Everything You Need to Know About Apostilled Documents

Ryan Patrick

• 8 min read
Everything You Need to Know About Apostilled Documents

Registering a limited company in the UK when you're not a resident requires the apostille. The document might vary such as educational documents and others that need to be legalized for full use in the UK.

in this blog post, we tell you everything you need to know about the apostilled document.

What is an Apostilled Document?

An apostille is a government official certificate, given to signify that the signature or seal in a document is authentic and can be of use overseas. The apostille is issued by the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) of the United Kingdom to legally approve a document for use.

Although the apostille is issued to prove that the document is authentic and valid, it does not necessarily prove that the content of the document is valid or correct.

What is An Apostille Certificate?

An Apostille is a certificate used to prove that the document to which it is attached is authentic and has been checked.

The apostille is a stamp with a compulsory heading of "Apostille Convention de la Haye du 5 October 1961 and must be in French.

This stamped document is issued by the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in the UK as a form of legalisation of a document.

The apostille is attached to the document that has been verified and can be used abroad as long as the country is among the Hague Convention.

The Hague Convention is a group of countries that came together to produce a unique method of document legalisation that can be used in any of the countries in the Hague Convention.

Presently, there are 126 countries present in the Hague Convention and all of them accept Apostilled documents from any of the member countries.

As long as the document has been Apostilled and you are to use it in a country that is among the Hague Convention, then you are well assured that your document has been legalised for use.

An apostille letter must be written in the language of the issuing country

If the document to be Apostilled is written in a foreign language, it must first be translated by a licensed and legalised translator into the language of the country issuing the apostille.

In the UK, every document to be Apostilled must first be translated to English by a licensed translator before it can be Apostilled by the FCDO.

An apostille, even if written in any language, must contain the following details for recognition by other countries.

  • Country- the apostille must contain the issuing country which in this case will be the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
  • Name of the person whose signature is on the document.
  • The capacity of the person signing the document, eg a capacitor
  • Seal and Stamp of- this section can be blank if not applicable
  • Location or place issued
  • Date of issuance
  • Authority issuing the apostille - in the UK it is, 'By His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs'
  • Serial number of the certificate
  • Issuing authority stamp
  • Signature of the issuing authority's officer.

These details must be included in every apostille no matter the country of issuance.

What do You Need an Apostille for?

An apostille is used to verify the authenticity of a document in another country.

A document issued in another country can be Apostilled and used in another country that is under the Hague Convention.

If you're a foreigner intending to register a business in the UK, you might have been asked to provide an apostille for some of your documents.

Here are some cases where an apostille is needed

  • Getting married to a spouse of a different nationality
  • Making a tender(an invitation for a company to bid on a particular project) abroad
  • When you're trying to build up an establishment abroad
  • Adoption procedures
  • Applying for a qualification certificate with a foreign education
  • Application for naturalisation
  • Returning from a foreign country

These cases above are illustrations of cases where you can be asked to provide your Apostilled documents when trying to process something important.

What are the Documents that can be Apostilled?

The following are some documents that can be Apostilled

  • Death certificates
  • Birth certificates
  • Marriage certificates
  • Divorce papers
  • Documents issued by the court
  • Contract of sales
  • Affidavit
  • Wills
  • Letters of recommendations
  • Powers of attorneys
  • Certificates issued by administrative authorities

Each procedure and organisation have different demands for documents that should be apostilled.

Before you apostille a document, you should first know the processes and the correct document to apostille to avoid delays.

Beware of scammers issuing apostille to others. However, there are licensed agents in the UK that apostille documents for others.

What You Should Avoid When Posting a Document Through an Agent

Here are the red flags to avoid if you want to post a document through an agent.

  • Virtual Application and issuance of apostille
  • Apostille does not carry the seal of the FCDO
  • The apostille is not attached to the document.
  • The FCDO will only ask you if necessary documents you need to apostille and not all your documents.
  • The agent should also ask for only the necessary documents.
  • Do not in any term give out your valuable information to agents
  • FCDO will never ask for your credit card details or any other private information regarding your bank

Keeping your documents safe is very important and should be what you consider before giving your details to any agent for apostille.

How to Get an Apostille

Getting an apostille is not very complicated but should be done carefully and with full attention to enable you to apostille the correct document for the correct procedure.

Different countries (states) have different authorities in charge of apostille but for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the authorities responsible for issuing apostille certificates is the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office.

The FCDO offers apostille to legalise the use of documents to every person who applies except in cases where there are errors in the document or the document is fake.

What will Make My Document Rejected for Apostille?

Cases, where your document can be rejected for apostilles, include

  • If the document that is submitted does not have an original signature or stamp, it will be considered fake and the document will be rejected.
  • Also if the signature on the document cannot be verified or is unknown
  • A religious certificate such as a baptismal certificate
  • A laminated document cannot be apostilled as it will hinder the proper verification of the authenticity of the document
  • A glued document will make verification difficult or impossible
  • If the body that issued the document is unrecognised

Under any of these circumstances, the document will be rejected and unless the problem is solved, the document cannot be apostilled.

How Can You Get an Apostille

Below is a detailed explanation of how you can get an apostille in the UK

Document Translation

Before applying for an apostille, you need to translate the document into the official language of the country issuing the apostille.

In the UK, since English is the official language, all documents must be translated into English before you can apply for an apostille.

You have to submit your document to a licensed translator or an agency that translates the document.

This translation is the exact copy of the main document but in the country's official language and must be authentic.

The translated document can be in Arabic-English, Chinese-English, French-English, or Spanish-English.

You offer your document to a licensed agency and they will translate the document and offer it to you to submit for an apostille

Apply For Apostille

After receiving a document from your translator, you can apply apostille using the main document attached with the translated copy.

In most countries, these documents (translator and original document) will be submitted to the embassy or a consulate.

The document must be certified beforehand by the issuing company. This is mostly done by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in most countries.

In the UK, the document is submitted to the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

After submitting the documents to the FCDO, you await approval from them then you await your apostille.

Once there is no problem with your document, the document will be stamped and attached to an apostille certificate to certify that the document is authentic and can be used in a foreign country.

Do all Countries Accept Apostilled Documents?

No not all countries accept an apostill. Only the countries under the Hague Convention accept the apostille certificates.

In countries where apostilled documents are not accepted, legalisation or notarization is done instead of an apostille.

As of 2024, there are 126 countries registered under the Hague Convention and these countries accept an apostilled document signed by any of the member countries.

There is no need for frequent document verification especially if you travel a lot, you can get an Apostille from any of these countries and use them in any of the countries.

Once you have an Apostille certificate, it authenticates your document and it has been legalised for use in any of the countries under the Hague Convention.

Legalisation and Apostillation

Though they are sometimes used interchangeably and mostly involve almost the same procedures, legalisation and apostille are two different terms.

Legalisation is often done when the destination country is not a member of the Hague Convention or might be a member of the Hague Convention but does not accept apostille for that particular document.

When going over to a country that is not a member of the Hague Apostille Convention, you have to legalise your document instead of an Apostille.

Instead of an Apostille certificate, a legalisation is issued because the country which is not part of the Hague Apostille Convention, will not accept any document with an Apostille certificate stamp but rather a document that has been legalised and proven to be real and correct.

Legalisation can be carried out in your home country or the country in which the document is to be used.

You can only use legalisation when the country the document is to be used in is not a member of the Hague Convention, else the apostille should be used.

Almost all necessary official or important documents can be legalised. The birth certificate, affidavit, death certificate, marriage certificate and some other important documents.

A change of company's name can also be legalised if the country that the effect will take place in is not among the Hague Convention.

Legalisation is valid as much as the apostille certificate or stamp of a document and is mostly used in the same way and processes.

Apostille and Notarisation

Notarisation is a document authenticating method done by a notary. A notary has various ways of checking for the authenticity of your document.

Methods of authenticating a document by a notary include:

  1. Certification of a copy of your document
  2. Witnessing your signature on the document
  3. Confirmation of identity

A notary is a lawyer who is licensed and specialises in authenticating documents for clients who need their documents verified.

The notary's job is to cross-check the document for any errors or any point that will question the validity of the document.

The notary can also monitor the signature of the person and at the end issue a notarial certificate to prove that the document is authentic.

Notarisation is mostly used to prevent fraud and to prove to the other party receiving the document that the information on the document and the document itself is genuine.

It is mostly used by individuals and companies carrying out business activities and to prevent fraudulent activity of any of the parties.

Differences Between Notarisation and Apostille

An apostille is different from a notarial certificate in various ways. Below are the differences between a notarial certificate and an apostille.

  1. In Notarisation, no document is needed before a notary certificate can be issued by the notary whereas, in an apostille, a document will first be provided and cross-checked for authenticity before an apostille is issued.
  2. A notary can be issued by any notary public agent, a lawyer who specialises in notarisation whereas an apostille can only be issued by the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
  3. A notarial certificate can be used in its country of issuance (UK) but an apostille can only be used in a foreign country.
  4. A notary keeps the information about their notarial certificate and can offer a scan to individuals when requested whereas an apostille is saved on the website of the UK government and can be checked by using the Verify an apostille feature on the website.

Though different from each other, a notarial certificate and an apostille serve the same purpose which is to verify and authenticate a document.

But an apostille is used abroad while a notarial certificate is used locally.

Conclusion

An apostille proves that your document is valid for use in any Foreign country. It is very important to apply for an apostille when visiting a country under the Hague Convention or applying for legalisation when visiting a country that's not among the Hague Convention. Always confirm the document you need to apostille for a particular process to avoid delays. do you have any questions about the Apostilled Document? Kindly contact us here to speak with an expert today.