Matthew D Pryke

Okay, so you’ve been told that you need to legalise a document.  The chances are that you are doing business abroad and, because the documents relate to a different judicial system, you must have them officially legalised.  This effectively means that you are required to run the documents past an officially approved third party to validate their authenticity such as a UK Notary.

Matthew Pryke is a fully qualified UK Notary Public who provides a complete range of legalisation solutions and UK Notary services from his offices in London’s West End.  He has produced this brief guide to enable people who require a document to be legalised in the United Kingdom to fully understand their UK Notary legalisation options.

Five Legalisation tips everyone should know

1. Always obtain a legalisation fee quote in advance.   Any UK Notary should be able to give you a clear idea of how much the procedure will cost you in advance of retaining their services.

2. Shop around.  As with any consumer choice it pays to compare the legalisation marketplace.  Prices vary considerably.  Some UK Notaries charge VAT on their prices.  Others do not.  This will save you 17.5% of the fee before you even begin to compare services.

3. The legalisation process can be lengthy.  It may be necessary to queue for hours on end at certain Embassies and Consulates.  This may be acceptable if you can spare the time and manpower, otherwise your UK Notary may be able to recommend cost effective solutions to obtain this on your behalf.

4. Make sure that you give your UK Notary clear instructions as to the deadline for receiving the legalised documents. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (who administer apostilles) offer differing levels of service and cost depending on how quickly the documents must be legalised.  If your documents are not urgent, take care that you are not paying a premium for a service that you don’t require.

5. Ask questions.  Experienced UK Notaries Public will be aware that this may all be new to you and will be able to reassure you over any complexity that arises and to explain the issues in clear, plain English.

If you have any queries about the UK Legalisation process, please contact M D Pryke Notary Public LLP and they will be delighted to address your concerns.

London Notaries Public Practice, MD Pryke Notary Public would like to inform all of its Notaries clients that during the week beginning 23 November 2009 various Arab League Embassies including the United Arab Emirates Embassy will be closed due to the Eid El-Hadha holiday.  In particular the legalisation offices of various Embassies will be closed as follows:

Notary Public Legalisation Office Closure Details

Algeria Embassy: Closed 26 November to 1 December 2009

Iraq Embassy: Closed 27 November 2009 only

Kuwait Embassy: Closed 26 and 27 November 2009

Qatar: Closed 26 and 27 November 2009

Saudi Arabia Legalisation Office: Closed 26 November to 30 November 2009

Tunisia Legalisation Office: Closed 27 November 2009 only

UAE Legalisation Office: Closed: 26 November to 30 November 2009 and 2 December to 6 December 2009

Consequently London Notaries Public Practice MD Pryke Notary Public will continue to provide the usual same day notary public legalisation service once the various legalisation offices of the embassies are reopened for business as usual.

London Notaries Public practice owner Matthew Pryke explains “With various Arab state embassies and legalisation offices closed during the end of November and beginning of December we will not be able to process any legalisation matters and requirements for these countries during this period.  However from the second week in December and onwards my London Notaries Public Practice will continue to provide a same day service for all legalisation requirements.”

For further about the Notary Public legalisation requirements for Arab states and the need to obtain additional legalisation stamps or legalisation certificates from any embassy please do not hesitate to contact London Notaries Public Practice MD Pryke Notary Public at his London Notaries website www.mdpryke-notary.com or via email at matthew@mdpryke-notary.com.

London Notaries Public Practice MD Pryke Notary Public would like to inform all of its notaries clients that with effect from 1 November 2009 the Chinese Embassy has increased the legalisation fees charged as follows:

Personal purpose Legalisation (per document) -  from £12 to £15

Business purpose Legalisation (per document) -  from £23 to £25

Please note that documents for China may require a notarised translation into Chinese.  Legalisation by the Chinese Consulate is expected to take 48 hours. The Chinese Consulate requires a photocopy of each notarised document to be legalised when the document is lodged. For an additional fee, legalisation may be completed sooner. The document to be legalised must first be certified (by way of Apostille) by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office where the legalisation fee for certification (by way of Apostille) is £69 per document.

London Notaries practice owner Matthew Pryke explains “The increase in legalisation fees charged by the Chinese Embassy is unlikely to be warmly received by any of our London notaries clients.  However our London notaries clients are able to enjoy affordable and fixed notarisation fees which notarisation fees have not been increased for more than 3 years.  In addition our notary public legalisation solutions guarantee an affordable and efficient legalisation service which provides our London notaries clients with the opportunity to ensure even the tightest of notarisation and legalisation deadlines are met.”

For further tips and guidance regarding leglations fees and legalisation services please refer to the following notaries public article http://www.mdpryke-notary.com/2009/10/notary-public-legalisation-fee-tips. Alternatively and for or further information regarding notarisation fees or to obtain a notary public legalisation quote please do not hesitate to contact this London Notaries practice at www.mdpryke-notary.com

London Notary Public Practice MD Pryke Notary Public would like to inform all of its clients that on Thursday 26 November 2009, the Legalisation Offices of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office will be closed.  London Notaries practice M D Pryke Notary Public will therefore provide the usual same day legalisation service from Friday 27^th November 2009.  

London Notaries practice owner Matthew Pryke explains “We understand the Legalisation Office is closed for staff training on 26^th November.  This is unfortunate and as a consequence we will not be able to process legalisation requirements for our London Notaries clients until 27^th November 2009.  However from the 27^th November 2009 and onwards my London Notaries practice will continue to provide a same day service for any Apostille and other legalisation requirements.“ 

Matthew’s London Notaries practice provides a complete range of legalisation solutions and legalisation tips for its London Notary clients for further information please refer to the recent legalisation tips article http://www.mdpryke-notary.com/2009/10/notary-public%20legalisation-tips/

For further information about the Legalisation Office, Foreign and Commonwealth Office and a range of options to obtain an Apostille or other legalisation certificates and stamps please contact London Notary Matthew Pryke at his London Notaries practice website http://www.mdpryke-notary.com/.

Matthew Pryke, Notary Public London, provides a complete range of notarisation and legalisation services for his Notary Public Clients. His London Notary Public practice is increasingly asked to provide competitive and fixed fee quotes to address legalisation, including obtaining apostilles.  Often London Notary Clients require a range of notarisation and legalisation services based on the deadline and budget for legalisation.  Often legalistion fees can be greater than the notarisation fees and consequently Matthew Pryke, Notary Public London, has produced a short guide and tips for his Notary Clients when determining legalisation fees. 

Notary Public Legalisation Fees Tip 1:  Consider the cost versus time for a Notary Public practice to deal with the legalisation.  Whilst notarial clients can save fees by dealing with legalisation themselves it can be counter productive if significant time is required to deal with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (for Apostille) or London Consulate. Time is money!

Notary Public Legalisation Fees Tip 2:  Determine an appropriate deadline. A number of London’s Consulates and also the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (for apostilles) offer varying legalisation services which can significantly reduce legalisation fees if clients’ requirements are less pressing. For urgent notarial matters this legalisation option will not be possible.  However a good Notary Public practice should provide such options to you as a way of reducing notarisation and legalisation fees. 

Notary Public Legalisation Fees Tip 3:  Seek courier quotes in advance.  As courier fees charged by London Notary Public practices vary greatly it is always advisable to seek a full and detailed fee quote.  Whilst the fees charged by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (for apostilles) and London Consulates will be fixed the courier fees will vary based on the competitive pricing of the legalisation service offer by the Notary Public London.

Notary Public Legalisation Fees Tip 4:  Legalise a number of documents at the same time.  Legalisation courier fees are likely to be incurred each time a trip is made to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (for apostilles) or a London Consulate.  Therefore cost savings can be enjoyed by dealing with several documents at the same time.  This provides the usual economies of scale as part of the legalisation process.

Notary Public Legalisation Fees Tip 5:  Ensure the document can be legalised.  Often legalisation fees and time can be wasted by taking documents to be legalised either to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (for apostilles) or London Consulates when the documents have not been dealt with, for example, via notarisation, and are therefore rejected.  It is always advisable to seek the advice of a qualified and experienced London Notary Public practice to ensure that all legal and procedural steps have been taken prior to legalisation.

London Notary Public Matthew Pryke would like to remind his notary clients that whilst many areas of the country are currently effected by the Royal Mail industrial dispute MD Pryke Notary Public  continues to provide affordable legalisation solutions to its notary clients.   MD Pryke Notary Public would recommend to all its notary clients that, during this uncertain time, they avoid the postal service offered by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.  London notaries practice MD Pryke Notary Public is able to provide the following legalisation solutions (to obtain Apostilles) which notarial clients can trust.

London Notary Public Legalisation Option 1 – Premium Service

MD Pryke Notary Public offers a same day turn around of notarised documents which are couriered, legalised and returned to clients.  The large majority of notary clients prefer to opted for this legalisation solution as it provides certainty and an efficient service for a slightly increased fee.

London Notary Public Legalisation Option 2 – Hand delivering documents to Norfolk House

MD Pryke Notary Public also offers its notary clients a legalisation service whereby notarised documents are couriered to Norfolk House in Milton Keynes on a daily basis.  Notarial documents will then be dealt with via the “Public Counter” section of the Foreign and Commonwealth Offices legalisation department.  Notary clients are able to receive their notarised documents back legalised within approximately 24 – 48 hours based on when the notarised document is received by London Notaries practice MD Pryke Notary Public.

London Notary Public Legalisation Option 3 – Legalisation via DX

London Notaries Public practice MD Pryke Notary Public also offers notary clients a service whereby documents can be legalised and dealt with within a week without the need to incur additional courier fees.  MD Pryke Notary Public offers a legalisation service whereby notarised documents can be posted via DX and then legalised at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on the same day.  Whilst this process takes a little longer than the premier service and couriering service the cost savings and turn around, in a matter of days, offers a useful and cost efficient legalisation alternative to the London notary clients of MD Pryke Notary Public.

For further details of the legalisation services offered by London Notary Public Matthew Pryke or alternatively to seek a notarisation or legalisation fee quote please visit the website of this London Notaries practice at www.mdpryke-notary.com.

London Notary Public practice MD Pryke Notary Public, based in London’s West End,  would like to provide an update to its notary clients regarding the legalisation service offered by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The Legalisation Department, which issues Apostilles on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office,  has confirmed to this London Notaries practice that all mail received from Notary Publics up to 9^th October has now been opened.  Consequently the Legalisation Department of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has indicated that applications for legalisation received after this date will be open “as soon as possible“.  Many London notaries, including London Notary Matthew Pryke, fear that the industrial action planned by the Royal Mail is likely to delay the postal application legalisation service offered by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.  Consequently London Notary Public Matthew Pryke would like to advise all notary clients to consider using alternative ways in which to achieve legalisation of documents.

Commenting on the impending industrial action London Notary Public Matthew Pryke explained, “Notary clients are understandably concerned as to the potential impact that the Royal Mail industrial action may have on their deadlines to obtain Apostilles from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.  As a cautionary measure I am advising all of my notary clients to consider using alternative means in which to get documents legalised by utilising London Notary Public legalisation services such as the premium service, DX or using London notary practice couriers to legalise documents via the Foreign and Commonwealth offices “Public Counter”“.

London notarial practice MD Pryke Notary Public offers a complete range of affordable legalisation services which will ensure that notarial clients can continue to get documents legalised to suit any time frame and budget. For further details of the legalisation services offered by London Notary Public practice MD Pryke Notary Public please refer to the London notaries website www.mdpryke-notary.com or alternatively telephone 0207 636 4422.

London Notary Public Practice M D Pryke Notary Public is pleased to announce that the Embassy of the Dominican Republic has informed this London Notarial practice that, with immediate effect, all British documents with an valid apostille obtained from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office will be received as valid in the Dominican Republic without any requirement to be further legalised by the Consular of the Dominican Republic Embassy in London.  Notary Public clients should note that the documents will, however, be required to be translated into Spanish with the translation certified by the Dominican Republic Embassy at a cost of between £120 and £200 per document.  Consequently the process for London Notary clients of London Notary Public Practice M D Pryke Notary Public has been made slightly more straight forward.

Commenting on the recent changes London Notary Matthew Pryke explained, “Any removal of additional requirements to legalise a document is likely to be well received by our London Notary clients.  However as the document will still be required to be both legalised by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and also translated and then certified by the Dominican Republic Embassy the process of producing documents to be received in the Dominican Republic is still somewhat more cumbersome than a number of other countries globally.  Consequently we would continue to advise our London Notary Public clients to liaise with our London Notary Practice at the earliest opportunity to ensure deadlines can be meet and unnecessary delays avoided.“ 

For details of the notarial and legalisation services London Notary Public Matthew Pryke provides in relation to legalisation of documents for the Dominican Republic please contact this London Notaries practice at www.mdpryke-notary.com.

London Notary Public Practice, MD Pryke Notary Pubic, would like to inform all of its clients that on Monday 31^st August 2009 (Bank Holiday Monday), the Legalisation Offices of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office will be closed.  London Notary Public practice M D Pryke Notary Public will therefore provide the usual same day legalisation service from Tuesday 1^st September 2009.  In addition London Notary clients should note that with effect from Monday 24^th August 2009 access to the Legalisation Office within Norfolk House will be effected by what the Foreign and Commonwealth Office describe as “minor refurbishment works“.  Notary clients should be confident that these minor refurbishment works will not effect the legalisation service offered by London Notary Public Matthew Pryke and his Notary Public practice based in London’s West End. 

London Notary Public Matthew Pryke explains “with the Legalisation Office closed on 31^st August we will not be able to process any legalisation matters for our London Notary Public clients received after Friday until 1^st September 2009.  However from the 1^st September 2009 and onwards my London Notary Public practice will continue to provide a same day service for any Apostille requirements.“ 

For further information about the Legalisation Office, Foreign and Commonwealth Office and any need to obtain an Apostille or other legalisation requirements please do not hesitate to contact London Notary Public MD Pryke Notary Public at his London Notary Public practice address or via email at matthew@mdpryke-notary.com.

London Notary Public practice M D Pryke Notary Public is pleased to inform all it’s clients that its notaries offices in London’s West End will remain open for business as usual during the current tube strike.  The office hours of this London Notary Public are, as usual, 9:00 – 18:00 Monday to Friday.  The notary services offered by this London Notary Public will include the usual legalisation service including the same day service for the vast majority of matters.

Commenting on the tube strike London Notary Public Matthew Pryke explained, “We are pleased to inform our notary clients that our London Notary practice will continue to deliver business as usual.  Whilst we understand that the tube strike is having an impact on many Londoners I am pleased to say that our London Notary Public practice, including legalisation service, will be unaffected and continue to meet all of our London Notary client’s needs.”

For further information regarding this London Notary Public practice or to seek a quote please refer to the website www.mdpryke-notary.com.