Circumstances why the FCO wouldn't add an apostille to a document

1. It’s a foreign document

The Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) is a British Governmental body so for a document to be accepted by them, it will need to be a UK-Issued one. Documentation issued by other countries will be handled by each country’s specific organism. There are exceptions to this such as British overseas territories or where the document has been certified by the issuing countries’ embassy first.

2. The Educational institution that produced the document isn’t on the list

When the document needing to be stamped is an educational one, the FCO will previously check the educational source your document comes from against a list of organisations registered to issue qualifications. If the institution that produced your document isn’t on that list, it may not be possible to carry on with the process.

3. Registrar’s signature isn’t on file

When a document such as a Birth or Marriage Certificate was signed by a registrar whose signature isn’t filed in the FCO's system, it cannot be stamped. The FCO will attempt to obtain a sample signature, but if the signatory cannot be reached then a re-issue of the document will be required. The replacement document can then be processed by the FCO.