DBS Apostille | Next-Day Service, Solicitor Certified

Full refund if the FCDO rejects · FCDO-registered apostille agent · Next-day available

Why your DBS check must be certified before it can be apostilled

A DBS certificate is issued without a signature from the Disclosure and Barring Service. That matters because an apostille works by verifying a recognised signature or stamp — and with nothing on the document for the FCDO to authenticate, a DBS check can’t be apostilled on its own.

This is what sets it apart from documents such as a birth certificate or an ACRO police certificate, which already bear a verifiable official signature.

A DBS doesn’t, so it must first be certified by a UK solicitor registered with the FCDO. The FCDO then authenticates that solicitor’s signature and attaches the apostille.

This is also the single most common reason a DBS apostille gets rejected. If the certifying solicitor isn’t on the FCDO’s register, the document is turned away — and there’s no way to check a signature is registered before it’s submitted.

Every DBS we handle is certified by an FCDO-registered solicitor, so this failure can’t happen on our watch. If it ever did, your refund guarantee covers you.

Reassured your DBS will be done right?

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How it works

Step 1 — Order online

Choose Standard or Express and place your order in a couple of minutes. No quote to wait for, no back-and-forth — you’ll have your order confirmation straight away.

Step 2 — Send us your original DBS

Post it to our Westminster office or drop it in by hand. We’ll email you the moment it arrives, then our FCDO-registered solicitor certifies it — so you skip the job of finding a solicitor, booking an appointment and hoping their signature is registered.

Step 3 — We apostille it and send it back

We submit the certified document to the FCDO, attach the apostille, and return your original by tracked courier — with a scanned copy emailed to you the moment it’s done.

That’s the whole process.

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You can do all of this yourself, but most people use us to skip the solicitor hunt, the appointments and the risk of an unregistered signature getting the whole thing rejected.

Your document is safe with us — and so is your money

Full refund if the FCDO rejects your document.

Because every DBS we handle is certified by an FCDO-registered solicitor, rejection shouldn’t happen. But if it ever does, you get your money back — no arguing the point. You carry none of the risk.

Posting your only DBS certificate? Here’s how we look after it.

We know it’s an original you can’t easily replace. Every document is tracked both ways: you get an email the moment it arrives with us; we check that it meets FCDO requirements before anything is submitted; and we return it by tracked courier, with a scanned copy emailed to you. It’s never out of sight without a tracking number against it.

That’s the whole process.

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Mock-up of disclosure and barring certificate [DBS check)

Mock-up of a DBS certificate / © apostillelondon.com

Will an apostille be enough for your destination country?

For most countries, yes. If the country where you’ll use your DBS is part of the Hague Apostille Convention, the FCDO apostille is all you need — that covers the majority of destinations.

A handful of countries aren’t members — the UAE, Qatar, Egypt and Kuwait among them — and these require an extra step: embassy attestation after the apostille. If that’s your destination, you’re still in the right place.

We handle the full process, apostille and attestation, so it’s one order and one team from start to finish.

FAQs and answers:

My DBS certificate is a few months old — is it too late to apostille it?

There’s no time limit on the apostille itself; we can apostille a DBS regardless of its issue date. The catch is on the destination side — many countries require a DBS issued within the last three to six months because it’s treated as a snapshot of a point in time, not a permanent record.

Check what your country or employer asks for before you order. If yours falls outside their window, you’ll need a fresh DBS first, and it’s worth knowing that now rather than after you’ve paid for an apostille you can’t use.

Can you apostille my DBS if my own solicitor has already certified it?

Yes — but only if your solicitor’s signature is registered with the FCDO.

This is the single most common reason a DBS apostille gets rejected: the certification looks fine in every other respect, but the signing solicitor isn’t on the FCDO’s register, and there’s no way to check that in advance.

If you’re not certain yours is registered, it’s safer to let us certify it with our FCDO-registered solicitor, so you’re not paying for a submission that comes straight back.

I've lost my DBS certificate — can you still help?

Possibly, depending on how long ago it was issued. The DBS only reprints certificates in limited circumstances and for a limited period after the issue date; after that, reprints are unavailable, and you’ll need to apply for a new check.

Tell us the situation, and we’ll point you to the right option before you spend anything — there’s no sense ordering an apostille for a document you can’t get hold of.

My destination wants a translation too — do I translate before or after the apostille?

Apostille first, then translate. The apostille is attached to your DBS, so the translation needs to cover the apostilled document — the apostille included — to be accepted.

Doing it the other way round usually means paying for the translation twice. We can organise the certified translation as part of the same order once the apostille is done, so the sequence is handled for you. A small number of authorities have their own preference, and we’ll confirm yours if so.

Can I send a scan or photocopy of my DBS instead of the original?

No — the FCDO only apostilles the original paper certificate that was posted to you. A scan, photocopy or photo won’t be accepted, and there’s no electronic apostille available for a DBS, so the physical document is the only route.

Post the original to us, and we’ll return it to you via tracked courier once the apostille is attached.

Will I get my original DBS certificate back?

Yes. Your original comes back to you by tracked courier once the apostille is attached, with a scanned copy emailed to you the moment it’s ready. The apostille is added to your existing certificate — we don’t keep it or swap it for anything.