UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office Legalisation Service

Legalisation is the name of the process when any Embassy or Consulate verifies the signature or seal of a public authority or official as genuine by attaching a Certificate called an Apostille. In the UK this is a service provided through the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Legalisation in the UK requires that the document to be legalised must have originated or have been executed in the UK. Legalisation DOES NOT mean that the contents of any document for legal effectiveness has been checked, officially authorised or approved by the United Kingdom or any other government or authority which is carrying out the legalisation process.  To legalise your documents the FCO satisfies itself that the document has been issued or certified appropriately and then attaches the Certificate of Apostille to each whole document. They charge a fee of £30.00 for each document to be legalised and £6.00 postage costs.

We can provide this service to you. The signatures of our lawyers have been verified and are on the FCO verification database. We act as your agent and also for some original and photocopied documents we first certify them before ensuring that they are suitable for legalisation. Certain documents issued by central government departments or local government registrars do not need to be certified before they can be legalised. This is because they have been certified upon being issued to you. For example, Birth, Death, Marriage and Civil Partnership Certificates, Land Registration Certificates and Companies House Company Certificates. Â 
You should always first check with the organisation that wants you to have your document legalised as to whether a photocopy or original document is required. To help you with some guidance we have provided some examples of documents where the original will usually be needed and therefore you need to post the document to us; and those where a photocopy can be used, in which case you can make efficient use of our attach and email service, which enables us to certify your copy prior to applying to have your document legalised. After you have read through this information please do read our Frequently Asked Questions page if you require further information or send us an email query and we will be pleased to provide you with further clarity. 

ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS REQUIRED FOR LEGALISATION

Business Use Examples
You can obtain a Certificate of Apostille for all United Kingdom Company Documents. These can be required if you plan to do business overseas; for importing and exporting, intending to register your existing UK business overseas as part of an expansion, purchasing or leasing business premises for your UK company overseas, opening a business account for your UK business overseas.
Company Certificate of Incorporation
Company Certificate of Name Change
Company Memorandum and Articles of Association
Company Minutes of Meetings
Company Resolutions and Company Records of Resolutions
Certificate of Good Standing
Other Certified Documents from Companies House
Documents/Letters issued by Inland Revenue & Customs
Business/Company Powers of Attorney
Business Commercial Lease Contract Agreement
Original Sealed Court Orders

 

Personal Use Examples
You can obtain a Certificate of Apostille for all Documents created in the UK or derived from a UK government department, institution, or recognised professional service. There are many instances where you may require these documents to be legalised by the UK for use in personal matters in overseas jurisdictions. For example you may be a UK national living or studying abroad or not a UK national currently living or studying here in the UK but are required to produce your UK document for inspection by your country of origin or other overseas countries.
 
Birth Certificates
Death Certificates
Marriage Certificates
Civil Partnership Certificates
Adoption Certificates
Gender Recognition Certificates
Name Change Deed Polls
Certificate of Non-impediment
Contracts/Agreements or Mandates (witnessed or sealed by Barrister Solicitor or Notary
Decree Absolute stamped by the court
Decree Nisi stamped by the court
Affidavits witnessed/signed by Barrister Solicitor or Notary
Power of Attorney witnessed/signed by Barrister Solicitor or Notary
Original Probate Documents issued by the Probate Registry of the High Court
Original Wills & Deeds of Trust (witnessed by a Barrister Solicitor or Notary)
Original Sealed Court Orders
Notary Oaths
National Identification Documents
Certificates issued by NHS Medical Practitioners
Letters from Medical Practitioners
Letters from Local Authorities
Original Immigration and Nationality Documents
UK Criminal Record Checks
Disclosure Scotland Documents
Subject Access Reports
Police Letters

PHOTOCOPIED DOCUMENTS THAT CAN BE USED FOR LEGALISATION
Sometimes it is not practical to legalise original documents because of their format or because you need to retain the original document for your own business or personal use.  When this is the case we ensure that your photocopy document is legally certified by one of our lawyers whose signatures have been verified by the Foreign Commonwealth Office and have been retained upon the FCO verification database.  Unlike other agent services we do not charge you extra for this service as it forms part of our one stop pricing for the service.  If you intend to use a photocopy document then you can make easy, safe and efficient use of the attach and email service. Using this service may also reduce the turnaround time for you to receive your Apostilled documents.
Examples of Photocopied Documents
Passport
National Identity Cards
Driving Licence
UK Education Certificates/Diploma’s/Degrees
Educational Transcripts
School, College and University Letters
Baptism and Confirmation Certificates
Trademark Certificates
Patents Certificates
Certificates of Trade Memberships
Apprenticeship and Indenture Certificates
Certificates of Entitlement to Professional Practice
Certificates of Free Sale
Bills of Sale
Plans and Schematics
Letters of Administration and Private Papers
 
Please remember that these are examples and as a general rule we can arrange to have any UK originated document legalised with a Certificate of Apostille.

Fees: UK Foreign Commonwealth Office Standard Legalisation Service

£70.00 each your first document this includes FCO fees, legally certifying your document and postage. The cost of each subsequent document is £45.00 all inclusive of FCO fees, legal certifying your document and  postage. You should add P&P cost of £2.50 per 10 pages if you require recorded delivery services for posting back to you. This is a 7 day Service, but can be provided to you within 24 hours at an all inclusive cost of £150.00 for  a first document and £100.00 for each subsequent document. The 24 hour service requires that your documents are legalised by the FCO on the same day. The FCO charges a fee of £71.00, which we have included in our fixed prices. Please Click Here to order an FCO legalisation service.

Fees: Additional Legalisation UK Foreign Embassy Service

£35.00 service fee each document, also you will need to add the disbursement fee required by the Foreign Embassy concerned and £2.50 (up to 10 pages) if you require a First Class Recorded Delivery postal service here in the UK or £8.00 minimum (up to 10 pages) signed for overseas postal delivery. These prices do not include courier services such as DHL which are charged as quoted by DHL and an additional admininstration cost of £8.00 is required to cover the preparation of your documents for collection by the courier service.

Please note that in addition most Foreign Embassy’s and Consulates will require that your documents have first been legalised by the Foreign Commonwealth Office.