Specific requirements for legalisation of UK degree ceritifcate

[kitjohnson]

One of my friends had real troubles getting a b-visa (applying in Chaeng Wattana, Bangkok) because his UK degree certificate wasn't verified. The British Embassy in Bangkok no-longer offers this service and presents a convoluted three-step process that requires:

 

1. Getting the degree legalised in the UK 
2. Having the Thai Embassy in the UK legalise the already-legalised document
3. Having the doubly-legalised document sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok to be stamped.

 

Even step one seems difficult. It requires a notary public in the UK to certify the degree. Do they certify the original degree with their notorial stamp? That seems strange. I'd prefer the original was kept pristine. Do they certify a copy? I phoned the Legalisation Office who said that it depends on the country where the certificate will be used. Here is what the Thai Embassy in London say they require for step two:

 

1. The original document(s) to be legalised, certified by FCO (UK)
2. A copy of every single page including an apostille page from FCO (UK)
3. Legalisation application form and a copy of applicant’s passport for reference (** Non-Thai can omit this requirement)
4. A fee of £10 per document is required in cash or postal order made payable to the Royal Thai Embassy, London.

 

note: The FCO stands for "Legalisation Office, Foreign and Commonwealth Office".

 

Between 1 (the original document which is certified) and 2 (a copy of every single page), I've got to say I'm confused.

 

Does anyone know exactly what I should tell the notary public to do? I've never even been to a notary public before. This whole process seems like it will be expensive, and I don't want to add to that by making mistakes.

 

Related question: are there any ways to get around this? How about getting the degree verified by a British embassy in a neighbouring country, if they're still offering that?

[Crossy]

This seems very complex (it is, I went through the same process to get my UK marriage certificate legalised to get my local ID card).

 

I've never been asked for my degree by CW (or any other immigration office) in 14 years of assorted extensions, they did (once) ask for me to certify that I had the qualifications I stated I had (simple form), but never actually asked for proof (or even to view the documentation). Having a degree isn't even a requirment to get an extension.

 

Is he teaching? If so all bets are off and this would likely be best served in the teaching forum.

 

 

 

[kitjohnson]

17 hours ago, Crossy said:

Is he teaching? If so all bets are off and this would likely be best served in the teaching forum.

 

Yes, he's teaching! I didn't know the visa requirements were different for teachers. I also don't know how to move this tread to a different forum. Can non-moderators do that?

 

The verification isn't required for extensions, only (apparently) for new visas.

 

17 hours ago, Crossy said:

I went through the same process to get my UK marriage certificate legalised to get my local ID card

Did the notary sign and stamp your original marriage certificate, or a copy?

[Crossy]

OK, I can move the beast to Teaching with a wave of my magic moderating wand.

 

It was a while back but I just checked my original and it's unmarked. IIRC we got a certifying letter with all the relevant stamps on it quoting the certificate number. Of course this and 1,000 other bits of paper was kept and filed somewhere.

 

[otherstuff1957]

I don't know about the UK, but the US Embassy just looked at my original degree and then notarized a color copy of it.

[kitjohnson]

On 12/16/2018 at 11:40 AM, Crossy said:

It was a while back but I just checked my original and it's unmarked. IIRC we got a certifying letter with all the relevant stamps on it quoting the certificate number. Of course this and 1,000 other bits of paper was kept and filed somewhere.

  

Thanks very much for checking, @Crossy! That makes sense. It would be weird to scrawl over the original itself.

 

Much as I don't want to pay good money for this, I think it's worth having in the bag for next time I apply for a teaching job.

 

On 12/16/2018 at 5:05 PM, otherstuff1957 said:

I don't know about the UK, but the US Embassy just looked at my original degree and then notarized a color copy of it.

The UK embassy in Bangkok stopped offering this service recently.