There are many people born in the UK who need to prove their nationality or require their birth to be registered overseas. To ensure the relevant authorities overseas accept the UK birth certificate they may require an apostille to be attached to your document.

It is common to legalise UK birth certificates if parents living in the UK have dual nationality. Alternatively they may have been travelling or temporarily resident in the UK at the time of birth and they are intending to register their child for or a passport outside of the UK for dual nationality. You may also require an apostille on a birth certificate to if you are intending to get married overseas as proof you were born in the UK. A birth certificate may also be required if a relative is now deceased and you are in the process of settling their will with overseas assets. Once the apostille has been attached to your document most countries will accept the certificate without any further legalisation.

When issuing an apostille to a UK birth certificate we must process the original document or an official copy issued form the registry office records as the original signature of the registrar or official stamp must be included on the document. Many people do not wish to send the original birth certificate for the apostille process as the legalisation is a physical certificate that is attached to the back of the document which is also embossed with a legal seal, leaving a raised image on the document. If you do not want the original certificate to be legalised then a copy can be ordered from the general registry office website or alternatively we can assist with ordering a copy for an administration fee.

We help hundreds of parents legalise their children’s birth certificate every year. However, anyone can order the apostille service, it does not have to be a parent or legal guardian. If you need an apostille for any genuine UK birth certificate we can help. Most certificates are legalised in just 1-2 days.