From Attestation to Verification – Notary Public Edinburgh and Scotland

Attestation, authentication, certification, legalisation, notarisation and verification explained

When you are to use legal or otherwise official documents in a foreign country you may have been told that you need to have them certified, notarised, legalised, attested or authenticated. Most of the time you will be told that you need several of these and it can all seem rather confusing.

This article will clarify the meaning of certification and notarisation by a Notary Public and will provide some useful information about legalisation and apostilles. It will also help to explain what attestation is and when you might need it. Quill Legal will help to unravel the mystery and would be happy to assist you with all of these procedures. If you have any queries or need your document attended to please get in touch with Quill Legal Notary Public Edinburgh by telephone: 0131 564 1044 or by using our contact form.

What is attestation?

Sometimes attestation is referred to as consular legalisation but in plain terms it relates to the authentication of a document at the High Commission, Consulate or Embassy of the country where that document is to be used. Generally attestation will be required if the recipient country has not signed up to the Hague Apostille Convention; these countries include Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. The process of attestation may take different forms but it means that the Embassy or Consulate will verify the document and thus make it available for use by you in their country.

The types of documents which may need to be attested include marriage, death and birth certificates, many academic documents and business or company paperwork. Generally a document will first need to be either notarised or certified and then legalised before it is presented to the Embassy or Consulate for attestation so attestation may be seen as the third and final step of verification for any particular document.

What is authentication?

Authentication is a generic term that refers to the process of proving that some fact or some document is genuine and may be used as an alternative to the term verification.

What is certification?

When we talk about certifying a document it generally refers to certifying a photocopy of that document as a true copy. Commonly the image page of a passport is copied and certified as a true copy as are driving licences and sometimes bank statements or utility bills. Before a certified copy can be made the original document has to be made available and examined. For any document issued electronically we would need to check its source before a print can be made and certified as true.

What is legalisation and what is an apostille?

An apostille can only be issued by a competent authority. A competent authority is designated by the United Kingdom government and in the United Kingdom the only competent authority is the Legalisation Office of the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. In simple terms the process of legalisation is the application of an apostille on a document by the Legalisation Office of the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. It is a standardised form of legalising a document which is accepted by all member countries of the Hague Apostille Convention.

If a document has been verified by the British government’s Legalisation Office the Embassies and Consulates will be satisfied that the document is genuine and in most cases will be able to attest it. There are a few exceptions and Quill Legal will be able to make whatever inquiries are required in order to decide what further steps may need to be taken. By way of example for some documents you will need a certified translation.

What is notarisation?

This process involves verifying the identity of the person who is to sign a document and then witnessing the signing of the document. The Notary Public must also ensure that you understand what you are signing, that you have capacity to sign particularly if you are signing on behalf of another party such as a limited company and that you are willing to proceed. Sometimes the Notary will require you to take an oath. The Notary will sign and stamp the document and may also add their notarial seal.

What is verification?

Document verification involves authenticating a document to ensure that it is genuine. For example academic documents may be verified by checking with the issuing university that a degree is valid. The identity of a person may be verified by checking their passport and a document showing their current address.

How to get your document authenticated

It is always wise to check the requirements of the official or institution requesting your documents.

You can then submit your documents to Quill Legal. We will need two forms of identity – photographic and current address – and we may require a consent form to enable us to verify your documents with the relevant issuing body.

We will verify the authenticity of the documents if required and either make certified copies or notarise your signatures. We can obtain apostilles and have your documents submitted to an Embassy or Consulate for attestation if that is needed.

If you need any documents attended to please get in touch with Kay Blaikie at Quill Legal by telephone: 0131 564 1044 or by using our contact form