Get an apostille for a certificate of attendance.

We need to see the original certificate of attendance (certificate of participation, certificate of completion, etc) to get an apostille.

Once we’ve confirmed that your attendance certificate is genuine, we can certify a copy for the FCDO.

We can return the legalised documents via DHL or Royal Mail (next-day service), or you can collect them in person from our London office.

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

The full order process

Step one:

Make sure that your certificate of attendance (certificate of participation, certificate of completion) can be legalised with an apostille. Your certificate should not be damaged or altered in any way.

Step two:

Contact our office.

When emailing, please provide the following information:

• In which country will your certificate be used?
• Should we legalise the original or a certified copy?
• How soon do you need the apostille?
• Do you also require embassy legalisation?
• How will the attendance certificate be delivered and returned?

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

If you accept the quote, the process of getting an apostille starts.

Step three:

Once your attendance 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?

The price includes admin, solicitor, FCDO, and VAT. Business documents incur an additional processing fee.

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

• Translations start from £30
• Notarisation by notary public (+ £96)
• Return delivery costs (+ £12)
• Embassy legalisation (from + £75)

There are 4 options for getting an apostille.

Option one: 10-12 days:

Your documents are “posted” to the FCDO in Milton Keynes and then posted back to our office – or your address. This process usually takes about 10 business days. (currently unavailable)

Option two: 3 to 4 days:

• If documents arrive by 10:30 am, it will take 3 days
• If documents arrive after 10:30 am, then it will take 4 days
• Documents are submitted and collected in person

Option three: 1 day (next business day)

• Documents must arrive before 10:00 am for the next-day service.
• Documents can be collected around 3:30 pm the next day.
• Documents are submitted and collected in person

Option four: e-Apostille 1 to 2 days 

Electronic apostilles are usually completed within 24 hours but can take two working days, depending on the FCDO’s workload.

No, you do not have to come to our office. You can email a PDF version of your certificate of attendance or other certificates.

Your documents can also 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.

If it is more convenient, you can, of course, attend our office in person to both deliver and collect documents.

You must only attend in person if a notary public must notarise your certificate.

Please let us know if you need notarisation.

No. The FCDO only issues apostille for documents that have originated in the UK. If you need an apostille for a certificate of attendance issued elsewhere, it is best to apply to the competent authority in the country concerned.

It is theoretically possible to get an apostille for a foreign certificate of attendance if a notary public has notarised it in the UK.

In this case, the notary must have contacted the foreign issuing authority directly to verify that you have attended the course and must certify on the notarial cover sheet that a full background check has been carried out.

In practice, very few notaries are willing to undertake this difficult and troublesome process. Even when all of these procedures have been followed, it is by no means certain that the FCDO will issue the apostille.

It is also very expensive.

For these reasons, obtaining an apostille from the country where your certificate of attendance was issued is safer and simpler.

There is no real difference in getting an apostille for a certificate of attendance if you are in the UK or outside of the UK.

The process is the same. We can apostille the original certificate or a copy that is solicitor certified. Copies can be sent by email. Originals need to be posted or delivered to our London office.

Provided you can show that an institution within the UK issued your certificate of attendance, you can get an apostille for it – no matter what language it was issued in.

However, the FCDO will only accept certificates of attendance in a foreign language if they have been notarised by a public notary or certified by a solicitor.

If you are going to present your apostilled certificate of attendance overseas, you should check whether a certified translation in the language of your destination country is also required.

In England, it is unusual for a certificate of attendance to be in any language other than English. Occasionally a UK language school may issue a certificate of attendance in both the language taught and in English.

Scotland has three official languages: English, Scottish Gaelic, and Scots (sometimes called Doric). In Northern Ireland, the two official languages are English and Irish (sometimes called Irish Gaelic to distinguish it from Scottish Gaelic).

Ulster Scots is also recognised as a minority language in Northern Ireland. The two official languages in Wales are Welsh and English. Therefore, in these countries, your attendance certificate may well be in one or more of these languages.

It is possible, therefore, that you may need an apostille for a certificate of attendance issued in the UK in any one of the above languages. This is especially true if it is a certificate of attendance at a course teaching one of those languages.

Because the UK is now a multicultural society with numerous different ethnicities and languages, you may also have a certificate of attendance issued by a faith school, college, or other similar institution in the UK.

For example, British Muslims who wish to travel to Saudi Arabia for Hajj or Umrah may have certificates of attendance at religious or Arabic language courses.

No apostille can be issued for these certificates unless they have been notarised by an Arabic-speaking notary public or certified by an Arabic-speaking solicitor in the UK (or an Arab British Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) official).

These certificates of attendance, which are very useful for travel in Saudi Arabia, are usually written in Arabic. Provided they have been issued in the UK and duly notarised or solicitor-certified by a suitably qualified legal practitioner, they can be apostilled by the FCDO.

By researching the agency online, you can verify the legitimacy of an apostille agent that gets the apostille for your certificate of attendance.

Here are a few suggestions:

Apostille agents cannot issue apostille certificates.

Any other organisation that purports to issue UK apostilles is fraudulent.

We are registered with the FCDO and have worked closely with them for many years.

We can apply on your behalf for an apostille and ensure that all the correct procedures are followed.

We do not issue the apostille ourselves.

Yes. Getting an apostille for your certificate of attendance is necessary – even if you plan to use it only within the EU.

Amongst countries which are members of the EU, many documents no longer require apostilles.

Because the UK has left the EU, these waivers no longer apply to people entering the EU from the UK.

Even before Brexit, most academic and vocational certificates were not exempt from the requirement for an apostille.

For these reasons, you must now get apostilles for all relevant documents originating in the UK, including certificates of attendance.

Yes. You can apply for an apostille issued by a private institution or training provider if your certificate of attendance (or a copy) has been notarised by a notary public or certified by a solicitor.

No. Apostilles can only be issued for a certificate of attendance that has been issued in one country that is party to the Apostille Convention and is to be used in another country which is also a party to the Convention.

Suppose your certificate of attendance was issued or is to be used in a country where the apostille convention does not apply. In that case, you should contact the embassy or a consulate of the country where you intend to use the certificate of attendance to find your options [5].

The authorities in some countries which are not signatories of the Hague convention (and therefore do not issue apostille) not only demand an apostille but also insist upon further attestation from their UK embassies.

If you are applying from outside the UK or your certificate of attendance originates in a foreign country, the British Council in that country can sometimes certify your documents.