What is an E-Apostille?

An e-apostille is an electronic version of the Foreign Commonwealth and Development’s legalisation stamp. It is applied to electronically notarised documents. 

Should I get an E-Apostille?

We are aware that there are some misconceptions about what an e-apostille is and what remote notarisation entails.

The process involves the notary doing their job in the usual way in that they will still identify you and check your documents to the same standard, however rather than creating a physical signed and sealed notarial certificate, the notary will electronically sign the document and send it to the apostille office using a secure electronic envelope which the apostille office will then recognise.  

If the certification requires true copies of a document then the notary will still need to see the original. The original will also need to be verified with a third party. This is the same process whether the documents are electronic or physical.

The circumstances where signature attestation can be done remotely are limited. If you need your signature attesting then please check with the notary whether this can appropriately be done within our legal and regulatory framework.

Certain documents covered by crown copyright cannot be e-apostilled (eg DBS certificates and registry certificates)

E-apostilles are not always a cheaper option. The “envelopes” for electronically sending the notarised documents for e-apostille are still quite expensive. It is hoped that the price will come down once the e-apostille is more established but at the moment it works out more expensive than a standard apostille (it will be cheaper than courier shipping in some cases).

Not all recipients accept e-apostilles. They are still very new so we recommend you check with your recipient and have them check that the places where they will wish to use your document will also accept them. Similarly, if your documents require further legalisation you will need to be satisfied that the embassy accepts e-apostilles.

E-apostilles are designed to be submitted to the end user electronically so if you need to present physical documents they are very unlikely to be acceptable.

If you have any further questions please get in touch.