In 2022, the UK government finally introduced the e-apostille for UK documents. This is often referred to as an electronic apostille.

The e-apostille is a digital apostille certificate that is added to a digital document that contains a recognised digital signature. The entire process can be completed online with the FCDO Legalisation Office, but your PDF document must have a secure digital signature of a solicitor.

  1. Definition: An e-Apostille is a digital version of a traditional paper Apostille. It is an electronic certificate that is attached to a document, or a digital version of a public document, to authenticate its origin. This is particularly useful for electronic documents.
  2. Format and Security: The e-Apostille comes in a PDF format and is secured with electronic certification techniques. These techniques include digital signatures and electronic seals, ensuring the authenticity and integrity of the Apostille.
  3. Convenience and Efficiency: One of the primary advantages of an e-Apostille is its convenience. It can be issued and transmitted electronically, speeding up the process significantly compared to traditional paper-based Apostilles. This is especially beneficial for international transactions where time is of the essence.
  4. Legality and Acceptance: e-Apostilles are recognized under the Hague Apostille Convention by countries that have agreed to accept electronic Apostilles. However, it’s important to verify whether the specific country in which you intend to use the document accepts e-Apostilles.
  5. Access and Verification: e-Apostilles often come with enhanced features for verification. They can be easily verified online by the authorities or entities in the country where the document will be used. This assists in preventing fraud and ensures the document’s authenticity.
  6. Eco-Friendly: As an electronic document, the e-Apostille is more environmentally friendly, reducing the need for paper and physical mailing.
  7. Integration with e-Registers: Many issuing authorities maintain electronic registers (e-Registers) where issued e-Apostilles are logged. This allows for easy tracking and verification.
  8. Use Cases: e-Apostilles are commonly used for documents that have been digitally signed by a UK solicitor.
  9. Issuance: The issuance of an e-Apostille is done by the same authority that issue traditional Apostilles, the FCDO.
  10. Global Adoption: The adoption of e-Apostilles is gradually increasing around the world as countries modernise their legalisation processes to accommodate digital documents and streamline international document verification.

Example

To explain the process further, let us use a Companies House certificate as an example-

  • Customer provides a PDF downloaded from Companies House – the UK company registrar
  • A solicitor will check a digital document to make sure it is correct
  • The solicitor will then upload the document to a digital certification platform to add their advanced digital signature
  • An application is then made to the FCDO for an e-apostille. The digitally signed document is uploaded securely to the FCDO for checking and issue of a digital e-apostille.
  • The document then has additional files attached with the digital authentication and e-apostille.
  • This is then emailed to the customer on completion for use outside of the UK.

Not all documents can have an e-apostille. Please see our e-apostille pages for full details.