Ukrainian police certificate through the embassy while you live in the UK

The FCDO Legalisation Office is the UK body that issues apostilles. An apostille is a stamped official certificate that the office attaches to UK public documents after comparing the signature or seal against the records it holds.

What can be legalised

Legalisation applies to a document that a UK public official issued, or that a notary or solicitor in the UK has certified. Typical examples are powers of attorney, contracts and certified copies of qualification certificates. Certification happens before the apostille.

Two formats, both applied for online

• Paper-based. Documents travel by post, although registered businesses can bring them in person.
• e-Apostille. This format covers a PDF that a notary or solicitor in the UK has signed electronically.

Because some receiving authorities want paper even where an e-Apostille exists, check what they accept before choosing a format.

Documents the e-Apostille does not cover

The electronic format is not available for:

• adoption, birth, death, marriage and civil partnership certificates, plus every other document the General Register Office issues;
• ACRO police certificates issued for England and Wales;
• DBS certificates covering England and Wales;
• disclosure certificates that cover Scotland and Northern Ireland;
• fingerprint certificates.

For these documents, only the paper-based route is possible.

Fees per document

Courier charges apply to the paper-based formats, and no refund is paid when a document proves impossible to legalise.

How long each format takes

What this means for police certificates

An ACRO police certificate issued for England and Wales appears on the exclusion list, so the paper-based format is the only apostille option for it. The same applies to DBS certificates, disclosure certificates and fingerprint certificates.