Letter of no trace apostille service overview

For the apostille, we need the original letter of no trace
You can post or hand deliver your certificate of no trace

3-4 days and starts from £87 per document
24-hour service from £97 per document

Prices are per document and include the apostille certificate, all fees, and VAT.

To get an apostille for a Letter of No Trace (LNT), we need to receive the original document.

Photocopies cannot be processed, although official replacements from the GRO or local registrar’s office are accepted.

You can deliver in person, post or courier the no trace of marriage letter to our office in Westminster, London.

We can return the legalised adoption record via DHL or Royal Mail (next-day service), or you can collect it in person.

Jump to: How much does it cost? | How long does it take?

Our 3-step hassle-free process:

If you have any questions, please call 0207 0500 692

Step one:

Make sure your letter of no trace can be legalised with an apostille. You need the original version or an official replacement stamped by the GRO.

Step two:

Contact our office.

When emailing, please provide the following information:

How soon do you need the apostille?
Do you also require embassy legalisation?
How will the adoption certificate be delivered and returned?

When we have all the information, the team will assess your enquiry and give you a detailed quotation and timeline of the process.

Suppose you accept the quotation, the process of getting an apostille starts. We will take of everything.

Final step:

As soon as your UK adoption certificate has been apostilled, we will send you a scanned copy via email.

If you are not collecting your apostilled document from our London office – we will provide you with the tracking number given by the courier.

Note that we return documents by DHL or Royal Mail only. If you want to make other arrangements, please let us know.

How much does it cost?

For personal documents, prices are as follows:

3-4 day apostille service starts from £87.
1 day (next business day) service costs £97

The price includes our fees, FCDO fees, and VAT.

There could be additional costs, depending on another service you choose and how many documents you wish to apostille. Additional cost examples are:

Translations start from £35
Notarisation by notary public (+ £96)
Return delivery costs (+ £12)
Embassy legalisation (from + £60)

Call +44 (0) 207 0500 692

Send your enquiry via email

Our fast-track apostille options

There are three options for getting an apostille in the UK.

Option one: 1 day (next business day)

Documents must arrive before 9:00 am for the next-day service.
Documents can be collected around 3:30 pm the next day.

Option two: 3 to 4 days:

If documents arrive after 9:30 am, it will take 3-4 days

Option three: e-Apostille 5 to 48 hours

If the document qualifies for an e-apostille, it is usually completed within 24 hours but can take two working days, depending on the FCDO’s workload.

Why your letter of no trace must be officially legalised

Your GRO-issued letter of no trace is a UK domestic document. When you present it to an overseas institution, they have no way of knowing if the signature or stamp on it is genuine.

It’s for this reason that you must get an apostille, the certificate that officially legalises your document for use abroad. It’s issued by the FCDO Legalisation Office, and represents the UK government’s guarantee that the signature or stamp on the document is genuine.

Got questions? Contact us

Skip the errors — our service gets it right the first time

Without a fully legalised letter of no trace, your wedding abroad cannot legally proceed, risking the entire event. Therefore, we do everything right the first time.

With our help, you won’t have to deal with the following common errors:

Submitting a photocopy: The FCDO will only legalise the original letter, not a photocopy.
Missing signatures: We’ll confirm if the document has a wet-ink signature from the GRO.
Incomplete legalisation: For countries that aren’t a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, full legalisation requires obtaining embassy attestation in London in addition to the FCDO-issued apostille.

We understand the legalisation requirements of all destinations. We’ll guide you the entire way to ensure your single status document is correctly and fully legalised.

Why choose us

We’ve turned document legalisation into a science, guaranteeing an overwhelmingly great experience every time.

Here’s why you should choose us:

Incredible speed: We offer expedited services, securing apostilles in one business day with our next-day apostille service or three to four days with our standard service.
Peace of mind: Whatever your destination, you can rest easy knowing that our experienced team will take care of all the country-specific requirements.
Complete, done-for-you service: We manage the entire process from start to finish, delivering a fully legalised document.

Order your apostille today

What customers say about our service:

Critical check: Is your letter of no trace ready for legalisation?

To save time and avoid delays, ensure your letter of no trace is ready for FCDO legalisation before you send it to us. Here’s a quick checklist to help:

It should be recent, preferably issued within the last three months.
It must be the original letter of no trace, not a photocopy, scan, or certified copy.
It must bear a wet-ink signature, the original signature of the issuing GRO official.
It must be clear and undamaged, meaning free from tears, marks, or modifications.

Still have a question? Email us

Don’t risk delays. Get expert help today.

When you already have a fixed wedding date, legalisation delays aren’t just a minor inconvenience. They can jeopardise the entire wedding ceremony.

It’s best to work with an experienced apostille facilitator to minimise the risk of rejections or delays. At London Apostille Services Ltd, we help you remove guesswork from the document legalisation process, ensuring you do everything right the first time.

Start the process online today

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Here are answers to the commonly asked questions about legalising letters of no trace:

Do I have to come to your office?

No, you don’t need to attend our office in Westminster. Documents can be sent by courier or by post. We recommend using a tracked service if you send your documents by post. We return your documents in the same way.

You are, of course, welcome to drop the documents off in person. Delivering in person requires that you have an order number. Please make sure you contact our office first.

What is the difference between a letter of no trace and a certificate of no impediment?

The main difference between a Letter of No Trace (LNT) and a Certificate of No Impediment (CNI) is a CNI is available to British citizens who wish to get married or enter into a civil partnership. The CNI confirms that there are no objections to the proposed marriage.

A letter of no trace (LNT) is issued by the UK’s General Register Office (GRO) to a foreign national. It confirms that there is no record of the foreign national being married since their arrival in the UK.

Either a CNI or an LNT may be required when a person who is typically resident in the UK wishes to get married or enter into a civil partnership in another country [1].

Getting the CNI or LNT apostilled for use overseas is usually necessary.

When should you get an apostille for a letter of no trace?

You should get an apostille for the LNT (No trace certificate) if a public official, organisation, company, government agency or other authority of a foreign country request it.

Refusing to obtain an apostille will result in your documents not being accepted in the country that requested them. The apostille certificate confirms that the official signature, seal, or stamp on the LNT is genuine.

Must a letter of no trace be certified by a solicitor or notarised to get an apostille?

No. A Letter of no Trace is issued by the General Register Office. Every document issued by the GRO is already a certified copy. No further certification is required by the FCDO to get an apostille [2].

Can a photocopy of an LNT be used to get an apostille?

No. The FCDO cannot apostille a photocopy of a letter of no trace even if a notary public has legalised it. The legalisation office can, however, accept official copies stamped or signed by the GRO itself.

Official copy from the GRO = yes can be apostilled
Photocopy of the original = no cannot be apostilled

When does an apostille for a letter of no trace expire?

The apostille expires when the underlying letter of no trace expires.

A letter of no trace covers only the time between a foreign national’s arrival in the UK and the date when the letter of no trace was issued.

Technically, therefore, a letter of no trace cannot cover any period of time after the letter of no trace was issued.

The decision to accept an apostilled letter of no trace rests with the person, organisation, foreign government agency or other authority that has requested the letter of no trace.

In practice, most foreign authorities will accept an apostilled LNT for at least three months after the LNT was issued. Many will accept even older LNTs. The decision is entirely at the discretion of the body that made the request.

Always check how recent the LNT must be with the overseas person or organisation that has made the request [3].

Got more questions? Email us

References

This article has been written by experts and fact-checked by experts. We only link to high-quality sources like government information & data, original reporting and interviews with industry experts. Reputable publishers are also sourced and cited where appropriate to support the facts within our articles.