What is an Apostille?

This is an Apostille

It is a small paper certificate issued by the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and affixed to a public document such as a birth certificate or power of attorney.

It represents confirmation from the FCDO that the person who signed the document (named in box 2) has the authority to do that sort of thing (specified in box 3).

What does Apostille mean, and how do I pronounce it?

Apostille is a French word, roughly translated to mean the bit after the thing.

Most commonly pronounced ah-poh-STEEL. Occasionally, ah-POH-still. Most stylishly, ah-POH-sti-LAY. Nobody really knows.

If you're not feeling confident, stick with the first one.

Why do I need an Apostille?

Let's say you were born in the UK. You are awarded a certificate for this achievement - a birth certificate.

Later, when you apply for a job, or an educational course, or a license to shout at squirrels, the authority on the other end of your application wants to make sure that you were born. They ask you for your birth certificate, and you deliver it. No problem.

Now let's say you move to Spain, and apply for a job, or an educational course, or a license to shout at squirrels in Spanish. The authority on the other end of your application wants to make sure you were born, so they ask you for your birth certificate, and you deliver it.

Problem - your birth certificate is from the UK, laid out in the UK style, in English, signed and stamped by a UK Registrar of Births.

The Spanish authority has no realistic way of knowing if this certificate is valid, and so no way of knowing whether or not you were born. You are (presumably) executed. Or at the very least, it will be a big hassle.

The point of the apostille system is to avoid this outcome - instead of sending you for punishment, our friendly Spanish official will simply ask that you have your birth certificate apostilled.

You send the birth certificate to the FCDO, they confirm the name and signature of the Registrar who first signed it and then affix the apostille certificate.

The Spanish authority now need only verify the authenticity of the apostille, and can then accept the underlying birth certificate on that basis.

What's Hague got to do with it?

The Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (HCCH 1961 Apostille Convention) facilitates the use of public documents abroad.

The rules of the apostille system were first hammered out at the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961, resulting in the 11 standard points of comparison on every country's apostille certificate.

The first 10 points are the numbered sections you can see on the certificate image above. The final point is that the title and subtitle (Convention de La Haye du 5 Octobre 1961) must be in French. That's a fact. Here's the proof.

While the ruleset and the original signatory countries date back to 1961, the convention itself remains alive, admitting new participants on a regular basis - most recently China, who put the provisions into force in November of 2023.

What about legalisation? What's the difference?

Legalisation is a broader term that covers apostilles and then extends a little further.

An apostilled document is legalised for use in any country signed up to the Hague Convention. To legalise a document for use in a country that is not signed up to the Convention, an apostille is still required, but extra steps must also be taken.

Typically, you will have to deliver the apostilled document to the consular services section of the embassy of the country you intend to use it in. There the document will be subject to a further round of checks, and receive yet another signature, stamp and/or seal.

In plain terms, the consular staff must certify that the FCDO have correctly certified that the signatory who first certified your certificate is authorised to do that sort of thing.

In some cases there may even be extra steps in the chain, such as a Chamber of Commerce, who must also be satisfied.

Does my document need solicitor certification before it can be apostilled?

Maybe. It depends.

Have another look at the apostille certificate above, paying attention to the language at the foot of the certificate.

You will see that the apostille confirms the authenticity of the original signature, seal or stamp on the document it is attached to, and nothing else. It does not confirm that the document is a real document, neither does it confirm any signature (or stamp, or seal) which is printed or photocopied.

So, for any document that is signed, stamped or sealed in original wet ink by a registered authority, no separate certification should be required - the apostille can confirm the signatory directly.

This will be the case for most original government-issued documents, such as certificates of birth, marriage or death, incorporation or dissolution certificates issued by Companies House, medical certificates issued by registered doctors or ACRO certificates issued by police.

If the document is not signed in original (e.g. it is a copy, or a document that has no signature or stamp on it to begin with), it must be certified by a solicitor or notary before it can be apostilled.

For the purposes of the apostille, what exactly the solicitor or notary is certifying about the document does not matter, just as long as they certify something, and do so with their full name and professional registration details.

It is fair to say that any document imaginable can be apostilled, so long as it is certified by a solicitor or notary.

Remember, the apostille does not confirm anything about the underlying document itself; it only confirms that the signatory exists, that they have the authority they claim to have, and that the signature on the document matches the specimen on record.

I must know more. What can I do?

Your keenness is creditable. For more information, see the government's official FCDO guidance.