Support For Overseas Residents & Companies Trading Overseas*

 
Apostille

If you intend to open a bank account for your company overseas or a branch of your company in another country, you may be asked to provide ‘notarised copies’ of your incorporation documents. This is also know as ‘Legalised Documents’ or an ‘apostille’.

An apostille is a form of authentication accepted in countries that have signed the 1961 Hague Convention. This abolished the requirement for paperwork issued by one country for intended use in another to be legalised by the consulate of the country of intended use, provided the two countries have signed the Hague Convention.

We offer three types of service -

Certified Copy of the Certificate Incorporation with Apostille /
Certificate of Good Standing with Apostille

This is a copy of your Certificate of Incorporation that is signed by a representative at Companies House to confirm it is a legitimate copy. We are also able to obtain a ‘Certificate of Good Standing’, which is again signed by a representative at Companies House and confirms that at the time of signature, the company had filed all necessary documents. On each of these certificates, it is possible to stipulate the details for the Director, Secretary, Registered Office Address, authorised & issued Share Capital and Shareholder(s) where applicable.

The certificate is then passed to the notary who arranges for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to issue an apostille. The whole process takes approximately 10-14 days and is charged at £180.00.

Notarised Copies of the Company’s Incorporation Documents

This is a copy of your original Certificate of Incorporation, Memorandum of Associa- tion, Articles of Association and First Minutes for the company. It is possible to include further documents if necessary (for example second minutes or the Combi- ned Register). The country where the bank account or branch is to be opened usually dictates the documents to be included, it is therefore recommended to contact them to confirm their requirements before requesting the service.

The documents are passed to the notary who issues a certificate to confirm that the documents are legitimate copies of the original documents. The notary then sends the paperwork, including their certificate to the Foreign & Commonwealth Office to arrange an apostille. This service takes approximately 7-10 working days and is charged at £140.00.

Legalisation

If the country where you intend to use the documents has not signed the Hague Convention, your documents will need to be legalised by that countries embassy in the UK. The paperwork is notarised as per the above and sent to the relevant embassy, who issue a further certificate to legalise the paperwork. The charges for legalisation vary depending on the country required therefore quotation is provided upon request.

Power of Attorney

This is a document giving an individual power to act on behalf of the limited company. This gives the individual the power to authorise transactions and co-ordinate the affairs of the company and is charged at £35.00


The following countries are party to the Hague Convention 1961 

Andorra Antigua & Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Bahamas Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Bosnia & Herzegovina Botswana Brunei Darussalam Croatia Cyprus Dominica Fiji Finland France Germany Greece Grenada Guyana Hungary Israel Italy

Japan Kiribati Latvia Lesotho Liberia Liechtenstein Luxembourg Macau Macedonia Malawi Malta Marshall Islands Mauritius Mexico Monaco Netherlands (& Netherlands Antilles) Norway Panama Portugal (& Madeira) Russia St Kitts & Nevis St Lucia St Vincent & The Grenadines San Marino Seychelles Slovenia Solomon Islands South Africa

Spain (& The Canary Islands) Surinam Swaziland Switzerland Tonga Turkey Tuvalu USA (& Puerto Rico) United Kingdom Former Yugoslavia (Serbia & Montenegro) Zimbabwe Anguilla Bermuda British Antarctic Territory British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Falkland Islands Gibraltar Guernsey Hong Kong Isle Of Man Jersey Montserrat St Helena & Dependencies South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands Turks & Caicos Islands

 

*If you require any of the above support services please submit your order and place in the comments box at the bottom of the order form the additional services required and we will be in direct contact.