An Apostille is an official Government issued certificate attached by the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office to documents so that they can be recognised when presented in another country that is part of the Apostille convention.
Such certificates are often required by people for several reasons, including:
- Establishing an overseas contract or business venture
- Travelling to study overseas
- Travelling to work oversea
The majority of institutions around the world will need you to validate your documents and will probably ask you to provide an apostille certificate before they will accept them. Yet because the public in general are often unaware that such a document is necessary, or are unfamiliar with the process of acquiring an apostille certificate, it can make obtaining one difficult. Firstly, for anyone not in the know, it can be a very arduous, tiresome operation, often fraught with difficulties.
We will take the burden of acquiring an apostille certificate from your shoulders, taking care of all that is necessary to get your documents certified, along with an apostille certificate. We’ll skilfully plough through all the administrative and diplomatic red tape so you don’t have to, making your life far easier in the process.
Apostille And Legalisation Service
from £350 /pa*
We will acquire any necessary apostille certificates for you, ensuring everything necessary to get your documents legally certified is taken care of.
- Apostille and Legalisation Services
- Document legalisation
- Company certificate of good standing
- Apostille services
* Please note that we are registered for vat. Our prices are subject to 20% vat (unless you are based outside UK). One off package price does not include ongoing service or maintenance, these services are available separately. ** For a Revolut bank account, the ultimate beneficial owner must be the account holder.
How do apostille & legalisation services work?
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First and foremost we’ll need to be satisfied that your document is ready to be legalised. This is for several reasons.
- Not all documents qualify automatically for an apostille certificate.
- A variety of documents might have to be certified by a solicitor or before they will qualify for an apostille certificate.
- Some documents may need to be original as some copies of documents cannot be apostilled.
- However, we are well qualified to advise you on what to do to get your documents legalised, based on your specific needs.
- We can get your company documents certified by a solicitor or a notary and get them apostilled. We can also help you obtain Certificate of Good Standing for your company and get it apostilled.
Apostille and Legalisation Service Frequently Asked Questions
A:An Apostille is an official Government issued certificate attached by the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office to documents so they’ll be recognised when presented in another country that is part of the Hague Convention. Such certificates are often required by people for several reasons, including.
- Establishing an overseas contract or business venture
- Travelling to study overseas
- Travelling to work oversea
The Apostille clarifies that the seal, signature, or stamp on the said document is true and genuine and can therefore be accepted in countries other than the UK. In other words, it is really just a stamp of approval. Apostilled documents are thus deemed as being legal in any state that belongs to the Hague Convention.
A:Most institutions throughout the world will require validation of your documents and will request an apostille certificate before accepting them. Apostilles streamline the legalisation of foreign documents. The country of origin of the document will validate it after it has been certified by a solicitor or notary and the Government of the country will then issue a dated certificate which has a unique reference for the Apostille.
A:Apostilles are provided by the FCO (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) in the UK.
A:It’s possible to legalise any document which has been issued by a UK government department. Some documents, such as company documents will need to be certified by a solicitor or notarised first before they can be apostilled.
A:Sometimes, (take for example a set of company incorporation documents), you’d probably need just one Apostille to validate them all. However it really depends on the type of document for which the Apostille is being produced. Usually when documents concern several corporate entities then an apostille for each will normally apply.
A:The time it takes to legalise a document varies from embassy to embassy, mainly due to differing procedures for submitting documents. It can be a very arduous, tiresome operation, often fraught with difficulties, so it saves time to use a professional to do it for you.
A: Apostilles certificates authenticate the document’s signature, stamp or seal and must include;
- name of document’s signatory and their capacity
- place date of issue and issuing authority
- details of the document’s seals/stamps and the stamp/seal of the issuing authority
- certificate number and the member of the issuing authority who signed the document
Legalisation gives official confirmation that the signature, stamp or seal on any document is genuine. An official checks the document’s signature, seal or stamp against what is shown on their records. If they match, the legalisation certificate, or Apostille is given to confirm authenticity.
A:If you intend to use any British documents abroad, for whatever reason, often before foreign authorities will accept them they will ask for your documents to be legalised.
This is a way of deeming them as genuine. We usually legalise documents within 1-3 days.