What is an apostille?

An apostille certifies a document as authentic, in order that it can be recognised and used in a foreign state. It could be required for lots of different reasons, for example, it is commonly requested that people have their degree certificate apostilled in order to apply for a work visa.

Process

Please fill out the form below so we can assist you to prepare your documents for a visa application. Most visa applications will require 3 steps. It can be confusing with various different terms used interchangeably, we hope the explainer below helps clarify for you.

1. A UK solicitor/notary will sign/stamp the document to confirm it is authentic. This can be called certification, legalisation, or attestation.
2. Apostille: The UK government will stamp the document, to confirm they consider it authentic. This is done by the FCDO (Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office).
3. Foreign embassy will then confirm the authenticity of the UK government stamp. This enables a foreign state to accept your documents to be authentic. This can be called legalisation or attestation.

Explanatory anecdote!

If you one day travel with us to Bangkok’s Khaosan Road, you might see nefarious market stalls selling fake documents, including fake IDs, PADIs, ‘Oxford degrees’ and more – as shown in the holiday snap below. Fake documents are easy to come by, so before foreign states can trust the authenticity of your UK documents, they will need you to go through the apostille process.

Please fill the form below, and we can help you to do the whole process.

Thanks