Each country that is a party to the Convention must designate one or several authorities that are entitled to issue Apostilles. These authorities are called Competent Authorities – only they are permitted to issue Apostilles. In the UK the FCO – Foreign and Commonwealth Office
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The list of all Competent Authorities designated by each country that has joined the Apostille Convention is available in the Apostille Section of the Hague Conference website.
Some countries have designated only one Competent Authority. Other countries have designated several Competent Authorities either to ensure that there
are Competent Authorities in different regions of the country or because different government entities are responsible for different kinds of public documents; in some federal systems, the national Government may be responsible for certain types of documents whereas a component state or local government may be responsible for others.
If a country has designated various Competent Authorities, make sure you identify the relevant Competent Authority for your request.
Most Apostilles are issued on the same day they are requested.
The Apostille Section of the Hague Conference website provides full contact details of most Competent Authorities, including links to the websites of Competent Authorities where available.