E-Notarisation & E-Apostille

E-Apostille For Digital Use Only

The e-Apostille is intended solely for electronic use: it must be shared and verified digitally, and printing is not permitted, as printing destroys the cryptographic security of the document and renders it invalid for international use.

To preserve authenticity, the FCDO disables the print function on all e-Apostille PDFs, meaning users must store and send the file digitally to maintain its embedded verification features.

E-Apostille Document Exclusions

Please note that certain documents cannot be e-notarised / receive an e-Apostille.

These include documents issued by the General Register Office (GRO) such as birth, marriage, and death certificates, as well as documents from ACRO, the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), fingerprint certificates, and membership certificates from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).

These documents must be processed through the paper Apostille route instead.

The E-Notarisation Process

For e-notarisation, we do not need to meet the client in person if the document does not require a signature, such as degree certificates.

However, if the document must be signed, or if it involves a passport or other identity document and we have never met the client before, the client will need to attend our office in person.

As part of our professional and regulatory obligations, our policy is to meet clients face-to-face when identity verification, witnessing of signatures, or notarisation involving personal identification is required.