You have been asked for an apostilled passport copy - perhaps for an overseas residency application, a visa process, a bank account abroad, or an employer requirement. It is not something most people have done before, and the process has a few steps that need to happen in a specific order. Here is exactly what to do.
Step one: check your passport is valid
Before anything else, check the expiry date on your passport. Many overseas authorities require the passport to be valid for at least six months beyond the date of your application or submission. If the passport is close to expiry, renewing it before starting the legalisation process avoids having to repeat the whole thing with a new passport shortly afterwards.
Step two: book a solicitor or Notary Public appointment
An apostille is a physical paper certificate that the FCDO attaches to the back of the document being legalised. A certified copy of your passport must be produced first. A UK solicitor or Notary Public inspects the original passport in person, produces a paper certified copy, and applies their wet-ink signature and official stamp to it. This is the step the FCDO needs - the FCDO authenticates the solicitor's or notary's wet-ink signature, seal or stamp, not the passport itself. You cannot produce the certified copy yourself and hand it to them to sign. The solicitor must inspect the original passport personally.
Step three: submit the certified copy to the FCDO
Once the solicitor or Notary Public has produced the certified copy, it is submitted to the FCDO for apostille. Standard postal processing takes around ten working days at £45 per document. The FCDO attaches the apostille to the certified copy and returns it. That apostilled certified copy is the document you present overseas.
Step four: check whether your destination needs anything more
For countries that are members of the Hague Apostille Convention - which covers most of Europe, Australia, the USA and many others - the apostille is the final step. For countries outside the Convention, including the UAE and Qatar, the apostilled copy must also go through embassy attestation in London before it will be accepted. For UAE use, MOFA digital attestation in the UAE follows the Embassy step. Confirm the requirements of your specific destination before submitting - requirements vary and confirming in advance avoids having to add stages after the fact.
Solicitor or Notary Public: does it matter?
For most destinations a solicitor-certified apostilled copy is accepted. For some jurisdictions - particularly in the Gulf and certain civil-law countries - notarisation by a Notary Public is specifically required. If the receiving authority has not specified which they need, confirm before instructing either professional. Using the wrong level of certification means starting the certification stage again.
How long does the whole process take?
Solicitor appointment plus FCDO processing takes around two to three weeks in total. Add embassy attestation time where required. Call our team on +44 (0) 204 646 9300 to confirm what your destination requires and to arrange the process from solicitor certification through to apostille and embassy attestation where needed.