Who issues apostilles under the Hague Convention?

The Hague Apostille Convention mandates that only specific government authorities, called ‘Competent Authorities’, are empowered to issue apostilles to ensure international trust and consistency. Within the United Kingdom, this role is exclusively held by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) Legalisation Office.

This means that private legal professionals like Notaries Public or solicitors and agencies like ours authenticate documents for the FCDO but do not issue the final apostille certificate itself.

The Convention requires this system of designated government authorities to ensure that officials in all member countries can easily recognise and trust the source of an apostille. It standardises the issuer, not just the certificate format.

While they cannot issue the apostille, UK solicitors and Notary Publics are crucial because they often perform the necessary first step: certifying documents.

The FCDO needs to verify a signature or seal from a recognised UK official before issuing an apostille. By certifying a document, the solicitor or notary adds their verifiable signature/seal, making the document eligible for the FCDO to process under the Convention rules.

This applies particularly to documents that don’t already qualify as ‘public documents‘ with a recognised official signature or where specific verification is needed.

As your London-based legalisation agency, we manage this entire process. We ensure your documents are correctly prepared (including arranging necessary solicitor/notary certification recognised by the FCDO) and handle the application directly with the FCDO Legalisation Office.

Our expertise in their procedures facilitates efficient processing, including fast-track apostille and next-day legalisation options for your urgent apostille needs. We manage the submission, communication, and retrieval, ensuring you receive the official FCDO apostille correctly affixed.