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[reddevil79]

I remember about eight years ago there were quite a few solicitors (or notary public) around the central London area who would quickly certify COPIES of documents without an appointment for under ten pounds. Although the apostille procedure has changed a little in the UK since then, you still have the option of getting documents certified by a solicitor/notary public and sending them off to the FCO.


Does anyone know of any solicitors/notary public offices around central London that still provide a walk-in service? I'm not referring to the multitude of legal firms who offer 'apostille packages' for around 150-200 pounds

[Dedicated]

reddevil79,

Check out Kober-Smith and Associates, 6 Carlos Place, London W1K 3AP

OR

Neil Biggs at www.biggsnotarial.co.uk who is based at South Hill Park, London NW3.

I have used both of these in the past as a walk-in and only paid about 20 GB pounds for 5 documents. You might need to check today's prices.

[HLJHLJ]

Let us know how you get on. People sometimes ask about notaries in the UK.

[reddevil79]

Thanks for the recommendations Dedicated.

So, after contacting various solicitors and notaries, I ended up in a small town in Surrey near to where I live. I was charged a whopping 96 pounds with VAT, and most places I contacted quoted a price of 80 pounds plus VAT, so I think this is pretty standard now.

The notary copied my Master’s degree, and placed another sheet of paper on top of this with a red notary’s seal. This sheet of paper stated that the copy was a true copy of the original and that the Master’s degree was genuine. He actually called up the university to check my details.

This episode makes me wonder whether the days of just walking into an office and putting a stamp on a photocopy are gone. The notary at the above place said that the whole system has been tightened up in the past few years as forging certificates has become a real problem.

I have sent off my documents to the Foreign Office (now in Milton Keynes, only receive documents by post):

https://www.gov.uk/legalisation-document-checker/y/degree-certificate-uk

Fingers crossed I get the documents back soon with the apostille.

I get the feeling that I may have been able to find an office somewhere in London that would have provided what I was looking for a tenner, but it would have meant a lot of walking around and time is against me.

I wonder if anyone else has done this process recently and had a different experience.