Many British people living in Spain will at some point have had to arrange for the Hague Apostille to be attached to a document such as a UK death certificate or a power of attorney granted in the UK. This process is commonly referred to as the ‘legalisation’ of a document and is a relatively straightforward process if carried out in accordance with the formalities.
What is Legalisation?
Legalisation simply means confirming that a signature, seal or stamp appearing on a document is genuine. The legalisation certificate is attached by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in London.
Why documents need to be legalised?
The signatures or seals of British public officials (such as solicitors, notaries public, registrars) on certain documents from the United Kingdom have to be confirmed before those documents can be accepted overseas.
For example, if you want to get married in Spain, documents such as your birth certificate may need to be 'legalised'. Using the example of a power of attorney granted in the UK, the Spanish Notary needs to be sure that the signature appearing on the power is in fact that of a UK Notary, and the Hague Apostille will confirm this. The fee currently charged by the FCO for legalisation is £19 per document.
What about the Legalisation of UK Documents for use in countries
other than Spain?
A legalised document will be accepted in a country which is a signatory to the ‘Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents’. This Convention is commonly known as the Hague convention, and it is important to check whether the country in question is in fact a signatory.
The legalisation process is not terribly complicated although mistakes can occur. I often liaise with Notaries in the UK and arrange for the Hague Apostille to be attached to a particular document. The time taken to complete the process can vary greatly however, and you should allow approximately three weeks for the document to be returned by the FCO unless the application can be made in person in which case the turnaround time can be as little as three days.
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