When you are looking for information on how you can get all your documents ready for use in another country, you will come across a lot of terms and phrases that may be commonly used to describe the services available.
These terms are frequently interchangeable, occasionally misunderstood, and frequently perplexing. Apostilles, legality, attestation, certification, and notarization will all be discussed.
Let us take a look at the final word, ‘notarization.’ When speaking to the legalization of documents, this term is frequently misused. The term “notarization” refers to the services offered by a certain Notary Public. This may not be the same as having a document apostille legalized.
GKG Apostille is a well-known notary London whom you can contact further to know what is further needed to get all your documents notarized.
What a Notary Public in the UK is?
A notary public is typically a solicitor who has completed further training to become a valid notary public. There can be a few exceptions to this rule (such as scrivener notaries, conveyancers, etc.)
However, most notaries are attorneys and oath commissioners for your understanding. The majority of notaries operate as solicitors on a regular basis and are located within the solicitors’ offices.
A notary’s principal responsibilities include witnessing signatures, creating copies of documentation, and authenticating papers. These can be used then outside of the UK, however, their main purpose is to sign documents.
It is important mentioning at this point that, in most cases, a regular lawyer can handle all of these responsibilities. One of the most noticeable differences is that a certain notary may charge you far more. The Notaries Society advises notaries to charge between £80 and £100 for their services.
The following are the 3 steps that are needed to legalize any public document in the UK.
1. Get your document notarized by a certain Notary
You should have a Notary or a solicitor notarize your document first. A UK public document cannot be notarized by British embassies or consulates.
Please note that documents produced by the General Register Office of the United Kingdom are already certified copies, so you can skip this step. Birth, marriage, death, adoption, civil partnership, and commemorative certificates are examples of these documents.
You can order a fresh copy of your marriage or birth certificate from the office of the General Registrar if you don’t already have one.
2. Get your notarized UK document legalized
A UK public document can be ‘legalized’ by requesting confirmation from the UK government that a signature, stamp, or seal from the UK public official on your document is authentic.
If a local government in another country has requested a document and stated that it should be ‘legalized,’ you may need to do so.
3. Get your legalized document authenticated if needed for China
Following the legalization of your document, the local government may request additional authentication of your legalization documents obtained from the UK’s Chinese Embassy.
We do hope that the above info is quite useful for you to remove all the confusion that you have had as far as legalization of your UK public documents is concerned.