Description
Legalisation of ACRO or DBS Certificates
Legalisation is the process of officially confirming that an ACRO Police Certificate or DBS certificate is genuine, so it can be accepted by foreign authorities.
The process confirms the authenticity of the UK public document, not the content of the certificate itself.
Step-by-step process
-
Issue of the certificate
You must first obtain the original ACRO or DBS certificate issued in the UK.
-
UK Legalisation Office (FCDO)
The certificate is submitted to the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO).
The FCDO verifies the signature or seal and attaches:
- An apostille (for countries that are members of the Hague Apostille Convention), or
- A legalisation certificate (for non-Hague countries)
-
Embassy or Consulate (if required)
If the destination country is not part of the Hague Convention, the document must then be legalised by the relevant foreign embassy or consulate after FCDO legalisation.
Important points
- ACRO certificates are commonly used for immigration, visas, residency, and overseas employment
- DBS certificates are not accepted by all foreign authorities, even if legalised
- Some countries also require:
Notary 247 is a trading style of Fatchett & Co Notaries Limited. We are regulated by the Faculty Office (www.facultyoffice.org.uk) for the provision of notarial service. For any queries, please call us on 0121 437 3490.
Process Criminal Records
- If you would like to discuss your circumstances, please call us on 0121 437 3490.
- Once you know what you need, then simply place an order through the website.
- We will ask you to send the original documents to us in Milton Keynes.
- Where the Criminal Record is a DBS certificate it will need to be notarised prior
- We will legalise using our “next day” provider license.
For example, if we received your document on a Monday, we would lodge it with the FCDO on Tuesday. The document would be ready on Wednesday (in Milton Keynes at about 2pm). It would then be mailed or couriered.
