Words by Notable Notaries
An apostille is a sticker affixed to the underside of the notarial certificate, sealed and signed by an officer of the FCDO, which confirms the Notary’s seal, signature and current practising status of the Notary and validates the document to be used abroad pursuant to the 1961 Hague Convention.
To have the document apostilled, we need to first take it to the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), which is the only institution in the UK which can issue and affix the apostille. The FCDO can only affix an apostille to a document bearing the original wet-ink signature, stamp or seal of a professional on their register of signatures–most notaries public and officials at HMRC, the General Registry Office and Companies House have their signatures and/or seals and stamps registered with the FCDO so that these signatures, stamps and seals can be apostilled.
Effectively, receiving institutions in foreign countries which have ratified the 1961 Hague Convention must accept documents notarised by an English/Welsh notary bearing apostilles as if they had been notarised by a notary in their own country.
Words by Notable Notaries