Logo: Amanara Certified Translation

Official UK Apostille Service - GRO Documents


Birth Certificate
Certificate of No Impediment (CNI)
Civil Partnership Certificate
Death Certificate
Letter of No Trace
Marriage Certificate



Only original certificates issued by a Registrar, or certified copies issued by the General Register Office (GRO), can be legalised. Photocopies of these documents will not be legalised under any circumstances - even if they have been certified as a true copy by a solicitor or notary public.

Possible delays:

  • there could be a delay in the legalisation process if a religious marriage certificate is signed by a religious official, such as a priest or a vicar. This is because the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) may not have a specimen of the signature of that particular religious official in their database. In this case, the FCO will contact the church to ask for confirmation of the signature. The FCO will only issue the apostille once the signature is confirmed, so the delay will depend on how long the church takes to reply to the FCO.
  • If your document was issued before 1991, it can take longer to legalise a signature on an origianl certificate.

If either of these two situations is the case with your document, and you want guarantee that your document will be legalised without delays, you could obtain an official copy of the original document from the GRO - the document would then be legalised under the GRO seal.

If you would like us to order the certificate on your behalf, please contact us either by email, contact form or simply chat to us online now (chat link at the bottom right of this page - business hours only).


Important Note
  1. Photocopies of GRO documents cannot be legalised, even if they have been certified by a solicitor or notary public. The only official copies are those issued by Registrars or the GRO.

  2. Documents not issued by a Registrar or the GRO, such as Islamic marriage certificates, can only be legalised if they are authenticated by a solicitor or notary public. Photocopies of these documents can be legalised, as long as they are certified as a 'true copy' by a solicitor or notary public.

    The solicitor or notary public must:

    • state what they are certifying (true copy, original document, witness signature etc)
    • use their own personal signature, not the company name
    • date the certification
    • state their company address

  3. In addition, when a document is authenticated by a notary public from England, Northern Ireland or Wales, the notary public must affix their notarial seal and emboss it.

Any questions?

Call us:

0333 444 0241


Send us an email:

mail@amanara.co.uk

Amanara Certified Translation and Legalisation Service is the trading name of Amanara (UK) Limited. Company Registered in England No 5065791 - VAT GB 835 9279 84
Registered Office: Suite 78, Milton Keynes Business Centre, Foxhunter Drive, Linford Wood, Milton Keynes MK14 6GD
None of the information contained in this website constitutes, nor should be construed as, legal advice. 2004 - Amanara (UK) Limited