Express Consular Legalisation Services

The requirements, fees, and lead times for consular legalisation vary depending on the country. It is common for consulates to distinguish between commercial and personal documents and the fees and requirements will differ according to the type of document.

Consular Legalisation, also known as attestation, is the process of authenticating a document at the Embassy/High Commission of the country where a document is going to be used. Legalisation is mostly carried out by the consular section of an Embassy or High Commission.

This is the third and final stage in the authentication process. The first stage is typically getting the document notarised. The second stage is getting an apostille from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

We provide express consular services to individuals across the UK.

Consular legalisation is required if a country has not signed up to the Hague Apostille Convention.

In 1961 the apostille was introduced. This abolished the need for consular legalisation between contracting member states. Since then, 124 countries have become contracting parties to the convention. The most recent being Senegal.

Although some countries have not signed up to the Hague Apostille Convention, those countries still require a document to have an apostille before their Embassy/High Commission will legalise it.

• One stop-shop –we can handle notarisations, apostilles, translations, embassy legalisation and send the documents wherever it needs to go.
• Location –we’re situated in Victoria, a short walk from most Embassies.
• Expertise –we have years of experience legalising documents, and extensive contacts across Embassies. Our team will handle all applications and personally submit and collect your documents.
• Cost –we charge a fixed handling fee which means the more documents you have the more you save.

The main difference between consular legalisation and apostille services lies in the process of document authentication and the countries for which they are applicable:

In summary, consular legalisation is a broader authentication process used for countries both inside and outside the Apostille Convention, while apostille services are a specific method of authentication streamlined for countries within the convention.