Coronavirus (COVID-19) Updates and Information
Updated 03/04/2020 – APOSTILLE SERVICE IS OPEN!
We are open for apostilles. Every effort is being made to complete orders as quickly as possible. The FCO has opened the Legalisation Office to registered business customers only. The public cannot submit documents to the FCO and need to use an apostille service to legalise documents.
Apostille Orders
Most orders are completed in just a few days. The FCO is very busy with limited staff but we are working with the FCO to ensure efficient processing.
Embassy Attestation
Most embassies in the UK are still attesting documents. There may be slight delays but we are asking customers to understand some embassies are working reduced hours with limited staff. We have been informed that the Qatari, Saudi and Chinese Embassies are NOT currently attesting documents.
Updated 24/03/2020 – FCO Suspends services!
The Embassy Legalisation Service has been informed by the FCO that due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak they can NO LONGER ISSUE APOSTILLES!
The government has now asked all non-essential businesses to stay at home. The Embassy Legalisation team now have procedures in place to provide support to customers remotely to protect the welfare of our employees during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
During this time NO NEW ORDERS can be started. EXISTING ORDERS will be delayed as the government office and embassies are either closed or offering reduced services. In progress orders will be completed when the current ‘lockdown’ advice changes and we can access the office.
Apostille Orders
NO APOSTILLES WILL BE ISSUED ANY WHERE IN THE UK!
Embassy Attestation
NO NEW EMBASSY ORDERS CAN BE PROCESSED – NO APOSTILLE = NO EMBASSY ATTESTATION
With the FCO stopping apostille services it is impossible to obtain any embassy attestation.
Outstanding orders will be completed when our office re-opens.
Message from the FCO 23 March 2020-
I’m afraid that over the weekend the situation appears to have developed rapidly, and at the moment we simply do not have the staffing resource to operate the business service at present. All documents that were submitted on Friday will be ready for collection at the usual time today, but we will not be accepting any documents or new applications. Whilst I appreciate the inconvenience this will cause, we do not wish to receive documents that we may not be able to return should the office have to close completely.
In the mean-time we are doing all we can to clear the remaining applications submitted before the postal service was closed last week, and identifying potential short-term workarounds. If there is any further information or details surrounding re-opening the business service I will be in touch.
Office Visits
For the foreseeable future we are asking that customers do not visit the office to hand deliver documents. We are happy to assist by phone, email, online chat, online orders and postal applications. It is essential we protect our employees and manage the offices effectively.
Updates
If there is any change to the current situation we will update this page with the latest situation on processing orders.
Please be assured that we have robust systems in place to manage any events and to ensure we can still support our customers during the current period.
Thank you for choosing our service.
