FCO Apostille Legalization Services
Apostille Service: The legalization of documents for use in another country – UK Apostille Procedure
Legalization of UK documents is required when you intend to use you British documents and/or their translations in another country that this a member of Hague Convention to perform a legal action (sell property, register death etc).
In order for your UK documents to be valid abroad in some cases, you must certify your documents with a UK Apostille issued by the FCO.
Apostille Legalisation Options Available
I. Apostille directly on your British document:
If your document is an original document issued by a British Government Organisation bearing original signature of the officer, you can get an apostille directly on the document itself (for example, original UK birth certificate can be apostilled directly).
II. Apostille on the Notary Public Certificate:
Most commonly, if you are legalizing a copy of a public document, or a public document lacking officer’s signature, or a private document (such as UK school diploma or a letter or a power of attorney etc), the procedure will require an extra step, whereby a Notary Public certifies the document as a true copy and/or it’s translation, prior to taking it to the FCO for the apostille. FCO will not issue an Apostille on copies or translations without the notarial stamp.
In any of the above option, if you require translation as well, this has to be ordered separately.