Legalisation

Our fast and professional legalisation service is invaluable to overseas customers.

Legalisation (sometimes spelt ‘legalization’) is an important process for limited companies that originate overseas or are likely to have extensive overseas dealings. The process of legalisation involves creating an internationally-recognised apostille (certificate) verify the details on the documents.

Why chance this task to anyone else? Premier Solicitors is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and have been awarded exclusive Quality Solicitor membership, and has an in-house Notary Public who is regulated by the Faculty Office of the Archbishop Canterbury.

The procedure for document legalisation

Step1:  We obtain a signature from our in-house Notary Public to confirm that the documents are genuine. In The UK notaries public are usually solicitors who, in addition to their legal work, are allowed to ‘notarise’ (officially authenticate) documents. A signature from Notary Public is not necessary where a document has been signed by a UK government official.

Step2:  We then visit the FCO in person to present the notarised documents.

Step3:  The FCO checks the signature of the Notary Public against their list of registered officials and attaches an Apostille to the document.

Time scale for legalisation:  We act on your instruction immediately and can usually despatch the legalised documents in 3-5 working days.

Further confirmation by consulate

Some countries require further confirmation of Apostilled documents by their own consulate in the UK. Please call us to obtain a cost for this service.

Fixed Fee & Low Cost UK Legalisation

Legalisation - £50 per document including the government fee (of £28).

Notarisation (if necessary - £30 per document).

It is usually possible to bind Memorandum and Articles of Association and certificate of incorporation, obtain notarization and legalization as a single document.

Frequently asked questions about legalisation

What is Legalisation?

Legalisation simply means confirming that a signature, seal or stamp appearing on a document is genuine. Our legalisation service manages the administrative side of achieving this for your company, should it be necessary.

What is The Hague Convention?

The Hague Convention of October 1961 was set up as a simple system to allow documents originating in one member country to be easily recognised as authentic in another member country. Member countries of the Hague Convention of 1961 accept an Apostille as a confirmation that the documents are genuine.

Who can legalise documents?

There is only one government department in the UK that is authorised to legalise documents - The Foreign & Commonwealth Office located in London or Milton Keynes.

The Foreign & Commonwealth Office legalise documents by checking the signature of the government official or notary public who signed it. They then they attach an Apostille to the document to confirm that the document is genuine.

What is an Apostille?

An Apostille is a small certificate showing the following details of company legalisation:

1. The name of the country of origin of the document,
2. The name of the signatory of the document,
3. The place and date of certification,
4. The number of the certificate,
5. The seal and signature of the authority issuing the certificate.

An Apostille has become the favoured form of document validation by member countries of the Hague Convention.

Apostilles are often accepted as a form of validation even by countries that are not signatories to the Hague Convention.

Call us today on 01234 35 80 80 to speak to a member of our qualified team.

Arrange to meet one of our Commercial Lawyers at one of our offices in:

• Bedford Office - 01234 358080
• Luton Office - 01582 879090
• Milton Keynes Office - 01908 711150
• Hitchin Office - 01462 659171
• Stevenage Office - 01438 330033

Get Premier Solicitors' full contact details.