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Legalisation Services

Legalisation can be a lengthy and complicated process, very specific to the particular receiving country, and must be strictly complied with from the beginning of the process when the notary public is certifying the document, otherwise, even with the Apostille and consular legalisation stamp affixed to the document, it can still be rejected when submitting to the local requesting authorities overseas.

We can help getting your documents legalised and ensuring they are compliant before presenting to the relevant authorities overseas. We offer a complete legalisation process from the notarisation to the Apostille Legalisation by the FCDO Legalisation Office and consular legalisation from all consulates based in the UK.

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Budget Service

Receive the documents with FCDO Apostille to your UK address within 2 to 6 weeks.

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Standard Service

Receive the documents with FCDO Apostille to your UK address within 4/5 working days.

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Premium Service

Same day FCDO Apostille service for documents that comply with a number of special requirements.

Legalisation Steps

1. Send us the documents

Drop off and collect your documents in person at our office in central Birmingham, or post them to our address. When notarisation is required, our notary will take care of this step as usual.

2. Legalisation

We will get your documents Apostilled by the FCDO. When further Consulate/Embassy legalisation is required, we will take care of this step for you.

3. Returning the documents

Upon legalisation, we will email you the scanned copy and tracking details prior to despatching at no extra costs. We arrange delivery via DHL International Express or Royal Mail Special Delivery.

What is legalisation?

Legalisation is the process by which the signature and seal of the Notary Public or government officer/department are authenticated by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and/or by a foreign embassy or consulate of the receiving country, where the document is going to be used. A number of countries, primarily in the Middle East, still require this process of further consular legalisation after the Apostille is affixed to the document.

The legalisation requirements are determined only by the authorities in the receiving country, where the document is going to be used, not by the UK government, notary public or solicitor.

The legalisation process

After the Apostille is affixed to the document by the UK FCDO, if the country where the document is going to be submitted is not a Signatory to The Hague Convention 1961, the document must be forwarded to the relevant foreign embassy, consulate or High Commission for that respective country in the United Kingdom for further legalisation/attestation. For certain Arab countries, commercial documents may also require further attestation by the London and Arab-British Chambers of Commerce before submitting to the relevant embassy, consulate or High Commission for further legalisation.