Legalisation4you

UK FCDO-listed next-day apostille provider
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China · apostille only (Hague)

China Apostille: Get Your UK Documents Ready for China

Moving to China, starting a job, or joining family there? Since China joined the Hague Convention, a single UK apostille is usually all your documents need; no extra embassy stamp required. We’ll confirm your route, get the apostille through the UK Legalisation Office, and send your paperwork back safely, ready for visas, work, study or business in China.
  • We check your route before we start
  • Your document comes back to you, fully sorted
  • No guessing - you'll hear from us at every turn
  • Your apostille is included, start to finish

£95

Starting from

Next day

Priority turnaround

Tracked

Secure return delivery

Order online
China Apostille
£95.00
Starting from · per document
  • FCDO apostille obtained for you
  • 3 working-day turnaround
  • Return delivery included
  • Route checked before processing
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  • Secure & confidential
+44 20 8004 8838
  • Officially registered

A Team the FCDO Recognises, Handling Your Apostille

Legalisation4You is based in London and registered with the UK Legalisation Office. That means we can use the FCDO’s premium next-day service and skip the delays that come with posting documents off yourself. Our team hand-delivers to the FCDO every working day; that’s true whether you need a simple apostille or the full Chinese embassy document authentication UK businesses often require, since everything stays in-house and your paperwork is never passed to a third party.

Daily hand delivery

to the FCDO

UK Legalisation Office

registered agent

Premium next-day

access

Learn more about our FCDO registration ⟶

FCDO registered

Registered with the UK Legalisation Office

Daily service

We visit the FCDO every working day

Secure & confidential

Handled with the highest care

UK-based team

Real experts, Mon–Fri 8am to 5pm

Proven experience

Thousands of UK documents every year

The basics, explained

What Exactly Is a
China Apostille?

An apostille is an official certificate the UK Legalisation Office (FCDO) attaches to your document. It confirms the signature, seal or stamp on your paper is genuine, nothing more, nothing less. Since the china uk agreement under the Hague Convention took effect, Chinese authorities now accept a UK apostille on its own, without a separate embassy stage.
You’ll usually need this for degree certificates, birth certificates, police checks, powers of attorney and business paperwork. Once it’s apostilled, your document is signed, stamped and recognised for use overseas, ready for visas, university admissions, marriage registration or setting up a business in China.

Good to know

An apostille is accepted in Hague Convention countries. Some destinations also need embassy attestation afterwards — we'll tell you if yours does.

UK FCDO apostille certificate

How it works

01Your UK
document → 02FCDO
apostille → 03Used
overseas
Signature, seal or stamp checked Apostille attached to your document Recognised for overseas use

FCDO apostille • UK documents • Overseas use

Our process

Simple Steps, Sorted Before We Start

Getting a document legalised shouldn’t feel complicated. Four clear steps take you from order to the return of your apostilled paperwork, no jargon, no guesswork, and nothing starts until your route is fully confirmed.

Need your document back fast?

Our Express Apostille is processed the next working day and it's eligible, so you're not left waiting.

View Express Apostille

We confirm eligibility before you order. →

  • YOU START
  • 1

Order online

Place your order and tell us your document type and destination country. It takes a couple of minutes.

  • WE HANDLE IT
  • 2

We check your route

Our UK team confirms the correct route and whether any certification is needed — before any work begins.

  • 3

FCDO apostille

We hand-deliver your document to the Legalisation Office and obtain the apostille, keeping you updated.

  • DONE
  • 4

Returned securely

Your apostilled document comes back to you by tracked delivery — embassy attestation arranged too, if required.

Document guide

UK Documents We Prepare for China, Every Week

We apostille and legalise a wide range of UK paperwork for people and businesses heading to China, from an apostille China birth certificate to marriage certificates, degree certificates and certificates of good standing. Some documents go straight to apostille; others need solicitor or notary certification first, which we’ll confirm before you submit anything.

Government-issued originals

Birth Certificate

Marriage Certificate

Death Certificate

ACRO Police Certificate

Criminal Record Check

DBS Certificate

Criminal Record Check

Other personal & official

Divorce documents

Name change

Court documents

HMRC letters

Companies House

Certification may apply first

Academic documents

Degrees

Diplomas

Transcripts

University letters

Certification may apply first

Business & corporate

Incorporation

Board resolutions

Invoices

Contracts

Route depends on format

Legal documents

Power of attorney

Affidavits

Declarations

Agreements

Notary certification first

Medical & financial

Medical consent form

Immunisation record

Financial guarantee

Sponsorship letter

Bank statements

Certification usually first

Browse all UK documents

Choose a category to see the documents we regularly legalise.

Power of Attorney (Personal) Affidavit / Statutory Declaration Parental Consent Letter Financial Guarantee / Sponsorship Letter of Authorisation Invitation Letter No Objection Certificate (NOC) Medical Consent Form Declaration for Property / Inheritance Adoption Declaration / Agreement Children Consent Forms
View the full A–Z document list

Can't see your document?

Almost any UK document can be legalised. Tell us what you have and we'll confirm the correct route — before you pay.

Ask an expert Route confirmed before processing
  • Extra steps, handled for you

Some Documents Need Chinese Embassy Legalisation Too

Most UK documents for China only need the apostille now, but a handful of cases, especially certain business or legal papers, may still call for Chinese Embassy document attestation after the FCDO stage. If that applies to you, we’ll arrange every step and confirm the full route, including any notary or solicitor certification, before we start work.

Before the apostille

Government-issued originals No certification — straight to apostille
OR
Solicitor certification Passport & ID copies · certified copies · academic documents
Notary certification Powers of attorney · affidavits · declarations · agreements

UK legalisation

Required UK stage

FCDO apostille

The UK Legalisation Office authenticates the signature, seal or stamp.

Destination
dependent

After the apostille

Only where required

Embassy attestation

Some non-Hague destinations require an embassy or consular stage after the apostille.

Government-issued originals often go straight to the apostille. Solicitor and notary are alternative certification routes — most documents do not need both.

Common attestation destinations

Requirements depend on the country, document and receiving authority — we confirm before processing.

UAE Embassy

Qatar Embassy

Chinese Embassy

Malaysia

Kuwait

Jordan

Bahrain

Oman

Iraq

Yemen

View embassy attestation services
Destination checked before processing
Customer reviews

Trusted by Individuals, Law Firms and Businesses

Real feedback from customers who’ve used our UK legalisation services, including Chinese attestation for company documents, degree certificates and personal paperwork bound for China.

Rated 5.0

100+ Google reviews

1,000s

Documents every year

Handled for overseas use

15+

Embassy destinations

Attestation supported

Mon–Fri

UK support

Real people, before & after you order
Standard Apostille FAQs

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers to the questions we hear most. For anything else, we’re a phone call away.

Still unsure?

Tell us your document and destination — we'll confirm the route.

Ask an expert →
How long does the Standard Apostille take?
Standard Apostille turnaround is 3 working days from when we receive your document. Need it sooner? Our Express Apostille can turn eligible documents around the next working day, just ask when you order.
The £95 covers your FCDO apostille, tracked return delivery, and a route check before we start. There are no hidden extras. If certification is needed first, we’ll tell you the cost upfront.
A Standard Apostille is the FCDO’s regular-speed certificate confirming a signature, seal or stamp on your document is genuine. It’s processed within our usual 3 working-day turnaround, as opposed to the next-day Express option.
Yes. Once apostilled, your document is recognised in China and any other Hague Convention country, without needing a separate embassy stamp. We’ll confirm this applies to your specific destination before we begin.
In most cases, yes, Chinese authorities generally require the original, not a copy. We’ll tell you exactly what’s needed for your document type when you order, so nothing gets held up.
Sometimes, but the copy usually needs certification by a solicitor first before it can be apostilled. We’ll check what’s required for your document and arrange the certification if needed.
Good question, and honestly, it depends on what you’re apostilling. If you’ve got an original document that came straight from a government body (think birth certificates, marriage certificates, that sort of thing), you can usually go straight to the apostille without any extra steps. But if it’s something like a power of attorney or a business agreement, that’ll normally need to be signed off by a notary or solicitor first. If you’re not sure which camp your document falls into, just ask us; happy to check.
Most of the time, yes, these need a bit of prep first. Universities and employers in China are often pretty strict about this, so degree certificates and transcripts usually need solicitor certification before they can be apostilled. But don’t stress about figuring this out yourself; we’ll take a look at your specific document and let you know exactly what’s needed before anything gets started.
Yep, these almost always need certifying first too, either by a notary or a solicitor, before the apostille goes on. The nice part? You don’t have to sort any of that separately; it’s already built into how we handle your order. Just send it over, and we’ll take it from there.
If you’re sending a document somewhere outside the Hague Convention, it’ll usually need Chinese document attestation or another embassy stage after the apostille, not the apostille alone. We’ll confirm the full route and handle both stages for you.
Yes. Documents in other languages can be apostilled, though some destinations ask for a certified translation too. Let us know your document’s language, and we’ll confirm what’s needed.
Some digital documents are eligible for an e-Apostille, delivered by email once approved. Not every document type qualifies, so we’ll check suitability for yours before you order.
Generally, yes, an apostille itself doesn’t expire. That said, some receiving authorities in China only accept documents issued within the last few months, so it’s worth checking their specific requirements.
It can happen if a document isn’t eligible, is incomplete, or needs certification it doesn’t have yet. That’s why we check your route before any work starts, to catch issues early.
Yes, we regularly process multiple documents in one order, for individuals, families and businesses alike. Just list everything you need when you order, and we’ll confirm timing and cost together.
Absolutely, this comes up a lot. Tell us what the document is for and where it’s going, and our team will confirm the right route before you pay anything.
Need something different?

Looking for Full China Attestation Instead?

Compare our faster, digital and certification options if a straightforward apostille isn’t quite what your document needs.
View all services

For urgent deadlines

Express Apostille

Next-working-day apostille where eligible and received by the cut-off time.
  • Eligibility confirmed first
  • Paper documents
From£95per document
View Express →

For eligible digital documents

E-Apostille

Electronic apostille delivered by email for eligible digital documents. No paper original needed.
  • Suitability checked first
  • Delivered by email
From£150per document
View Express →

Before the apostille

Solicitor Certification

For copies and ID documents that need certification before the apostille.
  • Arranged with your order
  • Only where required
From£20per document
View Express →
WHAT SETS US APART

The Team Behind Every China Apostille

No call centres, no handoffs to strangers. The same UK-based team checks your route, handles your Chinese embassy document legalisation, and stays with your document until it’s back in your hands.

Trust built into every stage

Route checked

We confirm exactly what your document and destination require before any work begins.

Service prepared

We coordinate certification, notary, apostille, translation and embassy attestation where required.

Authorities handled

Our team submits to the right authorities and manages every step.

Updates sent

We keep you informed at every stage, so you always know what is happening and when.

Tracked return

Your documents are returned securely by tracked delivery.

Google Reviews

Correct from the start

We confirm your document and destination route before work begins, then coordinate certification, notary, apostille, translation and embassy attestation where required.

NO GUESSWORK

Real people. Clear updates.

Speak to our UK-based team Monday to Friday. We keep you informed at every stage. so you always know what is happening and when.

UK-BASED SUPPORT

Secure handling. Wider expertise.

Your documents are handled securely and confidentially, with support available for more than 15 embassy destinations.

SECURE & CONFIDENTIAL

Google Reviews

5.0 out of 5-based on 100+ reviews on Google

Checked before processing

We confirm the correct route first

Updates throughout

We keep you informed at every step

Returned securely

Your documents returned by tracked delivery

Let's Get Your Documents Moving

Tell us where your document is headed, and we’ll confirm the right route before a single step begins, so your China embassy document authentication goes smoothly, with no surprises along the way.
Order online
Ask an expert
Or call +44 20 8004 8838