Name the recipient
Identify the overseas registry, tax authority, regulator, licensing body, public authority or professional intermediary.


Documents for overseas authorities
When a UK company or organisation must provide evidence to an overseas registry, tax authority, regulator, licensing body or other public authority, the first task is to translate that recipient’s requirement into the correct UK documents and form.
Start with the overseas procedure, not an authentication product. Coddan can identify and coordinate the appropriate UK documentary route within the agreed scope. The receiving authority and any appointed overseas professional remain responsible for foreign legal, tax, regulatory, licensing and acceptance decisions.
Begin with the overseas requirement
A request for “legalised company documents” may conceal several different questions. The authority may need evidence of existence, current status, governing rules, officeholders, authority, a corporate decision, financial reporting or another fact. The correct evidence depends on the exact question.
Identify the overseas registry, tax authority, regulator, licensing body, public authority or professional intermediary.
Clarify the registration, tax, licensing, permit, establishment or other administrative outcome being pursued.
Use current official guidance, a checklist, application requirement, rejection notice or sample wording wherever available.
Translate the requested facts into the correct UK source documents, acceptable form and any separately justified treatment.
The overseas authority controls its procedure. Coddan’s documentary work does not replace advice from a foreign lawyer, accountant, tax adviser, registered agent or other qualified local professional where that advice is required.
One UK source, different overseas purposes
A foreign company registry or local professional may request evidence of incorporation, current facts, constitution, officeholders, authority or a local establishment decision.
A tax authority or local adviser may specify evidence of legal existence, registered particulars, management, ownership, activity, accounts or authority to act.
A sector regulator may request precise company facts, constitutional powers, responsible persons, approvals, financial evidence or documents issued by another authority.
The licensing body may require UK corporate evidence alongside local applications, declarations, professional evidence or destination-controlled supporting material.
Tendering, registration, subsidy, property, employment or other administrative procedures may each ask for a different documentary fact and source.
A registered agent, lawyer, accountant or corporate-service provider may translate local requirements into a document list that must then be matched to authoritative UK sources.
No country rule should be assumed from another procedure. Requirements may differ by authority, purpose, document, company status and date. Current written instructions should be obtained before documentary treatment begins.
Match each fact to its source
These are possible evidence sources, not a universal bundle. Only documents that serve the identified overseas procedure should enter the route.
A certificate of incorporation or change-of-name certificate may establish a specific historic event, but not every current company fact.
A Companies House company certificate may state available certified facts; an available summary statement has its own eligibility conditions and scope.
An official certified copy concerns a selected filing. It is distinct from an ordinary download and from a company certificate.
Operative articles, memorandum, objects or another governing document may be required in the correct version and from the appropriate source.
Existing minutes, resolutions, powers of attorney and authorised-signatory evidence may show a decision or authority only within their proper scope.
Internal statutory-register evidence is maintained by the company and is not interchangeable with public Companies House information.
A Certificate of Incumbency or other privately prepared officeholder evidence is not an official Companies House product and must use verified sources.
Accounts, annual reports and tax, charity, licensing or regulatory evidence remain controlled by their authoritative issuer and the recipient’s requirements.
Do not substitute document types
Useful for inspection but not automatically an official certified copy or company certificate.
An official copy of one selected Companies House filing, issued and certified by Companies House.
An official Companies House product stating available certified company facts, not a reproduction of a selected filing.
A resolution, minute, register extract, power of attorney or other internal record whose provenance, authority and execution require separate consideration.
A private or professionally prepared statement based on defined sources. It is not issued by Companies House.
A separate professional or official act with a defined scope. It does not turn inaccurate content into correct evidence.
How the service works
Identify the overseas authority, procedure, destination and intended registration, tax, licensing or regulatory result.
Obtain current written documentary instructions from the authority, recipient or responsible overseas professional.
Convert requested facts and wording into exact UK source documents and distinguish official products from private records.
Check the document, connected records, operative version, authority, signatures and company status before reliance or treatment.
Use the least complex route that satisfies the confirmed requirement; add professional or official stages only where justified.
Record responsibilities, charges, dependencies, acceptable form, submission and delivery arrangements within the confirmed scope.
This process is not a foreign-country guide. Where the recipient’s legal or procedural requirement remains unresolved, the relevant authority or qualified overseas adviser must answer that professional question.
Treatment must be justified
Some recipients accept an existing document, ordinary register evidence or another specified source without further authentication.
A Companies House-certified copy or company certificate may be needed where ordinary public information is insufficient.
A private document, signature, copy, authority or capacity may require an appropriate act determined by the appointed individual notary.
The document, relevant signature or official capacity, destination and receiving procedure must establish the route. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office controls eligibility and issue.
The recipient controls the required language, translator status, certification wording, form and position of translation in the sequence.
Chamber certification belongs only to a verified trade or commercial-document route. Embassy or consular legalisation is not universally required after an apostille.
Sequence matters. Establish the correct order before documents are ordered, signed, notarised, apostilled, translated, certified, bound or submitted.
Readiness before treatment
Check whether Companies House information is current, complete and consistent with the document that will be ordered or relied upon.
Check statutory registers, minutes, resolutions, attachments and the operative constitutional version where the overseas request reaches internal records.
Identify the person who will act, their role, actual authority and any required execution, signature, witnessing or capacity evidence.
A dissolved, restoring or formerly dissolved company may require separate status and restoration analysis before current documents can be prepared or relied upon.
Separate preliminary work may be required.
Correction of a public filing, reconstruction of internal records, missing governance action, creation of authority or company restoration is not part of certification, notarisation, apostille treatment, translation or legalisation. The documentary route should pause until the appropriate source or authority is ready.
Who is responsible for each stage
Identifies, prepares and coordinates the appropriate UK documentary route within the agreed scope.
Controls its register and issues and certifies its own official company products.
Maintains its internal records and authority documents and is responsible for the accuracy and validity of its own acts.
The appointed individual notary controls any notarial act. The translator prepares and certifies any translation.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office controls apostille eligibility and issue; a Chamber controls its own certification act.
Controls its own requirements, official legalisation act and decision where that stage is justified.
Controls foreign legal, tax, accounting, licensing or regulatory advice within their qualification and engagement.
Controls the overseas procedure and decides whether the completed evidence is acceptable.
Clear cost components
The commercial scope should reflect the required evidence and confirmed route rather than an artificial package of every possible stage.
Document identification, sourcing or preparation, route analysis, coordination and agreed case handling.
Companies House products, apostille applications, mission fees and other authority-controlled charges where applicable.
Notarial, translation, Chamber, embassy, consular and overseas professional costs where separately required.
Paper handling, postage, courier, custody, submission, return and domestic or international delivery where confirmed.
Correction, records, governance, authority or restoration work remains separate and circumstance-dependent.
Urgency, altered recipient instructions, additional documents, format changes and Value Added Tax treatment where applicable may affect the final scope.
No unverified price or completion time is stated here. Coddan’s professional charge, official charges, third-party charges, delivery and any preliminary or additional work should remain separately identifiable.
Information to provide
Provide as much as you know. You do not need to choose the official product, professional act or sequence yourself.
Company or organisation name; company, charity or other registration number; legal structure; current status; and whether it is dissolved, being restored or has been restored.
Country or territory; receiving registry, tax authority, regulator, licensing body, public authority or professional intermediary; and the overseas adviser’s contact details where one is involved.
The intended company, branch, tax, regulatory, licensing, permit, establishment or operational procedure and the result being sought.
Current checklist, application guidance, portal instruction, rejection notice, sample wording, requested document names and facts each document must establish.
Documents already held, their dates and current form, including certificates, filings, articles, registers, decisions, authority evidence, accounts or evidence from another authority.
Original, official certificate, certified copy, private document, paper or electronic form; and any required signature, seal, stamp, wording, attachment or age limit.
Whether notarisation, an apostille, certified translation, Chamber certification, embassy or consular legalisation has been requested or completed, and any order specified by the recipient.
Required language, any stated translator qualification, certification wording and whether the source and translation must be attached or presented together.
Any inaccurate, incomplete, inconsistent, disputed or historic filing, record, authority, signature, document or company status.
Deadline and reason for it; submission destination; final delivery destination; and any confirmed paper, electronic, collection, return or custody requirement.
“Not known” is an acceptable answer. Coddan can identify what requires confirmation. Foreign legal, tax, regulatory and licensing questions remain for the appropriate overseas authority or qualified professional.
Questions about overseas documentary procedures
What you receive
Identify the recipient, procedure and facts required; obtain current written instructions; then select the authoritative UK source and only the additional stages the confirmed route needs.