LEGALISATION:

Many countries require documents to be “legalised” ie countersigned by their London Embassies or, (where they are parties to the Hague Convention) by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (“FCO”) affixing to the document what is known as an “apostille”. This is a verification that my seal and signature on the document are genuine.

This process is known as “legalisation” and will normally take a minimum of 3-6 working days unless you want to take the document to the FCO or relevant Embassy yourself and wait in line or pay extra for the express service that the FCO offers. The fees and procedures for this vary widely but once I know the country for which the document is required I will be able to give you a reasonably accurate idea of the procedure required and thus the time and cost.