Christmas and New Year Apostille Processing Times

Christmas and New Year for many is a time to relax with friends and family. For others it is the busiest time of year. Whilst many of our customers will be ‘off work’ during the holiday period we also here from those with urgent orders that must be completed by deadlines.

During the festive period many offices close from late December through to early in January. Working with solicitors firms, businesses, government offices, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and embassies in London we know many close or work reduced hours. This has an effect on the legalisation of documents.

With less days to complete orders and many organisations closed it becomes difficult to verify signatures and check documents at this time. So what are the expected dates for last orders?

Apostille Service

We aim to complete any orders received on or before 21 December before the offices close on 24 December. We cannot guarantee all orders will complete as we may experience delays checking documents. We estimate over 95% of orders will be processed and dispatched to customers. Orders dispatched close to 25 December may not be delivered until after Christmas as delivery services also close and work reduced hours. 

Embassy Attestation Service

Processing times vary for each embassy. Some take just a few days while others take as long as 10 to 15 working days to complete. We are working hard to complete many of the embassy orders received by 14 December before the office closes on 24 December. If you need confirmation of expected completion times please contact one of our legalisation team for an estimate.

Delays over Christmas

Any orders received on or after 22 December will most likely complete in the New Year. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office are only open for one day during the Christmas period which makes it impossible to complete orders quickly. We anticipate most documents to be completed in the New Year when most government offices re-open.

When are we open

Below you will find the times are office is open during Christmas.

Monday 21 December – Open
Tuesday 22 December – Open
Wednesday 23 December – Open
Thursday 24 December – Open 9am to 12:30pm
Friday 25 December – Closed

Saturday 26 December – Closed
Sunday 27 December – Closed

Monday 28 December – Closed
Tuesday 29 December – Open
Wednesday 30 December – Open
Thursday 31 December – Open 9am to 12:30pm
Friday 1 January – Closed

Saturday 2 January – Closed
Sunday 3 January - Closed

Monday 4 January - Open

Thank you and Seasons Greetings

The Apostille Service would like to thank all of our customer for using our service over the last 12 months. We have assisted thousands of customers with the apostille service, embassy attestation, translations and many other document services.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year we hope all visitors to our website have a peaceful holiday. We look forward to assisting you in 2016.

If you need any updates on your order please do not hesitate to contact us. We will respond to all emails received when the office is open.

apostille service at christmas

About the Author

The Apostille Service are pleased to provide advice on a wide range of document legalisation matters. Our team of advisors contribute to the blog.