Generally speaking, notarisation is the attestation (or validation) of deeds and other documents under the signature and seal of a Notary for use anywhere in the world. In other words, Notaries enable documents to be used abroad.
In some jurisdictions, a notarial act will be accepted without any further authentication. This is most likely to be a jurisdiction that is part of the Commonwealth such as Australia, Canada, South Africa or the Bahamas.
For all other jurisdictions, further authentication is usually required. This is known as legalisation.
Legalisation by Apostille
For most jurisdictions, legalisation by affixing an apostille stamp is sufficient. An apostille is a Government stamp that verifies the Notary’s signature and seal of office. Under the Hague Convention an apostille abolishes the requirement of diplomatic or consular legalisation for public documents between countries who are parties to this Convention.
In Gibraltar the cost is currently £15 per document and £30 per document if the document is required on the same day. If we deal with the legalisation for you we would charge a fee to do this.
Consular Legalisation
For some jurisdictions legalisation by apostille alone is not sufficient. It is necessary for the notarial act to bear a legalisation stamp from the consulate of the country where the document is to be used.
For example, documents and deeds for use in the UAE need to be certified by a Notary Public, apostilled in Gibraltar, stamped by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and then legalised by the UAE Embassy in London. Obviously this will take longer and will be more costly. This process is called consular or chain legalisation.
We can help you with this. We know it is time consuming and we are here to help. And if you have time and wish to do it yourself, we can point you in the right direction.
