Most organisations and individuals who have been through the process of trying to have official documents accepted overseas will have heard of the Apostille process, for officially verifying documents. Another similar process is Embassy Attestation, and this is perhaps less widely understood.
A Definition of Embassy Attestation
Although 126 countries around the world are signed up to the Apostille system, there are many countries which are still not part of the agreement. This includes much of Africa, South East Asia, and rapidly growing economies in places like the United Arab Emirates or Qatar. Therefore, if you are trying to move to Dubai and produce a certificate of good conduct, there is no point in going through the Apostille system as this will not be recognised by the authorities. Instead, there is a secondary process called attestation or legalisation which is used to confirm that a document issued in the United Kingdom is genuine and authentic.
Getting embassy attestation – as the name suggests – will require a visit to the embassy of the country concerned in the UK. Getting embassy attestation is a somewhat more lengthy process than Apostille. In most cases, you will still have to go through the Apostille process first, as this is the step which proves that your birth certificate or other document is genuine and has been verified as genuine by the UK authorities. Once that step has been completed and the Apostille seal attached to the document, you must then take the document to the embassy either in person or get a third party agent to take it there for you. At the embassy, the clerk will then check the documents again, and verify it as suitable and genuine for whatever country you are dealing with.
Things to Consider
Some countries, including the United Arab Emirates, will only accept documents which have gone through the attestation process for their own country. If you have previously had documents attested for another nation, these may not be accepted. Always confirm with the embassy exactly what they will and will not accept before starting the process to save you both time and money.
Depending on where you are located in the UK, it might not be easy to get to the embassy concerned in person. Most of these are located in London, and many will not offer a same-day counter service. Getting embassy attestation will therefore involve sending documents in the post using a premium signed-for service or getting a local agent to hand deliver documents for you. This will add to the processing time so is something to consider if you are in a hurry.
Each country will also have its own fees and charges for providing the embassy attestation service. This is a fairly niche part of the services the embassy offers, so it might be difficult to find this information on their website. Either call the embassy direct and ask for advice, or work with an agent who has been through the process previously to make things easier.
What is Embassy Attestation?
Most organisations and individuals who have been through the process of trying to have official documents accepted overseas will have heard of the Apostille process, for officially verifying documents. Another similar process is Embassy Attestation, and this is perhaps less widely understood.
A Definition of Embassy Attestation
Although 126 countries around the world are signed up to the Apostille system, there are many countries which are still not part of the agreement. This includes much of Africa, South East Asia, and rapidly growing economies in places like the United Arab Emirates or Qatar. Therefore, if you are trying to move to Dubai and produce a certificate of good conduct, there is no point in going through the Apostille system as this will not be recognised by the authorities. Instead, there is a secondary process called attestation or legalisation which is used to confirm that a document issued in the United Kingdom is genuine and authentic.
Getting embassy attestation – as the name suggests – will require a visit to the embassy of the country concerned in the UK. Getting embassy attestation is a somewhat more lengthy process than Apostille. In most cases, you will still have to go through the Apostille process first, as this is the step which proves that your birth certificate or other document is genuine and has been verified as genuine by the UK authorities. Once that step has been completed and the Apostille seal attached to the document, you must then take the document to the embassy either in person or get a third party agent to take it there for you. At the embassy, the clerk will then check the documents again, and verify it as suitable and genuine for whatever country you are dealing with.
Things to Consider
Some countries, including the United Arab Emirates, will only accept documents which have gone through the attestation process for their own country. If you have previously had documents attested for another nation, these may not be accepted. Always confirm with the embassy exactly what they will and will not accept before starting the process to save you both time and money.
Depending on where you are located in the UK, it might not be easy to get to the embassy concerned in person. Most of these are located in London, and many will not offer a same-day counter service. Getting embassy attestation will therefore involve sending documents in the post using a premium signed-for service or getting a local agent to hand deliver documents for you. This will add to the processing time so is something to consider if you are in a hurry.
Each country will also have its own fees and charges for providing the embassy attestation service. This is a fairly niche part of the services the embassy offers, so it might be difficult to find this information on their website. Either call the embassy direct and ask for advice, or work with an agent who has been through the process previously to make things easier.
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