Legalisation By The Foreign & Commonwealth Office
Original documents, such as for instance degree certificate will have to be notorised by a regulated professional (Notary Public or Solicitor) before it can be legalised by the FCO. This involves certifying a copy of the original document as a true copy.
The FCO holds a database of regulated professionals such as solicitors, notaries, religious ministers; doctors etc. and the scanned signatures/seals of various practitioners within these organizations, which allows them to confirm the authenticity of the signature.
Once the FCO have verified the stamp/signature on the document against their database and are satisfied that the signature is authentic, they then attach an apostille (legalisation certificate ) to the document to confirm that it is genuine.
The FCO can only legalise original Birth, Marriage/Civil Partnership, Death certificates. This applies to certificates of no impediment as well. Notorised/certified copies will not be accepted. In this instance a new original certificate can be raised for future use – click here for more information.
EMBASSY LEGALISATION, ATTESTATION, AUTHENTICATION
Document legalisation/attestation requirements can vary from Embassy to Embassy. Some Embassies will insist on only original documents, while others will accept certified copies.
For instance, Indian nationals wishing to travel to France have to obtain a French Schengen visa from a UK based French Embassy/Consulate. In support of their applications, married applicants are required to submit their original marriage certificate. The certificate will only be accepted if authenticated/legalised by the Indian Embassy first. Minor applicants will be required to produce their authenticated/legalised birth certificates. This requirement also applies to certificates issued in China and in an increasing number of other countries. As a general rule, any certificate that has not been endorsed with an official seal/stamp will have to be legalised by their respective Embassy/Consulate in the UK .
Some embassies will accept documents notarised by a solicitor, while others will insist on it being performed by an actual Notary Public. It is important that you verify the levels of legalisation/authentication that is being asked of the document's country of destination.
To recap, depending on the document and the country of destination, the Legalisation process involves between 1 to 3 stages:
- certification/notarization – by a solicitor or notary public
- legalisation/apostille – by the FCO
- legalisation /apostille/authentication – by the Embassy/Consulate of the issuing country.
WQ can provision the full Legalisation process except in the following circumstances
- when the document must be sworn in front of a solicitor/notary (such as an affidavit)
- when the Embassy of the issuing country does not allow application for legalisation to be filed by proxy.
Countries currently allowing legalisation via third party:
Brazil . China . France . Ghana . India . Nigerian. Russia . Saudi Arabia . Taiwan . United Arab Emirates ( UAE ).
If your country is not listed above please contact us for further information.
Tips:
Confirm the legalisation requirements before proceeding.
Check with the UKBA before submitting a new passport to be endorsed with a UK residence permit as some newly issued passports which have not been traveled on will require authentication at their respective Embassy first.
DOCUMENT LEGALISATION/APOSTILLE FEES - FCO
WQ's Handling Fees to FCO:
- 1 – 3 documents legalised: £75 + VAT + Disbursements
- £20 + VAT per document exceeding 3 documents + Disbursements.
FCO document legalisation processing fee currently £69 per document.
DOCUMENT LEGALISATION/ATTESTATION FEES - EMBASSIES:
WQ's Handling Fees to Embassies:
- 1 – 3 documents legalised: £75 + VAT + Disbursements
- £20 + VAT per document exceeding 3 documents + Disbursements.
Embassy document legalisation/attestation processing fees depend on the type of documents and vary from embassy to embassy.
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