Power of Attorney Apostille in London

One central desk issues every Power of Attorney apostille in London, by post for £45 or next day for £40 if you are a registered business.

Power of Attorney Apostille

Hague Member

Document type Power of Attorney

Competent authority The Legalisation Office (Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office)

Standard turnaround Up to 25 working days, plus postage

Express turnaround Next working day (registered businesses only)

Information validated 4 August 2026

Complete Guide

Getting a signed deed stamped in London

What the FCDO stamps on a deed, what it costs, and where these papers go wrong.

In this guide

Apostilling a Power of Attorney from London
What has to be on the deed first
Cost and turnaround
Where these deeds get used
Translation and wording

Apostilling a Power of Attorney from London

A power of attorney is a private deed. You write it, you sign it, and someone abroad relies on it. The London office does not read the wording or judge whether the powers are sound. It checks the signature or seal on the page, and that is the whole of what the stamp says about your deed.

To apostille a Power of Attorney in London you send the signed deed to one central desk. There is no local counter to visit. The Legalisation Office (Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office) handles every request for the whole country, by post or through its next-day route for registered businesses.

What has to be on the deed first

Signing is the step people ask about most, and it turns on who issues the deed and on what the reader abroad will accept. Treat the signing route as part of the instructions that came with the paper rather than a fixed rule. The office wants a signature or seal it can match against records it already holds.

That is the short answer to how to apostille a Power of Attorney: get the signature into a form the office can check, then send the deed in. A deed whose signature was witnessed in a form the office already knows will clear that bar without any extra work on your side.

Cost and turnaround

The apostille cost for a Power of Attorney in London is £45 for each paper by post. A registered business can use the next-day route at £40 for each paper. Those are the office charges and nothing else. Post sits on top at both ends, so leave room in your plan and send early rather than late.

Where these deeds get used

Most of these deeds travel so somebody can act for you on a house sale, a bank account or a court file while you stay here. The stamp travels with the deed. You can apostille a Power of Attorney in the United Kingdom only through that one desk, wherever in the country you happened to sign it.

Translation and wording

The stamp goes on the deed, not on a translation of it. Where the receiving side works in another language, the translated text rides alongside the original rather than replacing it. The older phrase legalisation of a Power of Attorney in London still appears on some forms, and for a Convention member the apostille is all of it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Power of Attorney apostille FAQ

What does a Power of Attorney apostille in London cost?

It is £45 a paper through the post. Registered businesses get a next-day option at £40 a paper. That covers the stamp alone — your postage and any translation sit outside it. Sending several deeds in one envelope does not cut the price, because the charge attaches to each paper rather than to the parcel.

Does the office check what powers I granted?

No. It looks at the signing, not the substance. The wording, the powers you hand over and how long they run are yours to get right before you send it. If the powers are wrong, a perfect stamp will not help you — the deed still says what it says, and the reader abroad goes by the deed.

Do I need a notary first?

There is no single answer that fits every deed. It depends on who draws the paper up and on what the office overseas expects, and neither of those is settled here. Go by whatever the person asking for the deed told you to do. The desk in London looks only at whether the name on the page is one it can trace.

Can I use an e-Apostille?

UK e-Apostilles are available, and they come from the same central desk. The choice does not change the fee bands or what the office looks at. It changes how the result reaches you. Whether the side abroad will take an electronic file is a matter for them, and plenty still want paper in hand before they act.

Is a copy enough?

Not on its own. The office works from the signed deed itself, because it is matching a real signature or seal. A copy you ran off at home carries nothing it can trace. If you need more than one stamped deed, sign more than one original at the start, then send them in together and pay for each.

How It Works

Four steps to your power of attorney apostille

No office visits. We handle your London power of attorney remotely with real-time tracking.

Prepare your document

Obtain the original document (or a certified copy) you need to use abroad, and check whether it must be notarised first.

Confirm the requirements

Verify the document is eligible for an apostille.

Submit to The Legalisation Office

The apostille is issued by The Legalisation Office, the competent authority. The government fee is £45 / document (standard postal); £40 / document next-day (registered businesses).

Receive your apostille

The authority attaches the apostille certificate, making the document valid abroad with no further embassy legalisation.

Where to go

Where London documents are certified and apostilled

These are two different offices doing two different jobs. The local register office issues the certified copy of a London birth, marriage or death record — check its current appointment rules before going. The apostille itself comes from the FCDO Legalisation Office, the UK's single competent authority, which accepts documents by post rather than in person.

Westminster Register Office

Certified copies of civil records (birth, marriage, death)

317 Harrow Road, London W9 3RJ

Directions →

FCDO Legalisation Office

Issues the apostille — UK-wide, by post

PO Box 6255, Milton Keynes MK10 1XX

Directions →

Document Types