Welcome to Fatchett Legalisation’s Apostille Marriage Certificate Service. We specialise in providing efficient and reliable apostille services for marriage certificates, ensuring your documents meet international standards. Whether you need to authenticate your UK marriage certificate for legal reasons, travel, study, or work abroad, our professional team is here to assist you every step. Trust our marriage certificate legalisation service to handle your apostille needs with precision and care.
Why use Fatchett Legalisation for your Marriage Certificate Apostille?
- FREE Document reviews.
- FREE expert advice.
- Competitive prices.
- Money-back refund guarantee.
- Highly recommended.
Also, unlike many of our competitors, we are a firm of notaries. This means:
- We have more in-house expertise than most of our competitors, and can offer fast and expert advise without having to refer you to third parties.
- Our industry regulator holds us to a higher standard than most of our competitors.
Choose your Marriage Certificate Apostille Service
Marriage Certificate Document Formats for Apostille
You can get a Marriage Certificate apostille from the FCDO Legalisation Office for the following document formats:
- Your original UK marriage certificate
- A certified copy from either the General Register Office (GRO) or local register office
- Notarised copies of original religious marriage certificates
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FAQ
An apostilled marriage certificate is certified with an apostille stamp. The certificate and stamp ensure the document is legally valid and recognised in the Hague Apostille Convention member countries. The apostille guarantees the document’s authenticity for use in international legal matters.
A wide variety of overseas authorities may request an apostille or other legalisation of a marriage certificate. Common foreign requesting authorities include government departments, solicitors, notaries, religious organisations, and immigration officials.
You may need to apostille a marriage certificate if you plan to use it in a foreign country that is a member of the Hague Apostille Convention. This makes the document legally recognised in those member countries.
Reasons to apostille a Marriage Certificate:
- Emigrating to another country
- Starting a job abroad
- Visa applications e.g. applying for a spousal visa for another country
- Registering a marriage overseas
- Divorce proceedings
- Passport applications
- Overseas property transactions
- Gaining overseas citizenship
- Getting married abroad (some countries will request an apostille on a marriage certificate for a dissolved marriage even if you are now divorced)
- Dealing with the death of a spouse when living overseas
- Proving a child is legitimate
- Execution of a will or otherwise dealing with the estate of a deceased person and the legal transfer of assets
You may also need to provide an apostille for your marriage certificate if you were married overseas, have dual citizenship, were very recently married, or you or your spouse is not a UK citizen by birth.
Please be aware that some foreign authorities might request additional documents related to you or your spouses current marital status to ensure that your marriage is still valid, depending on the purpose at hand.
Your apostilled marriage certificate is likely to need further legalisation at an embassy or consulate if the requesting country is not part of the Hague Convention.
In the UK, you can get a marriage certificate apostilled through the Legalisation Office or FCDO-authorised service providers, such as Fatchett Legalisation. Our team is experienced in handling such requests, ensuring your document is processed efficiently and correctly.
In the UK, apostilles are issued by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) through its Legalisation Office. When issuing an apostille, the FCDO will affix a certificate to the original documents to show that the document and signatures are genuine. However, authorised service providers like Fatchett Legalisation can facilitate the process on your behalf, making it more convenient and often faster. For further assistance or to initiate the apostille process for your marriage certificate, please get in touch with Fatchett Legalisation. Our knowledgeable team is here to guide you through every step of the process.
We can arrange apostille for marriage certificates issued in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. However, the only office that can grant apostilles is the FCDO Legalisation Office in England. It is also possible to obtain apostille on:
- Civil Partnership Certificate
- Conversion of Civil Partnership Certificate
- Marriage Certificate issued by a UK place of worship (Islamic marriage certificate, Greek Orthodox marriage certificate, Hebrew marriage certificate, Catholic marriage certificate)
Religious marriage certificates usually require notarisation before they can be apostilled.
The cost to apostille a marriage certificate can vary depending on the service provider and the urgency of the request. At Fatchett Legalisation, we offer competitive rates for apostille services. For detailed pricing, please contact our office or visit our website order form, where we regularly update our fee structure.
The time it takes to apostille a marriage certificate can vary. Typically, the process can take from a couple of working days to a couple of weeks, depending on the workload of the Legalisation Office. At Fatchett Legalisation, we offer expedited services to meet urgent requirements.
To obtain an apostille for a marriage certificate in the UK, follow these steps:
- Obtain a the original or certified copy of the marriage certificate.
- Submit the document to the Legalisation Office or authorised service, such as Fatchett Legalisation.
- Pay the necessary fees.
- Wait for the document to be processed and returned with the apostille.
At Fatchett Legalisation, we can streamline this process, ensuring your documents are handled correctly and efficiently.
Depending on the requesting authority and country your marriage certificate may require translation. Translation is most often required if your certificate is going to be used in some official legal way. Some authorities will require an apostille on the translated version too. So, please check with the requesting authority – they don’t always tell you that translation will be required!
An apostille is a certificate attached to your marriage certificate. It usually features a stamp or sticker and includes information such as the issuing country’s authentication, the identity of the official who signed the document, and the date of issue. It is designed to be easily recognisable by officials in foreign countries.
In the UK, apostilles are issued by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) through its Legalisation Office. When issuing an apostille, the FCDO will affix a certificate to the original documents to show that the document and signatures are genuine. However, authorised service providers like Fatchett Legalisation can facilitate the process on your behalf, making it more convenient and often faster. For further assistance or to initiate the apostille process for your marriage certificate, please get in touch with Fatchett Legalisation. Our knowledgeable team is here to guide you through every step of the process.
The FCDO will not issue an apostille certificate if the signature on your marriage certificate is not recognised. Rejection typically occurs when the registrar or other authorised person is not in their official database, as the marriage certificate is very new or very old. Currently, there is no way to check the signature before submission.
If the FCDO rejects your certificate for apostille and the marriage certificate is very new, contact the local registrar’s office and ask the person who signed the certificate to register their signature with the FCDO.
For very old certificates, order a new official replacement copy from the GRO website or local registry office. A new certificate takes around four working days and costs £11 (as of October 2024).
Alternatively, one of our solicitors can certify the marriage certificate and get the apostille. However, the FCDO will then issue the apostille based on the solicitor’s signature, not the signature on your marriage certificate. Most overseas authorities will not accept this. So, you should first contact the relevant overseas authorities to confirm that this would be acceptable for your intended use.
You can sometimes legalise a non-UK marriage certificate with a UK apostille. The original foreign marriage certificate must be shown to a notary who will notarise a copy which is then sent for apostille.
Further legalisation of non-UK marriage certificates in the UK is not always possible. For example, the Chinese Embassy will not legalise non-UK marriage certificates.
The Hague Convention simplifies the process of certifying or legalising documents, such as a marriage certificate, for international use. An apostille certifies that a marriage certificate is authentic. The Hague Convention ensures that the apostille certification process is standardised across member countries.
At Fatchett Legalisation, we understand the details and requirements for obtaining an apostille for your documents. Trust our service to handle the certification of your marriage certificate efficiently under the Hague Convention’s guidelines.
Countries outside of the Apostille Convention will not recognise an apostilled marriage certificate. As of July 2024, 127 states are contracting states of the Apostille Convention but Iran, Malaysia, and North Vietnam are not. Fatchett Legalisation can advise you on alternative methods of marriage certificate legalisation for non-contracting countries.
A certified copy of a UK Marriage Certificate, officially known as a Certified Copy of an Entry of Marriage, is a full-length, unabridged copy of the original marriage certificate. The information included can vary by jurisdiction but typically includes the following details:
- Full names of the spouses
- Date of marriage
- Place of marriage, often down to the specific venue
- The name and title of the officiant (minister, priest, rabbi, judge, civil)
- The names and perhaps the signatures of the witnesses
- Details of any marriage licence
- The registration district
- When the marriage was registered
Certified copies of marriage certificates are available for England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
Still have more questions?
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