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Compliance Documents Legalisation and Apostille
15 October 2021
Legalisation of a document confirms that the signature, seal or stamp of a British public official or other accredited official on a document is genuine.
Where the document is for use in a country or territory that is party to the Hague Convention of 1961, it requires only a Foreign Office apostille (legalisation certificate) to be affixed. An Apostille is used to verify the legitimacy and authenticity of the origin of a document without further legalisation. The validity of the seals or stamp and signatures on the document should be sufficient without requesting further evidence of proof.
For other countries, the document also has to be legalised by the London consulate of the relevant country making it legally recognised within another. For some countries, the document has to be presented through a Chamber of Commerce before legalisation by the consulate.
With the UK no longer being in the European Union various documents may now need a higher level of legalisation, not just within the EU but worldwide. For example the UK is no longer part of the Erasmus scheme, students wanting to study in Spain have to compile a dossier of documents that need to be apostilled by the Foreign Office. More and more people are seeking to use their documents overseas for studying, contracts, compliance, identification, work, residency or to enable someone to work on their behalf.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London is recognised as the world leader for the authentication of documents. Furthermore the large number of embassies, consulates and delegations in London ensures an extensive and rapid processing of the legalisation.
London Law has extensive experience of the specific and varied requirements stipulated by the various embassies, consulates and delegations. We will arrange for the correct authentication and apostilles by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office or Chamber of Commerce and legalisation by the relevant government's representative office.
London Law is able to get copies of documents notarised in UK prior to apostille. For further advice contact London Law, info@londonlaw.co.uk