For several months the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) have been working on the development of e-apostilles. This is something the government is keen to implement to simply the legalisation of documents. The FCDO have been working to map out what a digital apostille solution would look like.
The apostille is a government certificate issued on a UK document that is being presented overseas. In the UK the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ‘Competent Authority’ for issuing apostilles. Working alongside the FCDO are business services, like us, that assist customers in obtaining the apostille on their UK documents.
Speed! The FCDO take around 2 to 3 weeks to issue an apostille. We visit the FCDO office for an expedite service and complete most orders in around 2 days.
We are seeing an increased number of medical notes for legalisation. Unfortunately, many doctors are not stored on the government’s records. The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) keep records of signatures for documents being submitted overseas.
Most documents are legalised in just 1 to 2 days. When a signature needs further verification this delays the process while the signature is checked.
Update on 19 July 2021 @ 9.00am - APOSTILLE SERVICE OPEN!
We are open and making every effort to process all orders as quickly as possible. Our offices and staff are working normally, where possible, with social distancing measures at our offices as we work with the government to provide apostilles to vital documents. Customers are not permitted to enter our offices at this time but can hand deliver to our post box.
Historically, nearly all academic certificates and awards were issued as printed paper certificates. Often including water marks, security features and high quality print that is not easily replicated on normal printers.
In recent times, more awards and qualifications are being issued digitally. We have seen an increase in this due to the pandemic. Some issuing bodies are emailing certificates to people until they can prepare and post formal certificates to the UK.
We are often asked if we can accept documents by email.
In the UK the apostille is issued by a government office. This is the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). It was previously called the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) before merging with the Department for International Development to create the FCDO.
Many people also refer to the FCDO as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or just the Foreign Office.
Apostilles from the FCDO
UPDATE - 12 November - All shipments to Brazil are operating as normal.
We have recently received communication from DHL advising they are not sending shipments to Brazil until 11th November 2020.
If you require your documents to be shipped direct to Brazil we can hold the item until DHL resume deliveries to Brazil. Alternatively we can still offer airmail delivery using the local post services. Please note this is not a tracked delivery option. If your document has already been dispatched you will need to contact DHL for an update on your shipment.
26/07/2021 - Update - Documents must now be certified by a Notary Public rather than a solicitor prior to the apostille being issued.
If you have a UK qualification, or you have studied in the UK, and need your certificates to be accepted in Italy you may be asked to obtain a Declaration of Value from the Italian Consulate in London.
Your certificate will need a UK apostille before the Italian Consulate will accept it.
Getting married in another country can be a wonderful occasion with much planning and anticipation beforehand. However, with it comes the bureaucracy of meeting the foreign government’s legal requirements.
If you are a UK citizen getting married outside of the UK you may be asked to provide documentation before the marriage can take place. One document that is often requested is to provide evidence that you are single. This can be done using several different documents and requests vary by country.
We legalise many customer’s Powers of Attorney (POA) for use overseas. Documents being used in another country may need the apostille before they will be accepted.
A POA is a legal document that allows you to appoint another person to act on your behalf. This is commonly used by people in the UK that need someone to represent them in legal matters abroad.