An Apostille is a “legalisation certificate”. As part of the legalisation process a special stamp named Apostille with nine points is embossed on your document.

Legalising a document is the name of the procedure; Apostille is the international certificate stamp that is affixed on your document/s.

The original UK birth certificates or certified copies issued directly by the UK’s General Registry Office (GRO) can only be accepted for legalisation by the FCO.

The original UK marriage certificate or certified copies issued directly by the UK’s General Registry Office (GRO) can only be accepted for legalisation by the FCO.

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We cannot accept any photocopies of UK birth/death/marriage certificates for legalisation, because it will be not processed by FCO under any circumstances.

No. You would not be able to legalise a photocopy of any document unless it is a certified copy of the original stamped by a Commissioner of Oaths or a solicitor/notary. You can use EKO 4 Legalisation.

If you have a translation it must not contain any of the logo/crests on the document (as this is against copyright law). The translation must then be certified, signed and dated by a practicing UK public official. The other way is to use EKO 4 Document translation service to do this properly.

Your original UK educational documents can be legalised. We recommend that you use photocopies so as not to deface/destroy your original educational documents with additional signatures, stamps etc. We can provide a certified copy of the original accepted by the FCO for legalisation. You may also find it prudent to get confirmation from the overseas authorities requesting these documents if they require the originals or will accept copies.

Documents which are signed by Commissioner for Oaths should be acceptable for legalisation.

You first need to check with the authorities in the country where you are going to find out what documents you need to produce. Additionally, of these, which documents need to be legalised (with an “Apostille”).

Yes. In some cases the FCO need to verify the Public Official’s signature on the document using a central database. This may take up to 20 days. However, this occurs rarely and if there is any possible delay we will notify you as soon as possible.