Certain official UK papers can be ‘legalised’ by requesting confirmation from the Legalisation Office that the signature, stamp, or seal is from a UK public authority.
If an authority in another nation has requested you to produce a UK document and has said that it must be legalised, you may need to do so.
The document will be examined by the Legalisation Office, which will determine if the signature, stamp, or seal are authentic. They’ll ‘apostille’ the document by stamping it with an official certificate (a ‘certificate of authenticity’).
This service cannot be used to legalize papers issued outside of the United Kingdom; you must have them legalized in the nation where they were issued.
What it costs
The standard service costs £30 per document, plus courier fees or postage.
Courier costs
Country | Price |
UK (including British Forces Post Office) | £5 per 1.5kg |
European countries (not including Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Liechtenstein, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Russia, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine) | £15 per 1.5kg |
Rest of the world | £20 per 1.5kg |
If you do not want to pay courier fees
Your papers will be sent by courier, but you may also have them returned by post if you live in the United Kingdom. You must include a return address typed on an A4-sized envelope. Attach enough postage stamps from the United Kingdom to cover the return postage.
What you’ll need to legalised
To use the service you’ll need:
- the documents you want to legalise
- a credit or debit card for payment
- the address you want your documents returned to
- access to a printer
Your application will time out if you do not submit any information for more than 30 minutes, and you will have to start over.
How long it takes
The basic service might take up to 10 working days to process your papers, plus courier or mailing time.
If your application is urgent, call the Legalization Office.
Premium same-day business service
Only registered firms may use the premium same-day business service, which costs £75 per document.
Between 9 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., you must deliver your documents to the premium office in central London. You will be assigned a time slot between 1:30 and 4:30 p.m. to pick up your items.
To access the premium service, you must first create an account. If you already have an account, sign in or make one.
Contact the Legalisation Office
If you need to check on the status of an application or have a general question, contact the Legalisation Office.