Legalising Company Documents for Overseas Formations

If your UK based business is thriving, and you plan on expanding overseas, it is important to recognise that you may need to get your company documents legalised for international use. These documents have to be correctly prepared, checked and signed by a solicitor. Once this has been completed you can then obtain the apostille or apply for embassy attestation.

What is Needed for Overseas Operations?

As expected, there are a number of different types of documents required for a UK business who want to create a new branch overseas. Overseas company registration may involve the legalisation of many documents including-

• Certificate of Incorporation – This formal certificate confirms your UK business is registered with the government. It confirms your company name, number and date of registration.
• Certificate of Good Standing – Depending on what you are doing in another country, such as opening an account or partnering with another company, they may request some form of documentation certifying that you are in good standing as a business entity in the UK. This certificate can also confirm the company structure.
• Partnership Agreements – If you plan on partnering with another company to open your foreign-based business, you will need to draw up a legalized partnership agreement to ensure that both parties are in agreement with all aspects of the business.
• Distribution Agreements – It is often requested that distributors have a company letter confirming they have the rights to distribute your products.
• Bills of Sale – Any time you plan on shipping goods or receiving goods overseas it is important to ensure that your shipments are calculated properly and that they contain everything they are supposed to.
• Licenses – Depending on the type of business that you plan on operating overseas, you might need to show proof that you have a license to operate within a certain industry.
• Employment Contracts – When you hire employees overseas, you might need to create employment contracts to verify that even though these individuals are overseas they are still employed by your UK-based business.

These are just a few of the documents that you will likely need before company registration can begin in another country. There are a number of documents that may be required depending on the type of business and the operations you plan on conducting.

How Does an Apostille Help?

One of the easiest ways to ensure that these documents are verified and certified, according to the Hague Convention requirements, is by sending your documents to an apostille service. Not only are documents for your company registration validated, but they are returned to you quickly so that you can begin the conducting business abroad. Our apostille service is not only affordable but in many circumstances, you can e-mail correspondence to us for processing. This means that you can be overseas and still get the necessary company registration documents completed, which is ideal for most busy entrepreneurs. We aim to legalise most documents in just 2 to 3 days. If you require further embassy attestation then we will confirm the processing time before we start your order.

For more information on company registration, apostille services or general document legalisation do not hesitate to contact the team at SFS. We have years of experience supporting thousands of companies.