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For several months the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) have been working on the development of e-apostilles. This is something the government is keen to implement to simply the legalisation of documents. The FCDO have been working to map out what a digital apostille solution would look like.

Updated: 07/04/2020 - APOSTILLE SERVICE OPEN!

We are issuing the apostille on all UK documents!

Following a brief period of suspended services the Hague Apostille Service resumed apostille services on Tuesday 7 April.

Hague Apostille is a recognised UK Apostille Service with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Gov.uk) for the legalisation of documents. We have priority access to the FCO as a registered business service.This enables us to provide a quick 1-2 day processing (subject to the FCO limits at this time)

Here at The Apostille Service, we understand that many of our clients are working to very tight time restraints and deadlines with overseas authorities. This is taken into consideration with every order that we process. We strive to process all orders with the utmost efficiency and complete most apostilles in just 1-2 working days.

You are conducting business with a company in Algeria and they suddenly ask you to get the contracts and agreements attested. You have probably never heard of 'embassy attestation' and do not need the headache of trying to contact the embassy for help. That is where we help. We make document attestaiton as easy as possible.

Documents that are being submitted to Algeria require additional legalisation with the correct embassy. There are several steps to the process and documents must be submitted corretly.

A common question we receive frequently is ‘how long does the apostille last. Apostille certificates do not have an expiry date. The apostille certificate will have a date of issue but they do not ‘run out’ or ‘expire'.

In the service of legalising documents by apostille we sometimes hear people refer to the service as notarisation. This is often a simple mistake and customers simply need an apostille so that their documents are legalised for use in another country.

Legalisation of a document is the issue of an apostille so that the document may be used in an official capacity in another country. Once a document has the apostille, it has been ‘legalised’ for use in an overseas country that is a member of the Hague Convention.

It is possible for us to issue the apostille on documents that were not produced in the UK. However, it is important that you understand the following points.

If a document originates from a country that is a member of the Hague Convention then it is recommended that you get an apostille from that country. For example, if you require an apostille on a USA passport copy then we suggest you contact a USA apostille service provider.

Documents originating from the Republic of Ireland must be legalised in the Republic of Ireland with an Irish apostille certificate. Irish documents will not be acceptable for a UK issued apostille.

Republic of Ireland issued government documents such as birth, death or marriage certificates, court or non impediment documents are to be legalised in the Republic of Ireland. Documents signed by a Republic of Ireland registered practicing solicitor or notary public must also be legalised with a Republic of Ireland issued apostille certificate.

Documents that are from Guernsey can only be legalised with an apostille certificate that has been issued in Guernsey. Due to this they can not be legalised with a UK issued apostille certificate.