Obtaining Certified Copies of Original Documents

The Embassy does not provide a service for certifying true copies of original documents. If you are unwilling to forward your original documents to the United States, you can obtain certified copies through notarization under the British system.

Notarization under the British system is a two-step process. First, have your documents signed in front of a Notary Public. For your nearest Notary Public, please visit http://www.thenotariessociety.org.uk .

Next, you must have the signature and seal of the Notary Public authenticated by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO). The FCO will legalize documents by means of an Apostille, or certificate, which is provided for in Article 3 of the Convention. Documents affected include UK public records (birth, death, and marriage certificates; probate documents; all documents certified by court officials, the Patent Office, and Companies Registration Office, etc.) in addition to documents witnessed by notaries public and solicitors.

The FCO Legalisation Office will be moving to Milton Keynes in 2008. For further details, please telephone the Legalization Office at 020-7008-1111 or click FCO Legalisation Office.

Copies certified this way comply with the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents, October 5, 1961 to which the United States became a party effective October 15, 1981. (Click here for more information on the Hague Convention.)

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