

Countries outside the Convention, such as the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Egypt and Thailand. The document gets the apostille first, then the embassy stamp.

An apostille on its own is enough for Convention countries. Legalisation adds a further stamp from the destination country’s embassy, after the apostille, for countries outside the Convention. See embassy legalisation.

Yes. In the UK, the FCDO legalises a document by attaching an apostille, so the two terms mean the same thing.

No. An apostille has no expiry date. The receiving authority may still want a recently issued document, for example a police certificate from the last 3 to 6 months.

Use the FCDO’s online apostille checker on GOV.UK, with the apostille number and the date it was issued.

Usually, yes, if you’re marrying abroad, and some countries also need a translation or embassy legalisation. See CNI apostille.