What is the Hague Apostille Convention?

Think of the Hague Apostille Convention (officially, the Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents) as a major international agreement designed to simplify the use of official documents between different countries.

Before 1961, getting a document from one country accepted in another often involved a long, complicated, and expensive process called “chain legalisation.”

This meant getting multiple stamps and seals from various government departments and, finally, the destination country’s embassy.

It was a real headache!

The Convention streamlined all of this for its member countries by introducing a single, standardised certificate called an apostille.

• What is an apostille? It’s a certificate attached to your original UK document (or a document certified by a UK solicitor/notary) by the UK Legalisation Office, the UK government authority.

• What does it verify? Crucially, the apostille only verifies the origin of the public document it’s attached to. It confirms that the document’s signature, seal, or stamp belongs to a genuine UK public official (like a Registrar, Notary Public, Solicitor, or government official) and the capacity in which they acted. It does not verify that the document’s contents are true or accurate.

• Who issues it in the UK? The only body authorised to issue apostilles in the UK is the government’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) Legalisation Office. Notaries or solicitors cannot issue apostilles themselves, although their certification is often required before the FCDO can issue one.

This simplified apostille process only works for documents between countries that have signed the Hague Apostille Convention. There are many member countries worldwide (we can help you check if your destination country is one).

If your document is going to a country that hasn’t signed the Convention (e.g., UAE, Kuwait, Vietnam, Qatar, etc), then the apostille alone isn’t enough.

You’ll still need the more traditional, multi-step legalisation process, which involves getting the apostille from the FCDO and further authentication from that country’s embassy or consulate here in London.

The Hague Apostille Convention is fundamental to our work because it determines your documents’ legalisation path.

• Identifying the process: We determine whether your destination country requires just an apostille or full embassy legalisation.
• Preparation: We ensure your document is correctly prepared (e.g., notarised if necessary) to meet the FCDO’s requirements for issuing the apostille.
• FCDO application: We handle the submission to the FCDO efficiently, whether you need a standard turnaround or our fast apostille service for an urgent apostille. We manage the process to secure the fastest way to get an apostille.
• Embassy legalisation: If full legalisation is needed for a non-Hague country, we also manage that complex embassy stage for you.

We’re here to help you navigate that shortcut (or the longer route, when necessary!) efficiently and correctly.