If you`re wondering what notarization is, what legalization is, or what apostille means, read on to find out. In Nigeria, notarial certification refers to the procedure for certifying documents, while document legalization involves the certification of documents that have already been certified at the embassy or mission of the foreign country where the document can be used or presented. A document must be certified at the Ministry of External Affairs in Abuja before it can be legalized. We are often asked if it is possible to have the document stamped at the consulate without first going through the notarial certificate and the apostille. Unfortunately, the answer is almost always “no”, but we can streamline the process for you. Legalization is a formal validation of a document for official use in another country. Examples of documents that require certification and legalization include powers of attorney, affidavits, birth certificates, death certificates, school transcripts, affidavits, and certified copies of original documents, etc. Moving or emigrating to a new country can seem daunting due to the amount of administration and paperwork, even if it`s exciting. Under immigration regulations, there is a high probability that you will need to legalize your documents before submitting them with your application. This article explores the differences between legalization and notarization to help you plan your move. A key difference between notarial certification and legalization is who performs the verification.
A notary will verify your signature on a document, but legalisation at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office will verify the notary`s signature. Notarization refers to the formal validation of a document by a notary, usually by signing and/or certifying the document. When it comes to the use of documents in a foreign jurisdiction, in most cases, notarial certification is required to: testify to your signature on the document; and/or confirm that a copy of the document has been made from an original. Different consulates have different requirements, costs, and processing times for legalization, but our in-house legalization experts can advise you on all of this and more. We can give you an estimate in advance of how long it will take. Legalization can mean obtaining an apostille certificate, obtaining consular legalization, or both. It depends on the country. In the service of legalization of documents by apostille, we sometimes hear that the service is called notarial certification. This is often a simple mistake and customers simply need an apostille for their documents to be legalized for use in another country. For countries that have signed the Hague Apostille Convention, legalisation means that the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office will affix an apostille stamp to the notarised document. This is called the apostille of documents. If you need the three steps of notarization and legalization of your documents, we can make a complex and tiring process much less stressful for you.
Our notary and legalisation office in London can attest to your signature and then send your notarised document to the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office if an apostille stamp is required afterwards. The apostille stamp or apostille certificate, as it is sometimes called, verifies the signature and competence of an official (in this case, the notary). For UK birth/marriage or death certificates, an apostille certificate can be issued without the need for notarization. Indeed, these British certificate documents have already been signed by an official (the Registrar). The legalisation office in London is the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office unless you need consular legalisation. If you need our legalisation services or simply need to have a document notarized, we offer a range of fast and reliable notarial services in our central London and Harrow offices. After examining the differences between legalization and notarization, we can conclude that, although they are two forms of legal certification, they have different procedures. If you have been informed that certain documents require notarization and/or legalization, you will need to make an appointment with a notary to arrange this. The notary will be able to notarize the documents and should also be able to initiate any additional legalization that may be required.
Unfortunately, we can`t do this for you, as the notary will likely need to see the signatories themselves as well as an ID. You need to check exactly what is required with the notary. Now that you know the difference between notarization and legalization, in addition to what legalization and its different types are, here`s how we can help. We offer one of the cheapest notarial services in London and the surrounding area. Notarization and legalization are two steps to prepare a document for use abroad. Notarization, apostille and consular certification are three types of legal certification. MSC notaries in London can help everyone. Many Commonwealth countries (including Australia, Jamaica, Barbados, South Africa, Kenya and Canada) only accept the document with notarization. But many of London`s legalization services can also help apostille documents. If you send your document to a country other than The Hague such as China, we can arrange both an apostille and consular legalization for the document.
