Apostille Certification

An apostille is an official government certificate to confirm the authenticity of a document presented with it. This process is known as legalisation of a document and used to be known as ‘consularisation’.  It is an international certification comparable to a notarisation.

If the convention applies between two countries, an apostille issued by the country of origin is sufficient to certify the document, and removes the need for further certification by the destination country.

Many foreign jurisdictions require documentations to bear a legally recognised bodies stamp or certification to be able to recognise and accept those documents as legal documents.

Documents that have been legalised and bear an apostille, are internationally recognised by countries that are signatories to the 1961 Hague Convention. 

In the UK, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) has a department that legalises documents for overseas use and issues the apostille.

As a SRA regulated solicitors firm we are recognised by the FCO and hold a business account with the department to ensure the quick processing of your legal documentation.

Furthermore, as Commissioners for Oaths, we can usually certify documents on the same day and then arrange for them to be legalised by the FCO, however, please do call in advance to ensure that we can accommodate you.

If you require a power of attorney for overseas use our lawyers can draft this for you.

We can also arrange speedy translation of any document.

You can verify an Apostille certificate issued in the UK here. 

Examples of types of documents we can legalise for international use:

• Court documents
• Academic certificates and qualifications (original or copies may be certified)
• Company documents (original or copies may be certified)
• Passports and driving licence (copies are always signed)
• Grants of probate, wills and last testaments (original or copies may be signed)
• Power of attorney (normally original documents are witnessed)
• Affidavits and statutory declarations (original documents are witnessed)
• Deed Polls (original or copies may be signed)
• Birth, death, marriage and divorce certificates
• Employment letters and P60’s
• University degree certificates
• Contracts, agreements or resolutions (original or copies may be signed)

Contact Our Apostille Lawyers in Manchester and London, UK

For more information about our apostille legal advice and representation service please complete our online contact form here or send an email to us at [email protected] and one of our solicitors specialising in document legalisation and apostille services shall call you back. 

Alternatively, please call our apostille lawyers on 0330 127 8888 for a free and confidential no obligation discussion.

We have specialist apostille advisors based at our Manchester and London offices offering a personal service, nationally and internationally.