Apostilles for Non UK Degree Certificates

We often hear from customers that have degree certificates and other academic documents that were issued by Universities or Colleges from outside the UK. Ideally these documents need to be legalised in the country of origin

Get your document legalised in country of origin

If you have a degree certificate, education documents, proof of study or some other formal qualification that issued by an organisation in another country we always recommend that you get an apostille from the country where the document was issued. For example, if you have a degree certificate from a Spanish university then you should get the apostille from Spain.

Likewise if you need to get a document attested with an embassy then this should be completed by the relevant embassy in the country where you studied. Most of the foreign embassies in the UK will not accept academic documents from other countries. They only process UK certificates.

Notary Public certification

The only way a non UK academic certificate can be issued with a UK apostille is for a UK notary to check the document. They must contact the overseas university to obtain proof that the person detailed on the certificate has completed the required study. They should then clearly state on the notarial cover sheet that they have completed a full background check on the document. If they do not include a statement to this affect the document cannot be issued with an apostille in the UK. It is not enough for a notary to simply make a certified copy. You may find that most Notary Publics cannot or do not want to provide this service.

We do not provide an apostille service for certificates that were not issued by a recognised UK school, college or university. You should seek advice from the country where you studied. If you would prefer to use a UK notary then contact the Notary Society.

Please also note that we do not legalise certificates that were issued by ‘online universities’. If you have purchased a degree certificate we cannot help you.

For any customers with genuine UK certificates we are pleased to offer our apostille service. We legalise degree certificates and other academic documents in just 1 to 2 days. 

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.