UK marriage certificate apostille service.

If you need a UK marriage certificate apostilled, we handle the process for you from start to finish.

Send us your original certificate or official replacement copy, and we will arrange the apostille, keep you updated, and return your document securely by courier or post.

Whether you are dealing with immigration, residency, dual nationality, overseas registration, or another official requirement abroad, our marriage certificate apostille service takes the complexity out of the process.

As an FCDO-registered agency, we submit your marriage certificate directly to the FCDO Legalisation Office, and most orders are completed within one to four working days.

For official guidance on document legalisation, see Get your document legalised (GOV.UK).

If your deadline is tight, contact us before sending the document so we can confirm the fastest workable option.

Prices are per document. We will make the full route and cost clear before work starts, so you know exactly what is needed. If you need multiple certificates apostilled, contact us for a combined quotation.

Getting an apostille for marriage certificate documents through our service is straightforward:

If you also need embassy legalisation or a certified translation, we can arrange these as part of a single order — so your documents are ready for use overseas without separate appointments or delays.

UK marriage certificates are protected by Crown copyright, which means they cannot be photocopied. Only original documents or official copies from the issuing authorities listed above can be submitted for an apostille.

Not acceptable:

Certificate condition matters: Your certificate needs clear signatures, visible seals or stamps, and no damage that affects the official details. Light wear is usually not a problem, but anything that interferes with the signature or seal can cause rejection.

If you do not have your original certificate, you can apply for a replacement through the General Register Office (GOV.UK).

If your certificate was issued by a place of worship on official watermarked paper with an original wet-ink signature from an authorised official, it may be accepted for the apostille directly without notarisation.

However, Islamic (Nikkah), Hebrew, Greek Orthodox, Catholic, and other Christian marriage certificates that were not issued through the UK civil registration system — or that do not meet the watermarked paper and wet-ink signature requirements — must be notarised by a notary public before the apostille can be attached.

If you are unsure whether your certificate qualifies, send us a scan, and we will review it free of charge.

Whether your marriage certificate needs to be translated depends on the requesting authority and the country where it will be used. If the certificate is required for official legal proceedings, a certified translation — sometimes called a sworn translation — is almost always necessary.

We recommend that you get the apostille first and arrange the translation afterwards. Most countries want both the original apostilled certificate and the translated marriage certificate.

Check with the requesting authority whether the translated version also needs to be apostilled separately.

We can arrange certified translations as part of your order, starting from £50.

The apostille certificate is accepted by all member countries of the Hague Apostille Convention. If your certificate is being used in a country that has not signed the Convention, you will likely need additional embassy attestation from that country’s embassy or consulate in the UK.

The embassy legalisation process varies by country in terms of time, cost, and specific requirements. Some embassies require apostilles to be recent — typically issued within the last three months.

We provide a full legalisation service that includes both the FCDO apostille and embassy attestation, so you can handle everything in one order rather than managing multiple appointments.

Contact us for guidance on specific country requirements for use overseas.

This page is primarily for UK marriage certificate apostille cases. If your document falls into one of the categories below, the route may be different.

A UK apostille cannot be attached directly to a foreign marriage certificate. Documents issued outside the UK must be legalised in the country where they were issued.

The exception is certificates issued by a British Embassy, Consulate, or High Commission overseas — these are treated as UK documents.

If you need a foreign marriage certificate legalised through the UK FCDO, the original must first be presented to a notary public, who will notarise a copy. The apostille is then issued on the notarised copy, not the original.

Check with the receiving authority whether this method will be accepted — some embassies, such as the UAE Embassy, will not legalise non-UK marriage certificates at all.

We can arrange notarisation and the apostille as a combined service.

Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man are not part of the UK and issue their own marriage certificates and apostilles through their own competent authorities. A Crown Dependency certificate cannot be apostilled by the UK FCDO in the standard way.

The Crown Dependency apostille is generally accepted directly by UK-based embassies without a separate UK apostille. Malaysia is a notable exception — the Malaysian High Commission requires both the local and a UK apostille.

British Overseas Territories — such as the BVI, Cayman Islands, Gibraltar, and Bermuda — issue their own marriage certificates and apostilles. The territory’s own apostille must be obtained first.

For embassy legalisation in the UK, some territories require both the local apostille and a UK FCDO apostille before the document can be attested. The document must already carry the territories’ apostille before we can assist with the UK stage.

Requirements vary by territory and destination country. Contact us for specific guidance.