You are probably trying to find a service to legalise your documents with the apostille. Every day we are asked a few standard questions. The first point to address is that WE ARE OPEN. The FCO may be closed to the public, but we are working with the FCO as a service provider to obtain the apostille for the public. We are a registered UK legalisation service.
Updated: 20/04/2020 - APOSTILLE SERVICE OPEN!
We are issuing the apostille on all UK documents!
This article was created April 2020 - All Services have since resumed. The following information is now history!
Updated: 07/04/2020 - APOSTILLE SERVICE OPEN!
We are issuing the apostille on all UK documents!
Following a brief period of suspended services the Hague Apostille Service resumed apostille services on Tuesday 7 April.
Hague Apostille is a recognised UK Apostille Service with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Gov.uk) for the legalisation of documents. We have priority access to the FCO as a registered business service.This enables us to provide a quick 1-2 day processing (subject to the FCO limits at this time)
Due to the recent Coronavirus outbreak in China we are expecting clients receiving and sending documents in the area to experience delays with the arrival of shipments. As some areas have been placed into quarantine and with travel restrictions widely in place this is affecting all forms of transport from air cargo to road transport and sea freight.
We aim to make the apostille process as simple as possible. Simply send the document to us and we take care of the rest. But what does this process actually entail? This article provides an overview of the different elements that make up the apostille legalisation process.
When signing a power of attorney, you normally need to have the document witnessed by an independent person. This is typically witnessed by a solicitor or notary public.
When a power of attorney is ‘witnessed’ the solicitor or notary will check a person’s identity and then watch them sign the document. The solicitor or notary will then add their own signature. If the document does not already contain a ‘witnessing statement’ they may add their own certification
As of the 8th of November 2019, the process for legalising UK documents for use in China will be changing. Applications will now be submitted to the Chinese embassy via a Chinese Visa Application Service Centre in either London, Manchester or Edinburgh.
The visa centres have been introduced to reduce the administrative burden on the embassy by handling submitted applications. The embassy will still ultimately be issuing the attestation stamps to documents and will still be in charge of decision-making with respect to the eligibility of documents for legalisation.
To ensure your documents can be legalised with the apostille they must be certified correctly by a recognised legal official under the Hague apostille convention. With overseas authorities requesting the apostille for different types of documents it can be confusing to know who is able to provide certification. The following is a list of the most common officials and the types of documents they can certify for the apostille process.
Doctors
When getting married abroad you may be asked to provide legalised documents to an authority overseas. This often includes a birth certificate as proof of identity and documentation that proves you are single and not already married.
In addition, if you have been previously married you may need to provide evidence you are now divorced. This is normally the decree absolute from a UK court. Any name changes by deed poll may also need to be legalised.
The Apostille convention will enter into force in the Philippines from 14th May 2019. This means the Philippines are the 117th party to agree to the convention which shows the increasing endorsement for the apostille legalisation process.
It is likely to take a number of months before the authorities in the Philippines will stop requesting embassy attestation as they adjust and alter their regulations. To accommodate this adjustment period the embassy should still provide attestation of documents before the service is stopped completely.