How to get a UK Birth Certificate apostilled: a straightforward guide
If you have been told you need your UK birth certificate apostilled - for a visa application, a marriage abroad, an overseas citizenship process, or a foreign residency application - the good news is that it is one of the more straightforward documents to legalise. There is no solicitor certification required, and no complex preparation steps. Here is exactly what you need to know.
The document you need to start with
The FCDO will only apostille a birth certificate that has been issued by an official UK registry. That means an original certificate issued by the General Register Office, a local register office in England or Wales, the National Records of Scotland, or the General Register Office for Northern Ireland. Certified copies issued directly by any of these bodies are also accepted. What is not accepted - and will be rejected without exception - is a solicitor-certified copy, a photocopy, a scan, a document printed from an email, or a laminated certificate. If your certificate falls into any of those categories, you will need to order a fresh official copy from the relevant registry before proceeding.
The apostille process itself
Once you have the right document, you post the original to the FCDO with an apostille application. The FCDO verifies the registrar's signature and seal, attaches the apostille certificate, and returns the document to you. Standard postal processing costs £45 and takes around ten working days. There is no e-Apostille available for birth certificates - the paper route is the only option. The apostilled certificate is then ready for use in any country that is a member of the Hague Apostille Convention, which covers the vast majority of popular destinations worldwide.
If your destination is in the Gulf or outside the Hague Convention
For countries that are not members of the Hague Convention - including the UAE, Qatar and others - the apostilled birth certificate must also be submitted to the relevant embassy in London for attestation before it will be accepted. For UAE use, a further MOFA digital attestation step follows the Embassy attestation. Personal documents including birth certificates must be submitted to the UAE Embassy in their original form — certified copies are not accepted at that stage.
When you might need a replacement
Damaged, faded or laminated certificates may be rejected by the FCDO. If your original is in poor condition, ordering a replacement from the GRO before submitting for apostille is the safest approach. The GRO issues replacement certificates within a few days in most cases, which is a small delay against the risk of a rejected submission.
Ready to get started?
If you need your birth certificate apostilled and are not sure which registry issued yours, or whether your destination requires embassy attestation as well, call our team on +44 203 957 9800. We will check your document, confirm the correct route, and handle the process from end to end.