Start with the authority that will receive the document

A request to use a company document abroad does not, by itself, establish that the document needs an apostille or any other form of legalisation. The receiving bank, registry, court, regulator, professional adviser, counterparty or public authority may set its own requirements. Those requirements can depend on the transaction as well as the destination country.

Before selecting a service, establish as much as possible about:

• who will receive and rely on the document;
• why the document is required;
• the country or territory in which it will be used;
• whether the recipient requires an original, copy or certified copy;
• whether paper or electronic form is acceptable;
• whether a signature, seal, professional certificate, notarial act or translation is specified; and
• whether the recipient has supplied written instructions, sample wording or a checklist.

You do not need to decide the legalisation route before contacting Coddan. Send the facts and any instructions you have. If part of the requirement is not known, say so. The purpose of the enquiry is to determine the route, not to test whether you already understand it.

How the documentary route is determined

The same document can require different treatment in different circumstances. A certificate of incorporation requested by a foreign bank may need to be issued, certified or authenticated in a particular form. The same certificate requested informally by a commercial counterparty may be accepted without those steps. A power of attorney may raise questions about execution and the signatory's authority that do not arise with a document issued by Companies House.

The route is determined through six connected stages.

1. 1Identify the document and its source. We establish the exact document, whether it already exists and whether its authoritative source is Companies House, the company itself, another authority or a private signatory.
2. 2Establish the destination and purpose. You tell us who will receive the document, where it will be used and what it is intended to achieve. Written instructions from the recipient are particularly useful, but “not known” is an acceptable answer where a point remains unclear.
3. 3Check the recipient's current requirements. The applicable route is tested against the recipient's instructions and the current framework for the destination. Where an essential requirement is unclear, the point requiring confirmation is identified rather than guessed.
4. 4Confirm the acceptable form and readiness. We distinguish originals, ordinary copies, certified copies, paper documents, electronic documents and translations, and consider whether the document and its underlying records are accurate, current and properly authorised.
5. 5Determine the shortest appropriate route. The result may be no additional treatment, one specialist service, preliminary corporate or records work, or a confirmed sequence of several stages. Only stages supported by the requirement should be included.
6. 6Direct or coordinate implementation. When only one treatment is required, continue with the relevant specialist service. A confirmed multi-stage instruction may proceed to the complete managed service using only the functions confirmed for the instruction. Independent professionals and public authorities retain control of their own acts and decisions.

You provide the facts, available documents and recipient instructions. Coddan determines the route within the agreed scope. Independent professionals and public authorities perform and decide their own parts of the process, and the receiving authority decides whether the completed document satisfies its requirement.

This order matters. Beginning with an instrument such as an apostille can produce the wrong document in the wrong form, or add a stage that the recipient never requested.

Identify the document and its authoritative source

The name used in an overseas request may not identify the source or legal character of the document. Establishing the source helps distinguish what can be obtained from Companies House from what must come from the company, a professional or another authority.

Confirm who will rely on the document and why

The recipient and purpose determine which features matter. A foreign corporate registry may prescribe formal wording and a chain of authentication. A court may require a particular evidential form. A bank may ask for recent evidence of company status, officeholders or authority. A counterparty may accept a certified copy without any government legalisation.

Coddan does not decide foreign law or the legal effect of a transaction. Where a receiving authority or foreign adviser has issued requirements, those instructions should be obtained in writing and used as the operational starting point. Where the requirement is unclear, Coddan can identify the point that needs confirmation rather than assume the most elaborate route.

If the issue concerns the legal validity of a transaction, disputed authority, litigation, property rights or foreign-law interpretation, advice from an appropriately qualified legal professional may be required before documentary treatment continues.

Check the destination and the current documentary framework

Destination-country rules are not safely reduced to a permanent list. Requirements can differ by recipient, document type, use and current administrative practice.

For a destination connected with the Hague Apostille Convention, an apostille may replace further diplomatic or consular authentication for a document within the Convention's scope. That does not mean every document is eligible, every recipient accepts every paper or electronic form, or an apostille is required in every case.

For another destination, or where the recipient applies an additional procedure, embassy or consular legalisation may be required after a UK stage, instead of an apostille, or through another sequence. Consular legalisation is not universally required after an apostille.

Some commercial or export documents may involve a chamber of commerce or another scheme. Chamber processing should be considered only where the particular document and transaction fall within a current applicable procedure. It is not a general substitute for certification of company records.

Current written instructions should be checked before a route is quoted or performed. No legalisation process can guarantee that a receiving authority will accept a document if its requirements change or if the document does not satisfy the underlying transaction.

Establish the form the recipient will accept

The correct document in the wrong form may still be unusable. Route determination should establish the following before work begins.

Make sure the document is ready before it is authenticated

Authentication should not be used to cover a problem in the document or the underlying records. Before selecting the route, consider whether the document is current, accurate, complete, properly authorised and suitable for the intended purpose.

What determines the fee and timing

The work cannot be priced responsibly until the route is known. The quotation should distinguish Coddan's professional work from any Companies House, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, notary, solicitor, translator, embassy, consular, chamber, postage or courier charge that applies. It should also state how Value Added Tax, urgent work, exceptional evidence, rejection, amendment or resubmission will be treated where relevant.

A single, repeatable service may later support a fixed price once its current costs and operating method have been verified. A route involving several authorities, destination-specific requirements, unusual records or uncertain document readiness may require an individual quotation. No external fee, urgent option or third-party stage should be treated as included unless the written scope says so.

Action: Obtain the documentary decision first. The relevant service or written scope will identify the applicable work and verified charges.

Who controls each part of the route

Clear responsibility matters when several organisations handle the same document.

• Companies House maintains the public register and issues the certified documents and company certificates available through its procedures.
• A notary or solicitor performs the professional act within the individual's authority and professional rules.
• The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office decides whether a document or signature is eligible and issues a paper or electronic apostille through the applicable service.
• An embassy, consulate or chamber applies its own current documentary and procedural requirements.
• A translator prepares the translation and any required declaration or certification within the translator's qualifications.
• A courier or postal provider carries the document under its own service terms.
• The receiving authority decides whether the completed document satisfies its requirement.
• Coddan determines the documentary route within the agreed scope, orders official certified products directly from Companies House, provides notarisation through its in-house and associated notaries, arranges certified translations through certified translators, and prepares and coordinates apostille and embassy or consular legalisation where required. Each professional or authority retains control of its own act and decision.

No intermediary can guarantee another institution's processing decision, timing or final acceptance. Where the recipient changes its instructions, the route may need to be reconsidered.

When another company service must come first

Sometimes the document request reveals an underlying corporate issue that must be dealt with before certification or legalisation.

• A company or company limited by guarantee that has not yet been incorporated may first need the appropriate formation route and properly prepared constitutional documents.
• An overseas organisation establishing a UK presence may need its organisational and registration route determined before documentary evidence is prepared for foreign use.
• A company name change must be completed and reflected in the relevant records before evidence of the new name is relied upon.
• Overdue or inaccurate confirmation-statement information may require annual-compliance work before current company facts are requested.
• Registered-office or single alternative inspection location information may need to be updated through the appropriate address service.
• Director and person-with-significant-control identity-verification obligations remain a separate compliance matter.
• Incomplete or inconsistent statutory registers may require reconstruction and reconciliation before internal evidence is prepared.
• Articles, objects, resolutions or authority documents may require separate governance work before they can be used.
• A dissolved company may require administrative restoration or restoration by court order before it can take a new corporate action.
• A company approaching dissolution may require strike-off or continuing-compliance advice rather than documentary authentication.
• An inaccurate public filing may require an ordinary update, RP01 replacement, a verified RP04 route or another register procedure before a certified document is requested.

This service identifies these dependencies and directs you to the appropriate formation, governance, correction, identity-verification, restoration or dissolution service. It does not treat those separate matters as certification work.

Choose the next step that matches your position

If you know the precise route, continue directly to the relevant specialist service. If the receiving authority has given you a multi-stage requirement, use the complete managed service so that the proposed scope can be confirmed. If the requirement remains uncertain, send a route-determination enquiry with the document and recipient information you already have.

The correct outcome may also be that the existing document is sufficient and no additional treatment is required. The purpose of this entrance is to identify the appropriate documentary destination, not to add unnecessary stages.