Description
Legalisation of GRO Documents
Legalisation is the process of officially confirming that a document issued by the UK General Register Office (GRO) is genuine, so it can be accepted for use abroad.
GRO documents include:
- Birth certificates
- Marriage certificates
- Death certificates
- Civil partnership certificates
How the process works
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Obtain an official GRO certificate
You must use an original or certified GRO-issued certificate. Photocopies are not accepted for legalisation.
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UK Legalisation Office (FCDO)
The document is submitted to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO).
The FCDO verifies the GRO signature or seal and attaches:
- An apostille (for countries that are part of the Hague Apostille Convention), or
- A legalisation certificate (for non-Hague countries)
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Embassy or Consulate (if required)
If the destination country is not a Hague Convention member, the document must then be legalised by the relevant foreign embassy or consulate after the FCDO step.
Important points
- GRO documents do not usually need notarisation before FCDO legalisation
- Many countries also require a certified translation
- Some authorities require certificates to be recently issued (often within 3–6 months)
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 Certificates
- 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.
- 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.
