Getting an apostille for financial statements.

To get an apostille for financial statements, or similar documents like bank statements, mortgage statements, income statements, annual returns, etc, must first be certified by a UK FCDO-registered solicitor or notary public.

Then the certified financial statements can be apostilled.

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

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

The order process: 

If you have any questions, please call 0207 0500 692

Step one:

Make sure that the financial statement is not damaged and that it is valid, not missing any pages or dates, or other important information.

Both the original and the copy must be certified by an FCDO-registered solicitor or notary public. You can arrange this yourself, or we can take of it for you.

Step two:

Contact our office.

When emailing, please provide the following information:

• In which country will your financial statements be used?
• How soon do you need the apostille?
• How will the statement be delivered and returned?

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

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

Step three:

Once your financial statement 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 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. However, delivering in person requires that you have an order number. Please make sure you contact our office first.

Yes, getting an apostille certificate for financial statements is possible if a company no longer exists. However, a solicitor must be able to verify the financial statements before the documents can be submitted for an apostille.

Although rare, you may be asked to obtain an apostille for financial statements for a dissolved company if the statements are required for a legal proceeding or historical purposes.

There are no additional fees if it is the same set of financial statements (a financial year, for example). Annual financial statements can be bound together with a cover sheet from a solicitor or notary. Those bound documents can then be submitted for one apostille.

You may have to pay additional fees if documents cannot be bound, are not from the same company, or are different statements, such as cash flow statements or balance sheets.

Additional fees could be:

Digital financial statements (PDFs) can be apostilled once they have been certified by a UK solicitor or notary. But you may still need the physical copies if the requesting authority asks for them.

For digital documents, the UK now also offers electronic apostille certificates (instead of paper versions), which require an electronic signature from a notary or solicitor before getting the e-apostille.

Not all countries or authorities accept electronic apostilles, so always check if you can use this service first.

Yes, we can deliver your apostilled statement anywhere in the world. We use DHL’s next-day delivery service, which is fully insured. International delivery costs £45. For ‘remote’ locations’ DHL charges an extra £35.

To find out more about deliveries, please read our delivery options section.

No, because an accountant cannot ‘certify’ documents for the purpose of legalisation. An accountant’s signature may be required for the requesting authority, but not for the purpose of getting an apostille.

To get an apostille, a UK solicitor or notary public would have to sign your statements before they could be submitted for an apostille certificate.

If you present UK financial statements to a foreign authority without an apostille, the foreign authority may not recognize the document as legally valid.

Not having financial statements legalised can cause delays in the processing of any business dealings, missed business opportunities, or even penalties if an apostille has been requested and you did not get one.