What is Legalisation or an Apostille?

Many countries require notarised documents to be legalised. Legalisation is a double check to ensure that the signature of the notary is genuine and is recognised by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Once the authenticity of the Notary’s signature is confirmed, a certificate is attached called an “Apostille”. In some cases, documents may also need to be legalised by foreign embassies to be valid in a particular foreign country. 

If you are unsure whether legalisation will be necessary in your case, check with the person who sent you the document or speak to me and I will be able to advise you. 

Arranging Legalisation

If you need a document to be legalised, you can either arrange this yourself or I can deal with the necessary steps on your behalf. 

I charge a £50 fee for arranging legalisation for you and the Foreign & Commonwealth also charge a fee of £30 for a standard document and £75 for a fast-tracked document.

Embassy or consular fees depend on the country and are arranged through an agent and I will obtain a quote per transaction as their fees fluctuate.

All documents which require legalisation have to be sent by Special Delivery for additional security.

If you require the document to be legalised urgently I can also arrange this using agents to speed up the process at an additional cost.  I can arrange a quote for this service.