Apostille

Apostille is from the French word for certification/annotation. See below for a fuller explanation. Some countries require additional certification for notarised documents. So, after I’ve notarised your document, you may have to legalise it. Legalisation means the Notary Public’s (my) signature and seal is authenticated by the:

• UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, by apostille; and/or
• Foreign Embassy/Consulate of the country where you’ll use the document,

This step is not always necessary, so first check with whoever wants your document.

Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) Apostille and/or Consular Legalisation

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and/or the relevant High Commission, Embassy or Consulate may certify your documents.  Countries which seldom require legalisation of documents include:

• Countries which are, or have been part of the British Commonwealth;
• Most parts of the United States;

Countries that signed the 1961 Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents accept documents for legal use that:

• Have been notarised by a Notary Public, and certain other documents, which are then certified by a conformant apostille.

Obtaining an Apostille

I can obtain an apostille or the consular stamp for an additional charge. Usually I recommend clients manage the legalisation themselves, by post. The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development office charges £45 for each document it legalises. This FCDO website “get document legalised” is helpful. Note:

• It is no longer possible to personally take documents yourself to the FCDO and wait while the apostille is attached.
• Consular legalisation fees vary depending on the country concerned.

Register of Apostilles

The UK Government E-Register of Apostilles is now live. Through this Register anyone with the date of issue and the offical number of an Apostille can check a document’s authenticity.

If legalisation is required

If your document requires legalisation, for the proof of documents to be sent outside the United Kingdom, then this table explains:

Where the name of a country appears in capital letters, the Hague Convention of 5th October 1961 is in force there.

The requirements set out above are intended as a guide only and are not intended to replace advice from practitioners qualified in the relevant jurisdictions. Where consular legalisation is required, the particular requirements of the relevant consulate should be ascertained.

The word “Apostille” is of French origin. It comes from the French verb “apostiller” which derives from the old French word postille meaning “annotation”, and before it to the Latin word postilla a variation of the word postea, which means “thereafter, afterwards, next”. Usage of the word “apostille” dates back to the end of hte 16th century in France. The first edition of the Deictionary of the Academie francaise in 1694, provied the following definition of apostille:

An addition in the margin of a written document or at the bottom of a letter.

So an Apostille consisited of an annotation in the margin of a document or at the end of a letter.

During the negotiations on the Convention, the term “apostille” was preferrred because of its novelty. The other suggestion having been attestation.

These notes are not exhaustive but are a preliminary guideline only. They interrelate with the accompanying notes:

• Guidance for appointments with a Notary Public
• Notary public fees