End-to-end apostille and embassy legalization, combined with certified translation, so your documents are accepted in the country that needs them.

What apostille and legalization do

When an official document issued in one country has to be used in another, the receiving country usually needs proof that it is genuine. Apostille and legalization provide that proof. An apostille is a standardised certificate, recognised by all countries in the Hague Convention, that authenticates the signature and seal on a public document. For countries outside the Convention, legalization achieves the same goal through a chain of authentications ending at the destination country’s embassy or consulate.

Neither process checks the content of the document, they confirm that the signature, stamp or seal on it is authentic. That is why the order of steps matters, and why pairing authentication with a properly certified translation is so important.

When you need it

You will need an apostille or legalization when you present documents to a foreign government, employer, court or university. Typical reasons include moving abroad for work or study, getting married overseas, setting up or expanding a company in another country, adopting a child internationally, or proving qualifications to a foreign licensing body. Where the document is part of an immigration case, our immigration translation service works alongside the apostille process; where it is a notarized instrument, our notarized and sworn translation team prepares it first. If your paperwork was issued in Ukraine, the apostille must be affixed in the country of origin first, a step handled by a local specialist before the translation is certified (the site links out to notaryk.com/uk for this step).

Documents we authenticate

• Birth, marriage and death certificates
• Degrees, diplomas and academic transcripts
• Powers of attorney and affidavits
• Company formation documents and commercial agreements
• Police and background-check certificates
• Notarized declarations and statements

We arrange authentication for documents in any of the languages we translate, and we advise on whether the translation should be apostilled, the original, or both, rules that vary by destination.

Turnaround: A straightforward apostille is typically completed within 5 to 10 business days, depending on the issuing authority’s processing times. Embassy legalization takes longer because of the extra steps. We give you a realistic timeline at the quote stage and keep you updated throughout.

One team, the whole chain

The hardest part of legalization is keeping every step in the right order across translation, notarization and government submission. We manage that chain for you: translating and certifying the document, arranging notarization where needed through our legal translation specialists, and obtaining the apostille or embassy stamp, then returning everything to you ready to use.