We recently reported two key changes to the legalisation services offered by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (“FCO”).  These changes have implications for most notary clients seeking an Apostille. Often clients and foreign lawyers refer to this as Apostillisation.  Many of our London notary clients asked for further advice and guidance regarding the FCO’s postal application service.  This article sets out the implications for notary public clients using the FCO’s legalisation office in Milton Keynes to obtain an Apostille.

FCO postal service

The FCO has indicated that approximately 60% of customers already submit their applications for legalisation via post. For these customers the new legalisation procedure is intended to provide benefits as the target turn around time for “straight forward applications” is planned to be 24 hours rather than the previous 48 hours.  However the experience of a number of our notary clients is that this reduced service time for obtaining Apostilles has not been consistently maintained since introduction at the beginning of April 2011.

FCO Public Counter

As approximately 30% of customers travelled in person to submit their applications via the Legalisation public counter these customers have had this service removed from them.  The alternative for these customers is to use a legalisation agent such as M D Pryke Notary Public LLP.  Registered legalisation agents still have a business counter service available to them so that documents can be delivered, legalised and collected within the same day.

FCO Premium Service

This service remains unaffected.  This service is only open to registered businesses. Therefore individuals looking to take advantage of this efficient service should engage the services of a legalisation agent such as London Notary Public Matthew Pryke.

Apostille Fees

In addition to increasing the legalisation fees the FCO are also encouraging on-line payments as a more convenient and cost-effective method.  Notary clients applying to the Milton Keynes office will still be able to pay by bankers’ draft, postal order and business cheques.  However if the amounts are incorrect or a document within a batch of documents are not entirely correct then the whole matter will be rejected by the FCO and returned to the client.

Given the changes which have been introduced by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office many more notary clients are taking advantage of the cost effective legalisation services offered by London notaries.  The ability for Notary Public practices to provide certainty regarding timings and cost is not only appealing to most clients but absolutely essential.

For further details of the legalisation and notarial services offered by London Notary Public practice M D Pryke Notary Public LLP or for further information on how to get documents legalised please refer to the website at www.mdpryke-notary.com.

It is often the case that documents, once notarised, require a Notary to also legalise the document.  The legalisation requirements for each country are different.  However the most usual request received by a Notary Public is to have the document “apostilled”.  To add an Apostille, or legalisation certificate, to a document involves liaising directly with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.  Recently the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has implemented a number of material changes to both the legalisation fees and the legalisation process.  This article summarises the key considerations for notary clients.

FCO legalisation fees increase

From 6 April 2011 the Foreign and Commonwealth Office increased the legalisation charges to:

£30.00 per document for its standard service (via its legalisation office in Milton Keynes).

£75.00 per document for its express service (via its London legalisation office at Centre Point).

These legalisation fee increases are a material consideration for all clients.  London notaries advise clients to plan in advance, if possible, legalisation requirements as this can often allow clients to achieve a saving.  For example a Notary can use the Foreign and Commonwealth Office standard service which generates a £45 saving per notarised document.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office legalisation public counter closed

From 1 April 2011 members of the general public have been unable to attend the Foreign and Commonwealth Offices in Milton Keynes.  Members of the public are required to use a postal service.  This means urgent matters cannot be hand delivered.  As legalisation agents, M D Pryke Notary Public LLP, is able to obtain legalisation on behalf of our clients via the Milton Keynes office or Centre Point in London within the same working day.

M D Pryke Notary Public comments, “The changes introduced by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office are not entirely unexpected, given the pressure on government departments and their budgets.  We suggest you liaise with your notary public London at the first opportunity so the Notary can plan the budget and timetable to meet your commercial requirements.  As a full service London Notary Public practice we are able to notarise and legalised documents for every country globally.  We are always happy to provide detailed fee quotes and timetables which allow our clients to plan with certainty for every notarial and legalisation matter.”

For further details of the legalisation and notarial services offered by London Notary Public practice M D Pryke Notary Public LLP please refer to the website at www.mdpryke-notary.com.

Notary Public London Guides recently published an article detailing how to become a Notary Public in the UK.  This article stated some of the areas of study along with details of the examination process to become a fully qualified UK Notary Public.

As any Notary Public in London will tell you, once qualified it is still necessary to obtain a yearly practising certificate from the Faculty Office (the regulatory body for Notaries Public) in order to conduct notarial business.  As ever, the rules of the Faculty Office are stringent and each Notary Public is required to submit information on a variety of topics, confirming, amongst other matters, that:

• They act independently from any Law firm
• The Notary holds the minimum amount of indemnity insurance, currently set at £750,000
• The Notary is aware of current money laundering regulations and will run their practice accordingly
• They hold a current practicing certificate as a Solicitor

Once the Faculty office is satisfied that the petitioning Notary meets their criteria, they issue a yearly practicing certificate which currently costs £350.

For further details of how to qualify as a Notary Public, contact Matthew on 02076364422.

MD Pryke Notary Public LLP is delighted to announce that the sponsored bike ride from Paris to London on behalf of Crohn’s and Colitis in Childhood raised over £50,000.

From his Notary Public office near Oxford Circus, Matthew said,

“Notaries Public aren’t renowned for being active types, so I am delighted to have helped raise over £50,000 for this worthwhile charity.  We set off from Paris hoping to raise £30k and so to have beaten that target is amazing.  But don’t be fooled by the smiles, it was pretty gruelling!”

Notaries Public were not the only legal practitioners to participate in the charity bike ride, sponsored by Hammonds and WPP.  Almost forty riders completed the event to arrive at Hampton Court.

If you would like to donate to Crohn’s and Colitis in Childhood, please visit http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/mattpryke or if you are a Notary Public looking to get involved in fund raising activities, please visit the charity page of our website. For any further information on the Charity bike ride please call us on 0207 636 4422.

UK Notaries Public – How they differ from US Notaries – Part 3

This is the third article in a series that details the differing notarial procedures in the United Kingdom compared to US Notary practices.

Article 1 dealt with: The professional status of Notaries Public, The qualifications required to practice as a Notary, and the US concept of a ‘commission‘.

Article 2 highlighted: Notarial duty of care, Legal protection and insurance for Notaries, and Notary fees

7. Identity verification required by UK Notaries

A Notary practicing in the United States is not required to take measures to corroborate either the identity or the authority of their notarial clients.  Further, when witnessing a signature or notarizing a document, US Notaries only require one item of identification.

A UK Notary must identify the individual with two forms of identification, both of which must comply with UK money laundering regulations.  A British Notary must also determine whether the intended signatory possesses the requisite authority to sign.  For example when a Director signs either for themselves or on behalf of a company, the Notary must ascertain their mandate for so doing.

Furthermore, a Notary is required to ensure that the document is executed in a manner required by the laws of England and Wales (e.g. power of attorney being signed in the presence of a witness as a deed)

8. Notarisation process

US notaries generally notarise a document with a rubber Notary stamp similar to those used by a bank or post office.

UK notaries use a steel stamp unique to their notarial practice.  See below for the official MD Pryke Notary Public seal:

Furthermore, most UK notaries will rivet the notarized document and tie with ribbon to ensure that it is secure.  This procedure ensures that no pages can be added or removed after notarization.

For more details on the different working practices between a UK Notary and their US equivalents please refer to other articles in this series, or else contact us via telephone, post or email.