Apostille vs. Embassy legalisation for Iran
Plenty of countries take the FCDO Legalisation Office's mark as final proof and nothing more is asked. Iran is not among them. A power of attorney, a marriage record or any other UK paper headed there faces a further review once Milton Keynes has done its part, so the mark by itself will not close the matter. That extra layer is what document legalisation for Iran genuinely means, and it pays to plan for it early rather than assume one stamp is the whole answer.
None of this alters how Glasgow's end of the work runs. The same paper travels to the same office for the same cost as any other UK request. What sets an Iran-bound file apart shows up after it comes back stamped: a second review still stands between that page and its use over there.
Iran's Hague status & what it means
The United Kingdom has sat inside the Hague Convention since 1965, so a single UK mark usually finishes the job wherever the receiving state also belongs to it. Iran sits outside that circle, and that is exactly why one stamp is not the end of this route. A member state asks for nothing further once its mark lands; here, a separate call by Iran's own people still comes after it.
This split is the whole reason a Glasgow to Iran page reads differently from one aimed at a Hague member. An apostille issued in Glasgow for use in Iran runs through the same opening desk, at the same fee, as any other UK paper — treating that mark as the finish, though, is the surest way to have the paper sent back for the missing second step.
The Glasgow → Iran route step by step
Begin with the document. For a Scottish birth, marriage or death entry, Glasgow Registration Office at 45 John Street, Glasgow G1 1JE can print a fresh certified copy, so your one original never has to risk a trip through the post.
That copy, or any other UK paper carrying a genuine signature, then goes to the FCDO Legalisation Office at PO Box 6255, Milton Keynes MK10 1XX. There is no counter to visit; every part of this runs by post. Clerks confirm the seal, fix the mark, and send the bundle straight back.
Once that page returns, it still has to reach the receiving side's own mission in the UK for a further review before it counts as usable there. That call falls outside the FCDO's own fee and timing figures, since a separate authority handles it under rules of its own.
Cost & timing for this route
Milton Keynes asks £45 per paper on the standard route. A registered business can send the same paper next-day instead for £40, cheaper as well as quicker — worth flagging since this leg of the job is identical no matter which country a paper is headed for.
Standard turnaround for that leg runs up to 25 working days, plus postage in each direction, so build that into plans tied to a date in Iran. Registered businesses can shrink that to the next working day. Whatever the receiving side does after that runs on its own separate clock entirely, so it pays to start well before the UK figures alone would suggest.
Destination-specific requirements
What you need for an apostille for Iran starts out the same as any UK paper: a genuine document, a real signature or seal on it, and the standard fee for that opening stage. From there the path forks, since the receiving side still runs a review of its own before anything counts as settled.
Hold the certified page and any later paperwork together as one bundle once both halves are complete, since a reader on the far end will expect the full chain rather than the FCDO mark alone. Where the paper is not written in English, a translation may need to travel with it, arranged separately from the certificate stage.