Getting an apostille for an ACRO certificate is straightforward.
There are two main ways of getting an apostille for a UK ACRO Police Certificate.
Individuals can apply directly to the government’s website, the FCDO, for an apostille or entrust the task to an agency registered with the FCDO, like us.
As an experienced agency, we can reduce this time to 2-3 days. 24-hour or same-day service is also available if it is an emergency or you need your ACRO legalised fast.
How the order process works:
Step one:
Check that the ACRO police certificate has not been damaged or altered. If you order a new ACRO, you can post it to our office directly.
Step two:
Only the original ACRO certificate is accepted for legalisation. You can deliver it in person or post it to us.
Step three:
Contact our office:
Please provide the following information:
- In which country will your ACRO police certificate be used?
- Do you need a translation of your ACRO police certificate?
- How soon do you need the apostille?
- Let us know about delivery and returns.
Our team can give you a detailed, personal quotation when we have this information. Standard service costs £79 for 2–3-day service.
Final step:
We will notify you as soon as the apostille for your ACRO police certificate is ready. We will also send you a scanned copy for your records.
Your apostilled ACRO certificate can be returned by post or collected from our office.
Assuming that you are not collecting your apostilled documents from our London office – we will also provide you with the DHL tracking number given to the courier.
How much does it cost?
Our price for an ACRO police certificate apostille is £79. The price includes our fees, FCDO fees, and VAT.
Please inform us of additional requirements when you contact our office.
How long does it take to get an apostille for an ACRO police certificate?
Our standard processing time for getting an apostille is 2-3 days.
Here is what 2 to 3 days means:
- If your documents arrive by 10 am, it will take 2 days to process your documents + next-day return delivery.
- If your documents arrive after 10 am, then it would take 3 days to apostille your documents + next day return delivery.
An expedited 24-hours service is also available on request.
We also offer a same-day apostille service.
- Documents must arrive before 10 am for the same-day service.
- Documents can be collected around 4 pm the same day.
Same-day service assumes you can drop off and collect your documents on the same day at our London office.
If a mailing or courier service is utilised, the same day becomes a 24-hour service.
Read the full same-day apostille service explanation.
How was the ACRO police certificate issued?
Your ACRO must have been issued by the official acro.police.uk website. ACRO police certificates are only issued in hard copy. They are never sent electronically [3].
You can order a replacement from the official website online. Replacements are also sent as hard copies to your address. Both the original and the official replacements can be used to get an apostille.
ACRO certificates cover the whole of the UK (including Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), but they are not the same as certificates issued by Disclosure Scotland.
ACRO is not the same as the UK’s Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS, see below).
Police in other British jurisdictions (Channel Islands, Gibraltar, Falkland Islands, etc.) can access the same information as UK mainland police from the Police National Computer database.
Police in other British jurisdictions also issues their own certificates.
Although the process for obtaining apostilles for all British police certificates is very similar, this article deals only with obtaining apostilles for UK ACRO police certificates.
Who can request an apostilled ACRO police certificate?
Apostille for police certificates is usually requested by foreign governments, agencies, and other organisations.
Although anyone who has lived or worked in the UK can apply for an ACRO police certificate, especially if they intend to live, work, or settle in another country.
Foreign governments and organisations often require apostilles for police certificates to confirm the authenticity and legal validity of an ACRO police certificate.
Apostilles of police certificates are accepted in all countries that are party to the Hague Convention.
Is ACRO the same as DBS?
An ACRO Police Certificate is not the same as a report from the government’s Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).
The ACRO police certificate is designed for use in foreign countries.
The DBS is mainly used by organisations in the UK to help them to decide whether an individual is suitable for certain kinds of work, especially work involving children or vulnerable adults.
Both give details of criminal records (including “spent” convictions), but an “enhanced” DBS check also includes pending cases and ongoing investigations [5].
Normally only an ACRO apostille is requested by foreign countries.
Different background checks that we apostille are:
Will my ACRO certificate need translation?
An ACRO certificate may need to be translated if the country requesting the legalisation of your document is not a native English-speaking country. The requesting authority would usually request a translation, so it’s best to check with them.
