The UK e-Apostille

The e-Apostille is the digital version of the UK apostille. Instead of posting paper documents to the FCDO and waiting for them to come back, you upload electronically signed PDFs and download the legalised result. It is cheaper and much faster than the standard paper service, but it is not available for every document, and not every recipient will want it.

How the e-Apostille works

To get an e-Apostille, you upload your documents as PDF files that have been electronically signed by a UK notary or solicitor. When the FCDO announced the wider rollout in September 2022, it explained that documents must be signed with either an Advanced Electronic Signature or a Qualified Electronic Signature, both of which offer high levels of validation.

The Legalisation Office then issues the apostille as an attachment to a PDF, with the document or documents it relates to also attached. Both the overall PDF and the apostille attachment are digitally signed by the Legalisation Office, and the electronic signatures of the public officials in your documents are preserved.

You will be emailed as soon as your legalised documents are ready. GOV.UK says you can download them multiple times and share them digitally, for example by email, on a memory stick, or in person by showing your screen.

Cost and speed

The solicitor's or notary's fee for preparing and electronically signing the document is separate and set by them.

Documents that cannot get an e-Apostille

GOV.UK lists the following as not eligible for an e-Apostille. They must use the paper service:

• birth, death, marriage, civil partnership and adoption certificates, or any other document from the General Register Office,
• ACRO police certificates for England and Wales,
• Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificates for England and Wales,
• disclosure certificates for Scotland and Northern Ireland,
• fingerprint certificates,
• membership certificates for the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).

When the service was widened in 2022, the FCDO said a small number of documents, such as police record documents, would continue to need a paper apostille for specific security reasons.

Will the recipient accept it?

This is the key question. The Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) states that an e-Apostille is an official apostille in digital form, that it “cannot be refused simply because it is issued in electronic form”, and that it is just as valid as a paper apostille and must be accepted by all Contracting Parties to the Apostille Convention.

In practice, individual organisations sometimes still ask for paper. In 2022 the FCDO noted that UK e-Apostilles had been accepted by authorities in Italy, the Netherlands, Panama and the Philippines, and advised users to check the requirements of whoever asked for the apostille before applying. GOV.UK gives the same advice today: ask the recipient whether a paper apostille is needed, or whether an e-Apostille is acceptable.

For countries outside the Convention, where the document then has to go to an embassy, a paper apostille is normally the safer choice. See embassy legalisation.

When paper is the better choice

The e-Apostille is the obvious option when your document is eligible, the recipient is in a Convention country and accepts digital documents, and you need it quickly. The paper service is the better choice when:

• your document is on the excluded list, such as a birth certificate or DBS certificate,
• the recipient has asked specifically for a paper apostille,
• the document must then be legalised by an embassy,
• you only have a paper original and no solicitor or notary is preparing an electronically signed version.

GOV.UK also notes that the e-Apostille is a useful alternative where paper documents cannot currently be returned, such as to Russia, Ukraine or Belarus.

How recipients check an e-Apostille

An overseas authority can open an e-Apostille in a standard PDF reader. It can also check any UK apostille, paper or electronic, by entering the reference on GOV.UK's Verify an Apostille service.

A short history

The first UK e-Apostille was issued on 15 December 2021 as part of a pilot. On 2 September 2022 the FCDO announced the option would be opened up to more customers. Internationally, the HCCH's electronic Apostille Programme (e-APP) has supported electronic issuing and checking of apostilles since 2006.

Step by step

1. Check your document is not on the excluded list above.
2. Confirm the recipient will accept an e-Apostille.
3. Have a UK solicitor or notary prepare and electronically sign the PDF.
4. Apply online, choose the e-Apostille and pay £35 per document.
5. Download the legalised PDF when you receive the email, and send it on.

Finding a solicitor or notary who can sign electronically is often the slowest part. Apostille Online can arrange the signing and the application together.

Related guides

• Document legalisation in the UK
• UK apostille explained
• FCDO legalisation: how the Legalisation Office works
• Which documents can be legalised?
• Embassy legalisation for non-Hague countries
• Apostille costs and timescales

Document Legalisation is an independent guide. It is not affiliated with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) or the UK government. Fees and timescales are taken from GOV.UK and the HCCH and were checked in October 2026; always confirm the current position on GOV.UK before applying.