A deeper dive on how to apostille a document in the UK
There are many variables in the different documents that can be apostilled, the different ways they can be apostilled and different options following apostilles.
The Apostilles Group cannot guarantee that our experience with documents have any bearing on whether or not the processing we supply as standard will be accepted. There are many countries, departments within the country, employers within the country that require apostilles to be carried out in specific ways, e.g. with solicitor certification or notarisation, specific wording used during certification and notarisation, translation requirements, supporting documents that need to be included or even apostilled separately. The golden rule is that:
“Whoever is asking you to have your documents apostilled, should explain clearly to you exactly how they want them presented.”
The Apostilles Group are more than happy to offer advice, but the final requirements must come from the requesting authority.
The basics we need to know to get started are:
What document, or documents, are you needing to have apostilled?
Which country are you using the document, or documents, in?
Do you need any translation services?
Once we know what document, or documents, you need apostilled we can let you know exactly what your options are regarding:
Solicitor certification
Notarisation
Paper or digital apostilles (e-Apostille)
How we can help with replacements or verifications
How to get your documents to us
How we can get your apostilled documents back to you
The country that you need to use your document, or documents, in will dictate whether or not you need to have any further processing in the form of embassy attestation, or indeed, your options for paper or digital apostilles (e-Apostilles aren’t widely accepted in China for example).
Countries like UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Thailand, Mozambique and many others aren’t part of the Hague Convention and require a process called Attestation that’s carried out by their Embassies here in the UK. The UK apostille will always need to be carried out first before Attestations can be carried out.
Prices for Attestation vary quite wildly, as do timescales, depending on:
Country
Type of document
Public holidays in that country usually affect their Embassy working hours here too
If you need translation services, The Apostilles Group can absolutely help you with that. Let us know:
What language and which country
Sworn or certified?
Paper or digital?
Do the translations themselves need to be apostilled too?
Scans of completed, apostilled documents can be supplied at a cost of £15 per order (regardless of how many documents).
How you want your documents returned to you is also important. The Apostilles Group has worked with the world’s most and least reliable shipping options over the last nearly 12 years. It is always recommended that if you are shipping within the UK, to use our Royal Mail Special Delivery Service for £18. This price includes the Royal Mail charge and our time in personally taking your document to the Post Office and seeing it off ourselves. Nothing is ever left to chance, or out of our hands. This is a highly personal service and prices reflect that.
If you are having documents sent abroad, it’s recommended to use our Express Courier option. This is typically arranged with DHL but again, due to our experience over the years, there are places where UPS or FedEx are better and we’ll always try to find a cost effective option for you if that’s what’s important for you.
The Apostilles Group customer service doesn’t end here. Tracking will be shared, and watched, and we’ll keep in touch with you and work with you, should any problems arise.
