When Would You Need To Legalise Your Documents?

When would you need to legalise your documents? First instance, when moving to a foreign country, you must conform to its embassy’s legal requirements to get your application approved. That means you must spend a considerable amount of resources to research the requirements and get the relevant authorities to approve and stamp your personal documents such as passport, birth certificate, marriage certificate, driving license and more.

Worse still, you may easily commit errors during the application process, resulting in delayed approval or even rejection. Luckily, you can always avoid the complex application process by hiring a professional legalisation agency in Singapore and United Kingdom.

If you have never heard about document legalisation, below is everything you need to know about the service.

What is Legalisation?

Legalisation is a regulatory procedure of confirming the authenticity of an official document so that the authorities in the foreign country can consider it a full legal effect.

Any official document should have a signature and stamp of the signatory to be legalised. And, the type of authentication documents to submit depends on the embassy’s requirements of your destination country.

The verification procedure is commonly applied in civil and commercial matters in Singapore and other jurisdictions that are not part of the apostille convention.

The authentication process takes three stages:

(1) Verification by the issuing country’s government

(2) Confirmation and Verification by the embassy of the destination country within the issuing country

(3) Verification of all documents by authorities in the destination country

Why Do You Need to Hire Legalisation Services? 

The legalisation process is very complex in jurisdictions where the apostille system is not applied. For instance, in Singapore, all government-issued documents must pass through a series of authentication services to become applicable in a foreign country.

Given the complexity of the multi-step legislation process, you might easily commit some errors, thus causing delays in the approval or rejection of your application. Additionally, you might end up breaking your bank since every step of the process requires money.

Further, you will need your documents translated in the language of your destination country, then approved and stamped by the relevant authorities.

A reputable legalisation agency will offer you a complete legalisation service. They can help you with services like language translation, notarization, embassy authentication, acquisition of birth certificates, etc.

When Should You Get Your Documents Legalized?       

Legalise your documents when:

• You Are Going To Study Or Work In A Foreign Country

The authorities might ask for documents like academic certificates, transcripts, etc., for verification.

• Your Local Employer Needs Verified Documents

Academic fraud has become a common issue across the globe. For this reason, some local employers might ask for your verified educational documents to ensure you are the right candidate for the vacancy.

• You Are Getting Married Abroad

The destination country’s authorities may ask for a divorce certificate, certificate of no impediment to marriage, or any other evidence

• Your Child Is Moving Abroad Without Parents

The authorities in the destination country may need a documented proof to confirm that the child can travel alone. This regulation is meant to prevent cases of child abduction globally.

We may not tell you all the occasions when you might need your documents legalized. However, your need for legalised documents will depend on your reasons for travelling. You should prepare for your trip in advance and ask the overseas authorities what they expect of you. Hire a reliable legalisation company to help you the document legalisation process.

Who Can Legalize Your Documents?

The authorities responsible for legalizing documents may differ depending on:

> Your host country during the time you request the authentication

> The country in which you’ll use the document

> The document type

If you need legalization while in your home country, then the department of foreign affairs in your home country should legalize your documents for use overseas

When and if you want to legalize your documents in a foreign country, the embassy for your home country within that country should legalize your documents

If you want to legalize any documents issued in a foreign country, you should get assistance from the embassy for your home country within your host country

Where Can I Find A Legalisation Service?

As earlier mentioned, getting your documents legalised can be confusing due to the many processes involved. That said, you need a professional legalisation company to help you with the process and increase the chances of your approval.

But, where can you find a legalisation service? In the digital era, most legalisation agencies have moved their services online. So, you can get a reputable agency to help you with your legalisation services from online sites within a matter of hours. All you need is to go online and search for legalisation services within your country.

How Will I Find A Reliable Legalisation Agency?

Below are the factors you need to consider to land a reliable legalisation agency.

• The Processing Time

Your selected legalisation service should be capable of getting your documents processed within two days. Even if you don’t need the legalised documents urgently, keeping your documents out of custody for too long might risk them of loss.

Agencies that take an extended period to get the documents legalized might outsource the service from third parties, and you may get poor service.

During the interview, ask them how long they can take to process your documents. Select the one who can execute the job within two days. You can also get insights about the same by reading their customer experience under the reviews section on their website.

• Communication Efficiency

During your selection, only choose a legalisation agency with multiple communication channels like online chat services, phone calls, emails, etc. Selecting an agency with various communication channels will ensure that you can always reach them and track your document’s legalisation process.

• Professionalism

Any reputable legalisation service will be willing to offer you free advice regarding the whole process, the challenges involved, and how they will make things simpler for you.

They should also explain the documents that need attestation by the high commission or your state embassy and quote reasonable prices for the services. That should be the case with your selected agency.

Final Word

Getting your documents legalized is a multi-step process. You need the help of a reputable legalisation company to help you with translation and getting the documents authenticated. In the article, we have outlined several tips for choosing a reliable legalisation agency. Read them to pick an agency that can deliver with a short turnaround and safety of your documents.