Apostille for a letter of enrolment (LOE).

To solicitor certify your Letter of Enrolment, (also known as a Certificate of Enrolment, Proof of Enrolment, or an Enrolment Status letter) we need to see the original letter.

Once we’ve confirmed that your letter of enrolment is genuine, we can certify a copy, or the original, to get the apostille.

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 letter of enrolment can be legalised with an apostille. Your letter 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 letter of enrolment be used?
• Should we legalise the original or a certified copy?
• How soon do you need the apostille?
• How will the enrolment letter be delivered and returned?

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

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

Step three:

Once your enrolment status letter 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 and 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.

We have several ways documents can be delivered and returned like, email, in-person, post, or private courier.

You can only get an apostille for an electronic copy of your enrolment letter if the copy is a PDF file that has been electronically signed by a UK notary or solicitor. Not all notaries and solicitors are familiar with electronic signatures.

The legalisation office of the FCDO will issue an e-apostille for an electronic copy of your enrolment letter.

You can also print out your electronic copy. The hard copy must be notarised by a notary public or certified by a solicitor before it can be submitted to the FCDO for a normal apostille.

Yes. You can get an apostille for an enrolment letter issued by some reputable online colleges and universities.

The letter must be from a college or university in the UK that is registered with the UK government’s Office for Students [1], which maintains The OfS Register [2].

The letter, or a copy of the letter, must also have been certified by a UK solicitor (or notarised by a notary public). See above.

Yes. In most cases, you can get a replacement for the letter of enrolment and the apostille.

The apostille is physically affixed to the original letter of enrolment or to a certified copy. If the apostille for the letter of enrolment (or its copy) has been lost, the letter or copy will also have been lost.

It is not unusual for a letter of enrolment to be lost or damaged. Most universities, colleges and training institutions are accustomed to dealing with this problem and have procedures in place to resolve it.

Reasons why your letter of enrolment and apostille may have been lost or damaged include:

If your original letter of enrolment has been lost, you can usually request a confirmation of enrolment from the admissions department of the academic institution or training establishment that sent you the enrolment letter.

Some institutions have different names for these documents (e.g. acceptance for studies/statement of student status/proof of enrolment, etc.) All of these documents serve the same purposes [3].

If only the apostille has been lost or damaged (but you still have the original letter intact), you can apply for a new one. This may be more difficult if you are already in another country when the apostille is lost or damaged.

However, in these circumstances, you can post the letter to us, and we can apply for a new apostille on your behalf. We can return it to you anywhere in the world.

It is theoretically possible to get an apostille for an expired enrolment letter under certain circumstances. In practice, it is rather difficult.

For instance, if you need to demonstrate that you were enrolled at a particular college, university or training establishment in the past (but are no longer enrolled there), you can get a notary public to notarise your enrolment letter for that year. The letter of enrolment bears a date of issue and states the duration of the course.

However, before the letter can be submitted to the legalisation office of the FCDO, the notary will check with the institution concerned that you attended the course at that time and will add a notarial comment to that effect.

The Competent Authority in each country issues apostilles.

In many countries, the Competent Authority certifies only that the signatures, stamps or seals match their own records. Thus, in the UK, the FCDO holds records of approved notaries and solicitors together with their stamps, seals and sample signatures.

Moreover, in the case of academic and professional qualifications, the UK’s legalisation office will also “… verify the validity of the issuing institution against a list of recognised institutions before issuing an apostille relating to the notarial certification”.

The FCDO, therefore, consults a number of different government, academic, training and professional registers to ensure that your letter of enrolment comes from an accredited source [4].

These measures exclude bogus qualifications, but they also help you get an apostille for a letter of enrolment that has expired – provided it comes from a legitimate source.

There are many countries where an apostille alone is not accepted for a letter of enrolment. In particular, countries which are not listed as signatories to the Hague convention may require embassy attestation or other additional verifications [5].

Always check the requirements of the authorities or prospective employers in your destination country.