NEWS: FCO Legalisation Relocates To Milton Keynes.. FCO MOVES
LEGALISATION & AUTHENTICATION/ATTESTATION
LEGALISATION
Legalisation (apostille) is an official means of confirming that a signature, seal or stamp appearing on a specific document is genuine. Legalised documents are often required when travelling overseas to work or study.
Within the UK, document legalisation tends to fall under two categories:
- UK government legalisation conducted by the Foreign Commonwealth Office
- UK based foreign Embassy legalisation, also sometimes referred to as attestation or authentication
When travelling overseas for work or study, often the immigration department of the country that you intend to visit will require certain documents to firstly be legalised before you are permitted to reside in the country. The type of documents that have to be legalised varies from country to country but the most common documents requiring legalisation are: marriage certificates; birth certificates; educational certificates and medical certificates - Companies intending to set up offices overseas usually require their Certificate of Incorporation to be legalised.
LEGALISATION BY THE FOREIGN COMMONWEALTH OFFICE (FCO)
Legalisation (apostille) is an official means of confirming that a signature, seal or stamp appearing on a specific document is genuine. The legalisation of documents is conducted by a UK government official at the Foreign Commonwealth Office (FCO). The FCO holds a database of official UK bodies such as solicitors, notaries, religious ministers; doctors etc. and the scanned signatures/seals of various practitioners within these organisations. The FCO verifies the stamp/signature on the document and then attaches an apostille (legalisation certificate) to confirm that it is genuine.
Document Legalisation by the FCO often forms just one stage of some foreign countries' required document authentication processes. Often, there is a prerequisite of the documents in question having to be notarised by a Notary Public or a solicitor before being legalised by the Foreign Commonwealth Office. Then, depending on the country being visited, the document may need to be legalised or authenticated/attested by the destination country's UK based Embassy.
EMBASSY LEGALISATION, ATTESTATION, AUTHENTICATION
Document legalisation/attestation requirements can vary form embassy to embassy. Some embassies will insist on only original documents, while others will accept certified copies; 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 country that you intend to visit.
For some nationalities, organising a simple tourist trip to France will first require having to get marriage certificates authenticated at their home embassy in London before being able to obtain a Schengen visa. This is currently true for people with marriage certificates issued in India, China and an increasing
number of other countries.
willQ4u can provision the full Legalisation process for all countries who's Embassies allow their final authentication process to be carried out on documents submitted by proxy (a third party).
Be sure to check the legalisation requirements before travelling to the
following countries for work or to study:
Brazil . China . India . Saudi Arabia . United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Check with your UK immigration advisor before submitting a new passport to be endorsed by the Home Office as some newly issued passports will require authentication at their respective Embassy.
DOCUMENT LEGALISATION/APOSTILLE FEES - FCO
willQ4u's Handling Fees to FCO:
- 1 – 3 documents legalised: £75 + VAT + Disbursements
- £15 + VAT per document exceeding 3 documents + Disbursements.
FCO document legalisation processing fee currently £27 per document.
DOCUMENT LEGALISATION/ATTESTATION FEES - EMBASSIES:
India . China . UAE . Saudi Arabia . Russia . Nigeria . Taiwan . France
willQ4u's Handling Fees to Embassies:
- 1 – 3 documents legalised: £85 + VAT + Disbursements
- £15 + VAT per document exceeding 3 documents + Disbursements.
Embassy document legalisation/attestation processing fees depend on document types and vary from embassy to embassy.
For more information or instruction to legalise your documents, please contact us:
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