Job Discussion Forums

dackinator · Joined: 17 Sep 2010 Posts: 105

Hi there, can anyone explain to me what it means to have a "notorized" celta? And how to I go about getting an "apostille" put on it?

A school i am speaking to wants both of these things, im not really sure what either is, since i just have the basic celta certificate. I've never been asked before.

MotherF · Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2010 3:40 pm Post subject:

Is this school in Mexico? We have a lot of threads on this topic over in the Mexico sub forum you could start here. IMPORTANT APOSTILLE INFORMATION

dackinator · Joined: 17 Sep 2010 Posts: 105

It is in Ukraine. I was under the impression as a uk citizen i didnt need a visa.

Stephen Jones · Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124

Otterman Ollie · Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2010 1:05 pm Post subject:

So does this mean a largee hole exists where dodgy documents can be certified as the real deal, then?

naturegirl321 · Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 9041 Location: home sweet home

HLJHLJ · Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 1218 Location: Ecuador

We had to get our degree certifcates notarised and apostilled as well. The only useful thing is that the FCO will apostille notarised copies, as well as originals, so at least you can have a duplicate. It's better to use a copy anyway because they stamp and write all over the certificate, which makes it look scruffy.

The going rate in North East England was 10-15GBP per document for the notary (we had so many to do it was cheaper to pay by the hour), and there were only 3 notaries within an hour's travel of us.

Then the FCO charge 28.80GBP apostille fee per document, plus postage, unless you go down to Milton Keynes in person to do it, which will save the 6GBP postage fee. If you use an agency to have it done in person in London, it's 71.00GBP per doc, Shocked

plus the agency's fees on top.

I suspect the above figures are the reason why neither the FCO or the notaries are keen to draw attention to the pointlessness of it all.

Anyway dackinator, the sites you need are
Notary Society http://www.thenotariessociety.org.uk/find_a_notary.asp to find a notary

and the FCO http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/about-us/what-we-do/services-we-deliver/legal-services/legalisation/

The notary will want to see ID as well, probably your passport, and may ask for additional evidence that the certificate is yours, if it is a recent qualification. In theory they can ask for it for older qualifications, but they rarely do. Who's going to have a course receipt or enrollment confirmation from a course they did 10+ yers ago.

dackinator · Joined: 17 Sep 2010 Posts: 105

So getting it notarised certifies that it is geniune... but no checks are done, so it's a solicitor saying "i have seen this document" and thats it.

Is it possible just to get the original certificate apostilled?[/i]

HLJHLJ · Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 1218 Location: Ecuador

It's the notary that takes responsibility for the authenticity of the document, all the apostille says is that the person who notarised it is authorised to do so. So the FCO won't give you the apostille without it having been notarised first.

There are some docs they will apostille without being notarised, birth certificates, police checks, etc. But they have all already been certified by someone else. The FCO are very careful not to be left with the responsibility for authenticity.

Just be grateful your employer isn't insisting on a (notarised and apostilled) translation as well!

EDIT also if you are getting a copy notarised, make sure it is double sided if the original is (I can't remember if the CELTA certificate is). The notary will want to see the original as well as the copy.