UK documents for moving abroad are often treated as a packing task. The costly mistake is sending an original birth certificate, qualification or power of attorney for an apostille before the receiving authority has said what it will actually accept. The wrong format, signer or timing can leave a visa, property or family application waiting after you have moved.
This checklist is for a UK-issued document that an overseas authority has specifically asked you to legalise. It does not say that every move needs an apostille, that an apostille proves the document's contents, or that a destination will accept a document without its own translation, registration or further formalities.
1. Ask the recipient what it needs before you pay
Start with the authority, employer, university, bank, court or adviser that requested the document. Ask for its requirements in writing. In particular, confirm whether it needs the original or a certified copy, a paper apostille or an e-Apostille, one apostille per document or a grouped set, and whether it has a translation or issue-date requirement.
The UK Legalisation Office checks whether a signature, stamp or seal matches its records and then attaches an apostille if it does. That process confirms the UK public official's signature, stamp or seal; it is not an approval of what the document says and it does not settle the overseas authority's separate rules.
Put the request, destination, purpose and deadline into the End-to-End Moving Abroad Planner before you order duplicate certificates or book a courier. Use it to sequence the legalisation work with your visa, housing and departure dates. It is an organiser, not a legalisation decision or a promise that a destination will accept the document.
2. Identify the document you actually hold
Do not assume a scan, a photocopy or an old certificate is interchangeable with the document requested. GOV.UK lists examples that can be legalised, including certain court documents, public-registry certificates, government documents signed by an official and medical certificates signed by a registered doctor. Other documents, such as a power of attorney, contract, qualification certificate or a copy of a passport or driving licence, may need certification by a UK public official such as a solicitor or notary first.
Keep the document type and the recipient's wording together. If the request is for a certified copy, ask the recipient who may certify it. UK guidance on ordinary certification is useful for preparing a true copy, but a certified copy and an apostille are separate steps. Do not pay for a certification method merely because it worked for a different country or institution.
For a decision involving a UK power of attorney, list the country, assets, people authorised and document requirements in the Cross-Border Power of Attorney Planner. It helps prepare questions for a solicitor; it does not create, certify or legalise a power of attorney, and it cannot tell you whether one is recognised overseas.
3. Choose paper or electronic legalisation from the recipient's rule
The FCDO offers a paper-based apostille and an e-Apostille. You apply online for both, but an e-Apostille is not a way to upload a photograph of any original. The electronic route requires a PDF electronically signed by a UK notary or solicitor.
Several common documents cannot receive an e-Apostille, including birth, death, marriage, civil-partnership and adoption certificates from the General Register Office; ACRO police certificates for England and Wales; the listed disclosure certificates; fingerprint certificates; and ACCA membership certificates. A recipient may also insist on paper even where the UK service can issue an electronic apostille.
That is why the order matters: recipient requirement first, document format second, application route third. Keep the source document unchanged until the recipient confirms whether it wants the original, a certified copy, a paper apostille or a digital document. If a translation is required, confirm whether it must be completed before or after legalisation and who must certify it; that is a destination requirement, not a conclusion from the UK apostille service.
4. Put the current service time and cost into the move budget
As checked on 28 September 2026, the standard paper service is £45 per document, plus courier or postage costs, and usually takes up to 25 working days plus delivery time. An e-Apostille is £35 and is stated to take up to 2 working days. The published time frames can be longer if a signature needs verification, so neither is a safe reason to leave this work until the week of travel.
Build a simple document register: document name, issue date, original or copy, requested apostille type, recipient, translator if any, application reference, sending method, return address, fee and deadline. The Personalised Expat Action Plan can place the document register alongside your wider move tasks when several authorities, family members or country requirements interact. Its output is a planning list, not a check that an application or apostille has been accepted.
For a paper application, the online process tells you how to submit the documents. If you send them by post, you need a return address and access to a printer. Preserve the tracking, application confirmation and copies or scans of every item before it leaves your control. A lost original near a departure deadline is a replacement-record problem as well as a courier problem.
5. Check the apostille can be used before you send the original abroad
An apostille is used under the Hague Apostille Convention only where the relevant convention relationship and the recipient's process support it. The HCCH status table is a useful starting point for checking a country's current convention status, but it does not replace the receiving authority's instruction. If the country or authority asks for consular legalisation, local registration, a recent certificate or a particular translation, follow that exact route.
Once the apostille is issued, ask the recipient whether it wants the original by courier, a secure digital copy or a verification check. The UK service provides a way to verify UK-issued paper and electronic apostilles using the certificate's issue date and apostille number. Do not email passport scans or full certificates to an unverified intermediary simply to speed up a document handover.
Get advice before sending documents if they support a property purchase, a court process, a child-arrangements matter, a large financial transaction, an inheritance or a power of attorney. The practical question is not only whether the document can be legalised, but whether it is the right document for an irreversible step in the destination country.
Guidance, not advice: ExpatCompass tools help you organise dates, records and questions. They do not determine whether you need an apostille, the correct certification or translation route, overseas acceptance or the legal effect of a document.
Your UK documents moving-abroad order
- Get the recipient's written requirement, including format, translation, issue-date and delivery rules.
- Identify the exact UK document, original or certified copy that meets that requirement.
- Confirm whether a paper apostille or eligible e-Apostille is required before applying.
- Record current fees, service time, courier time and the destination deadline in one document register.
- Apply online, follow the supplied submission instructions and retain tracking and copies.
- Check any translation, consular or destination registration step before dispatching the original.
- Ask the recipient to confirm acceptance, then retain the apostille number and issue date for future verification.
The useful result is not a stack of stamps obtained before a move. It is a verified document route that reaches the right authority in the right format, with enough time to correct a problem before it delays the next decision.