Apostille for Ireland

How to get an apostille on Irish and UK documents for use in Ireland?

Docsbase Consular Services with an office in Dublin Ireland and London UK is specialising in legalisation of all types of commercial, vital, government documents from Ireland and the UK for official use in Ireland. We can arrange reissuance of documents in the UK and Ireland, notarisation and apostille legalisation of Irish and UK documents as well as the Embassy legalisation in London and Dublin. We are familiar with the requirements of Irish authorities and can prepare your documents in a way that they will be accepted by the Irish authorities without any further legalisation. Docsbase Translation is our in-house translation department specialising in preparing a certified translation of English documents into Irish appropriately certified for use in Ireland. We also have reliable partners in Dublin that can provide legalisation of Irish documents for use abroad, in particular in the Republic of Ireland and the UK.

APOSTILLE FROM IRELAND

If you need to use Irish documents overseas, for business or personal matters, you may be required to have them authenticated by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. DocsBase Apostille & Consular Legalisation Services specialises in providing Apostille and consular legalisation of Irish documents for use overseas. We are based in Ireland and work directly with most government agencies ( revenue, DFA, dep of health etc ) in terms of reissue, certification, and legalization of Irish documents. We also have our own translation company based in Dublin certifiedtranslations.ie that handles all certified translation work as part of authentication process. We also serve people around the world that want to legalise their local documents for use in Ireland. We provide consular legalisation directly with most foreign embassies. For countries that only have consulates in the UK (UAE, Qatar, etc) we offer the service via our London office.

WHAT IS APOSTILLE, AND HOW DOES LEGALISATION IN IRELAND DIFFER FROM OTHER COUNTRIES?

An Apostille is the fast-track way to have documents legalised, for use between Ireland and other international jurisdictions. The Apostille Certificate is issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs to verify the authenticity of the signature and/or seal of a Notary Public on a legal document. The Apostille applies in lieu of legalisation between all signatory countries of the Hague Convention. The internationally recognised procedure of legalisation certifies the authenticity of official signatures and/or official seal applied to a public document. The legalisation process can be lengthy and complex and requires many forms of validation by officials before it ends up with the signature of the diplomatic or consular representative of the state in which the document is to be produced and acted upon.  Unlike in the UK, where Apostille legalisation is not country-specific, in the Republic of Ireland Apostille can only be done for a specific country.

WHAT DOCUMENTS CAN BE APOSTILLED FOR USE ABROAD, AND WHAT ARE THE MOST COMMON DOCUMENTS FOR APOSTILLE LEGALISATION FOR USE IN IRELAND?

DocsBase Apostille & Consular Legalisation Services handle Notarial work, Apostille (MOFA legalisations) and Consular legalisations for use in Ireland. Documents that can be legalised through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ireland include: Government documents such as passports, Visas and naturalisation certificates, Civil documents – birth, marriage and death certificates, divorce decrees and adoption papers, powers of attorney, property deeds, incorporation papers, contracts, corporate legal documents, affidavits, government identification cards, employment certificates, and education transcripts, diplomas, and degrees. If you require a certified translation of documents, our translation company – certifiedtranslations.ie  – can speed up the procedure of legalising the documents. Our visa company – visaworld.ie  – also legalise a lot of documents as part of the visa application process for clients. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade can only authenticate documents executed in Ireland for use in other countries. All documents must originate from Ireland or show an Irish connection.  The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade reserves the right to refuse authentication of any documents that are deemed not to have an appropriate Irish link. All documents to be authenticated must bear a valid signature, seal or stamp from an Irish practicing public official or organisation.

CONSULAR LEGALISATION OF DOCUMENTS IN EMBASSIES IN IRELAND

Consular legalisation is generally done for documents already apostilled by MOFA of Ireland, for use in Gulf, Asian and African countries. These countries require documents to be submitted to their local embassies/consulates for the second layer of legalisation – known as consular legalisation. After verification and preliminary certification by a Public Notary, the documents are Apostille stamped. An embassy certification stamp will also be added so that the document can be freely used in the particular country. This is a complex procedure, as every embassy or consulate has its own prescribed way of handling documents. Consular legalisation must be done in person, and often requires cash payment and the filling of applications forms.  DocsBase Apostille & Consular Legalisation Services agents in Ireland can save you time, and simplify the entire process of legalising official documents on your behalf.

LEGALISING VITAL RECORDS FOR UK

Due to Brexit, a lot of UK clients (especially those from NI) are seeking Irish citizenship, and therefore have to legalise all their vital records. The EU Regulation on Public Documents entered into force on 16 February 2019. As a result, within the EU, some public documents no longer require legalisation and Apostille. This exemption applies only to public documents issued by the authorities of a Member State that are presented to the authorities of another Member State.  These reduced requirements apply to Civil documents such as birth, death, marriage, and civil partnership certificates that have been issued in Ireland by the General Register Office, and to the Certificate of Freedom to Marry issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. These documents can be presented to public authorities in another Member State without further verification. In our Dublin and London offices, DocsBase Apostille & Consular Legalisation Services experts will simplify the process of legalising your Vital Records and handle your requirements from start to finish. We can assist you whether you have an Irish business in the UK, or a British business in Ireland, that requires legalisations of Irish CRO (company registration office) and Irish Revenue, and Educational documents from Ireland for the UK and Europe. We also have an in-house Notary that can prepare POAs, and Letters of Consent from Ireland. As agents for a lot of government bodies, we can deal with the issue of Criminal Records from Ireland, and legalisation of reissued Birth Certificates, Marriage Certificates, etc. Once your documents have been legalised, they will be promptly returned to you by post or courier service.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF USING AGENTS IN IRELAND?

Although our specialist team of Apostille and legalisation experts is based in Ireland and the UK, we can be commissioned to meet your legalising needs and deadlines, no matter where you are in the world.  Not every solicitor/notary has experience of how to deal with a particular Embassy or is registered with them. DocsBase Apostille & Consular Legalisation Services work within different jurisdictions and monitor all changes in legal requirements to ensure information is are always up to date. We use approved supporting certification providers (notaries, certified translators, government officials) that are accepted by the embassy or consulate. As well as our Dublin and London offices, we have offices in all major jurisdictions: USA (Washington), Switzerland  (Zurich), and UAE (Dubai). As most Irish-based embassies only do consular legalisation in London, we offer this directly via our London office for Irish customers and can save you time and money with the processing fees. We do not waste time in handling your documents. Legalisation generally takes around one week to complete.  As we are approved FCO agents, we can provide same-day service at an additional charge. Contact us today for a personalised quote.