Apostille and legalisation
A UK document has no automatic standing in another country. Legalisation is the chain that gives it one. We take the document from its current state to the form the receiving authority will accept, and tell you at the start exactly what that chain looks like.
What an apostille is
An apostille is a certificate issued by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. It confirms that a signature, stamp or seal on a UK document is genuine.
It does not certify the content of the document. It certifies the official who signed it. That distinction matters, because it explains why some documents cannot be apostilled as they stand: there is no recognised UK signature on them yet.
The apostille exists because of the 1961 Hague Convention. Between member countries it replaces the older, slower chain of consular legalisation with a single certificate. Ukraine, Poland and Romania are all members, as is the United Kingdom.
For a country outside the Convention, the apostille is not the end of the road. The document goes on to that country's embassy or consulate in the UK for attestation.
Which documents can carry an apostille
Broadly: documents that already bear the signature or seal of a UK public official, or that have been through a notary public first.
Direct
UK birth, marriage and death certificates, court documents, and papers issued by government departments already carry a recognised signature.
Via a notary
Private documents such as powers of attorney, declarations, company papers and copies of passports need notarial certification before the FCDO can act.
Via a solicitor
Some documents can be certified by a UK solicitor whose signature is registered, which serves the same purpose as the notarial route.
Not eligible as they stand
Photocopies with no certification, unsigned drafts, and laminated certificates whose seal cannot be verified.
The order things have to happen in
Legalisation is a sequence, and the sequence is not negotiable. Doing a step out of order usually means paying for it twice.
Establish the destination first. The receiving country determines whether an apostille is sufficient or whether embassy attestation follows it, and whether a translation must be part of the legalised set or can be added afterwards.
Get the document into an apostillable state. If it is a private document, that means notarial certification. If it is a foreign document, it may not be capable of UK legalisation at all, and has to be legalised in the country that issued it.
Apply for the apostille. The FCDO attaches its certificate to the document itself.
Then, and only then, translate if translation is required as part of the set. Translating before the apostille exists leaves the apostille untranslated, and some authorities will reject the whole bundle for it.
Finally, where the destination is outside the Hague Convention, the embassy or consulate attests the apostilled document.
The mistakes that cost the most time
Wrong order
Translating first, then apostilling. The result is a legalised original with a translation nobody has certified as part of the set.
Wrong country's document
Asking the UK to apostille a certificate issued abroad. Each country legalises its own documents; a Ukrainian certificate has to be apostilled in Ukraine.
Damaged or laminated originals
A seal that cannot be verified stops the chain. Laminating a certificate to protect it often makes it unusable.
Assuming an apostille is always enough
For a non-Hague destination it is only the first half. The consular step has its own requirements and its own queue.
Frequently asked
Tell us what you need
Describe your situation in your own words. We will tell you which documents are required, how the process runs, and what it costs before anything starts.