Documents issued in the United Kingdom to be used in Kurdistan, will need to be notarised and/or apostilled by the FCDO and finally legalised by either the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Representation Office in the United Kingdom or the Iraqi Embassy in London.
Most documents will need to be notarised first, however certain documents including UK issued birth, marriage and death certificates, HMRC letters, and medical letters, can be apostilled without being notarised. All documents will need to have an apostille before they can be submitted for legalisation at the KRG Representation Office or Iraqi Embassy.
If a document is legalised by the KRG, the document will only be valid in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It will not be valid in other regions of Iraq. Legalisation at the KRG is free and can be processed within 24 hours.
If legalised by the Iraqi Embassy, it will be valid across all of Iraq including Kurdistan. This process is more costly and will take more time to process. It will also involve legalisation by the Arab-British Chamber of Commerce for commercial documents. For more information please read Legalisation for Iraq.
The Kurdistan Region is an autonomous region within Iraq comprising the four Kurdish majority governorates of Duhok, Erbil, Halabja and Sulaymaniyah. Kurdistan operates as a democratic parliamentary republic with a presidential system. The autonomy of Kurdistan was official recognised by Baghdad in the 2005 Constitution of the Republic of Iraq.
We can help with notarisation services, apostille services, or legalisation services at the Kurdistan Regional Government Representation Office. Our knowledgeable team are happy to guide you through the process and help deliver your requirements. Contact us to start the process.