What is a Ukrainian police clearance certificate?

An apostille is a stamped official certificate: the FCDO Legalisation Office is the body that attaches it to UK public documents. Before attaching one, the office checks the signature or seal against the records it holds. A document counts as legalised when a UK public official issued it, or when such an official — a notary or solicitor, for example — certified it. The examples given on gov.uk are a contract, a power of attorney and a certified copy of a person’s qualification certificate.

The two types of apostille

Applications for both types are made online. The paper-based apostille covers documents that go by post, or that registered businesses bring in person. The e-Apostille is the electronic route: it applies to a PDF that a notary or solicitor in the UK has signed with an electronic signature.

Police certificates and other documents outside the e-Apostille

No e-Apostille can be obtained for certificates of birth, death, marriage or civil partnership, for adoption certificates and for every other document the General Register Office issues. The same exclusion covers ACRO police certificates, which cover England and Wales, and DBS certificates, again for England and Wales; the list continues with disclosure certificates from Scotland and Northern Ireland, and with fingerprint certificates. For any document on that list, the paper-based apostille is the route that remains.

Fees per document

How long each type takes

Before you apply

Ask whether the receiving authority wants a paper document even where an e-Apostille is available; some do.