Apostille for a Power of Attorney: FCDO Legalisation Guide

A power of attorney is often needed when someone must act for a person who is abroad: selling property, dealing with a bank, or handling an estate in another country. If the attorney will use the document outside the United Kingdom, the foreign authority usually wants proof that the document really was signed before a UK official. That proof is the apostille added by the FCDO Legalisation Office. This article describes how a UK power of attorney is apostilled: what certification it needs first, which routes exist, and what the timeline and costs are.

First step: certification by a UK notary or solicitor

A power of attorney is a private document between the parties, so the Legalisation Office does not verify it from its own records the way it checks, say, a register-office certificate. Official guidance sets out how such documents become eligible: you can get other documents legalised as long as they have been certified by a UK public official such as a UK notary or solicitor, and a power of attorney is given as an explicit example. In practice this means the document is first notarised or certified by a UK notary or solicitor, and it is that signature the office can verify.

The same official page advises checking with the person who asks for the legalised documents whether they need the original or a certified copy, and whether it must be signed by a particular person, like a UK notary or solicitor.

Two apostille routes: paper or e-Apostille

There are two types of apostille. For a power of attorney both are normally open:

• Paper-based: the physical document is sent by post to the Legalisation Office and comes back with a stamped certificate attached. The standard service usually takes up to 25 working days, plus courier or postage time.
• e-Apostille: the documents are uploaded as PDF files that have been electronically signed by a UK notary or solicitor. This route takes up to 2 working days, and the finished documents are delivered by email.

For the e-Apostille route the notarisation must therefore be a qualified electronic signature applied by a UK notary — a plain scanned copy is not enough. If the original must physically travel abroad, the paper-based route remains the practical option.

What it costs

Fees are charged per document. The standard paper-based service is £45 plus courier or postage costs; an e-Apostille is £35. The £40 and £100 paper options with faster processing are open to registered businesses only. If a document cannot be legalised, the fee is not refunded — making sure the notarisation is correct before applying protects that fee.

Couriers are an extra cost on the paper route: £6 per 1.5kg for the UK, £32 for European countries and £42 for the rest of the world. One restriction matters for many applicants: legalised documents currently cannot be returned to certain restricted destinations — they can be returned somewhere else for onward sending, or the e-Apostille route can be used instead.

The process step by step

1. Have the power of attorney signed and certified (notarised) by a UK notary or solicitor — or, for the e-Apostille, electronically signed as a PDF.
2. Confirm with the recipient whether it needs a paper apostille or can be an e-Apostille.
3. Apply online for the chosen apostille type and pay the per-document fee.
4. For the paper route, post or courier the document to the Legalisation Office as instructed and give a return address.
5. The office verifies the notary’s or solicitor’s signature and attaches the apostille; the recipient can afterwards verify the apostille online.

What to check before applying

• Whether the foreign authority wants the original notarised document, a certified copy, and whether a sworn or certified translation into its language must follow the apostille.
• Whether the apostille can be electronic, since the e-Apostille is quicker (up to 2 working days against up to 25 working days for the standard paper service).
• Where the document will be delivered: on the paper route the courier cannot send documents to certain restricted destinations, so a deliverable return address is needed.

Summary

A UK power of attorney is apostilled after certification by a UK notary or solicitor, which is what the FCDO Legalisation Office verifies before attaching an apostille. Choose between the standard paper route — usually up to 25 working days, £45 per document plus courier costs — and the e-Apostille — up to 2 working days, £35 per document, requiring PDF documents electronically signed by the notary. Confirm the recipient’s requirements first, and remember that courier returns to certain restricted destinations are currently not available.

Apostilla UK editorial team · checked 31 October 2026