It is a form of legalisation, issued in the UK by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office [FCO]. The apostille is a certificate which is attached to a public document – normally, in this context, our notarial certificates – and verifies the signature and seal of the officer who issued it – here, the notary, so that the notarised document can take effect in countries which have ratified the Hague Convention abolishing the requirement of legalisation for foreign public documents of 1961 (see a list of those countries here).
The FCO has two levels of service:- the premium (while you wait) service for business customers only at £75 per document, which can be obtained by us through their London office and the standard service at £30 per document, which is obtained through the FCO’s office in Milton Keynes, either by post or in person.
The premium service can be obtained the same day or the following day, while the standard service takes 3 – 5 working days.
Apostilles can also be attached directly to some public documents such as birth certificates, HMRC certificates or Companies House certificates; we can also arrange this on our clients’ behalf.
