What is a Driving License?
A driving license is an official document that is issued by the government of a country permitting an individual to drive a specific category of vehicles. In the United Kingdom, a driving license authorises its holder to operate motor vehicles on highways and other public roads. The license is administered in England, Scotland and Wales by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and in Northern Ireland by the Driver & Vehicle Agency (DVA). Apart from authorising a person to drive, this license can be used as an identity proof in non-driving contexts, such as opening a bank account, since it bears a photograph of the holder. The license can also be used as a proof of residence.
A driving license needs to be legalised for it to be recognised as a proof of identity or residence in a foreign country. It is best to complete the driving license documents legalisation process before applying for a work or business visa overseas. The document serves as evidence of the holder’s identity and can be used as photo ID or address ID internationally, after it has been legalised. Legalisation is the process by which the signature, seal or stamp on a public document is authenticated and verified by a designated authority. A certificate to this effect, known as an apostille, is attached to the copy of the driving license.
The process of driving license documents legalisation in the UK involves getting an apostille certification from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). The driving license apostille completes the legalisation process if the document is to be presented in a country which is a signatory to the apostille convention. However, if the driving license is to be presented in a country that is not a signatory to The Hague Apostille Convention of 1961, its legalisation process involves consular legalisation in addition to apostille certification.
Please see the process as below that we follow:
STEP 1
Send Us the
Original Document
STEP 2
We quality check
documents internally
STEP 3
The document is
solicitor certified and then
Apostilled 24 hours.
STEP 4
If required, we take the
document to the required
embassy for legalisation
STEP 5
Documents Returned
Back to you Domestically
or Internationally
Driving License
Legalisation
Processing Time: Please see pricing page
Pricing: Please see pricing page
Please use the dropdown menu’s for your document requirement. The pricing and document type will be generated after pressing the button below. Please note that to complete your order you will need to use the dropdown menus per document order. After the pricing table, you will then be taken to our order page. Following this you will be sent to our upload page to upload the documents which you can also complete later.
Service Inclusions:
- Solicitor Stamp
- FCO Submission and Collection
- Embassy Legalisations
- Precheck of documents
- Free Resubmissions
- Same Day Send Out
Start Legalisation Order
The button above will redirect you to our legalisation order form via our main RLS website. You will be able to select your service, your return address and method and make payment via it.
After making your order, we advise you contact our legalisation consultants by emailing your requirement to: applications@rapid-visas.co.uk.
Conclusion
A driving license is issued by a government allowing the holder to drive specified vehicles on the country’s roads and highways. The driving license documents include a photo of the holder besides personal details and address, and therefore they are often used as identity proof documents. These documents require legalisation before they can be used in a foreign country as a proof of identity.
The process of driving license apostille requires authentication, validation and ratification by a registered solicitor or a notary public before they can be submitted to the FCO. If the documents are to be presented in a country which is not a signatory to the apostille convention, the apostilled documents are required to be submitted for consular legalisation as well.
Legalisations.org.uk can complete the whole process on your behalf, and you do not need to personally visit any government or consular offices. Our services include pre-checking your documents for their format, getting them attested and certified by our in-house solicitor before submitting them to the FCO UK, collecting the apostilled documents and submitting them for consular legalisation. We also ensure the safe return of your documents via courier, once the process of driving license documents legalisation is complete. For any queries regarding the process, send an email to info@legalisations.org.uk. You can also call us at 0845 224 9482.
The Most Common Documents We Legalise
Standard Personal Documents
- Birth, Marriage, Death Certificates
- HMRC letters
- ACPO, ACRO, Police Letters
- No Impediment Certificate
- Court Documents
Corporate Business Documents
- Incorporation Certificate
- Appointment Reports
- Mem & Arts
- Company Letters
- Companies House Certs
- Minutes & Resolutions
Educational Documents
- Degree, Masters, Diploma
- GCSE, CSE, O Level
- Professional Qualifications
- Training Certificates
- Transcripts & Reports
- School Letters
Frequently Asked Questions
Legalisations.org.uk can assist with the entire process of driving license documents legalisation. Our experienced team will pre-check the documents to ensure that they are in the prescribed order and format. Following this, we will submit the documents on your behalf to the FCO for apostille. Our in-house solicitor will carry out the authentication, ratification and verification of the documents before stamping them for submission to the FCO. We will also collect the apostilled documents from the FCO office and send them back to you. If these documents require consular legalisation, our team will submit the apostilled documents to the respective country’s embassy in London.
The process of legalisation of your driving license documents involves the following steps:
1) Contact us with all your requirements. You can send an email to info@legalisations.org.uk or call us on 0845 224 9482.
2) Send us the original documents by courier or drop them personally at our office in London.
3) Our agents will check the documents for their format and other specifications before getting them attested by our in-house solicitor.
4) The next step is to submit the documents to be notarised by a notary public or a registered solicitor to the FCO office for apostille certification.
5) Our staff will collect the apostilled documents from the FCO office and submit them to the concerned embassy for consular legalisation. If the documents are needed for use in a country that is a signatory to the apostille convention, the apostilled documents will be sent back to you.
6) The documents will be returned to you by courier after the completion of the legalisation process.
The apostille is always attached to a photocopy of the driving license with the original remaining untouched.
The cost of getting your driving license apostille includes a service fee of £75.00 charged by the FCO UK. Legalisations.org.uk offers two packages for legalisation services. For the standard package, our service fee is £105.00 (+ VAT). This package commits to complete the whole process in 6 business days. We also offer an express package, wherein the driving license document legalisation is completed in 2 business days and our service fee is £135.00 (+ VAT).
Our service charges are inclusive of the in-house solicitor fee, which means that our solicitor will verify the photocopy of your driving license with the original before stamping it. The documents are then submitted to the FCO. The service fee also includes the cost of embassy legalisation, pre-checking of documents and free resubmissions, if required.
If due to some reason, we are unable to get your driving license apostille, we will refund our service fee.
If you are based within the United Kingdom, you can send the driving license documents to our office via courier or drop them personally. We will return the documents, after the legalisation process is completed, via courier or you can choose to pick them up from our office.
If you are based outside the United Kingdom, you can use the DHL or UPS international delivery services for sending the documents to be legalised to our London office. You are required to send us the original driving license for verifying its photocopy before it can be stamped by our in-house solicitor and submitted to the FCO for apostille certification.
Yes, our services can be accessed from anywhere in the world. You will need to send us your original documents via UPS or DHL international delivery services and our expert team will complete the entire process of driving license documents legalisation on your behalf. Our in-house solicitor will verify the photocopy of your driving license with the original and stamp it before submitting it for FCO apostille.
We request that you send us an email with the scanned copies of the documents as attachments. Sending these documents by email before you courier them will help avoid any confusion or misunderstanding.
We also recommend that you find out whether the country in which you wish to present your driving license is a part of The Hague Apostille Convention. The countries that are signatory to the apostille convention will accept documents with apostille certification, while countries that are not a party to the apostille convention will require consular legalisation of the documents as well.
The process of legalising your driving license involves getting your documents attested by a registered solicitor or notarised by a notary public before submitting them for apostille certification by the FCO. Our in-house solicitor will carry out the attestation, verification and ratification of your driving license documents and we will submit these to the FCO.
The apostille certification by the FCO completes the legalisation process if the document is meant for use in a country that has signed the apostille convention. If the documents are to be presented in a country that is not part of the apostille convention, the apostilled documents need to be submitted for consular legalisation.
Our staff has the required experience to ensure that the entire process of attestation by a solicitor, apostille certification by the FCO and consular legalisation is completed smoothly.
The apostille certification by the FCO UK legalises documents that can be used for official purposes in other countries. The apostille certification authenticates the seals and signatures on the documents to be true and valid. The apostille certificate is attached to the photocopy of your driving license and not the original. Comprising of a raised red embossed seal, the apostille also has a serial number, and the number can be used to validate its authenticity.
The apostille looks like the image below:
The A5 certificate includes the following information:
- The name of the country: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
- The name of person who has signed it
- The capacity in which he has signed it
- Whose seal or stamp it bears
- The place where the certificate has been issued: London
- The date of its issue
- Issued by Her Majesty’s Principal Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
- The Registration number or the Document Identification Number
- The signature of the Issuing Officer
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