The Consular Fees Order 2012

Statutory Instruments

2012 No. 798

Diplomatic Service

The Consular Fees Order 2012

Made

14th March 2012

Coming into force

6th April 2012

At the Court at Buckingham Palace, the 14th day of March 2012

Present,

The Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty in Council

Her Majesty, in exercise of the powers conferred on Her by section 1(1) of the Consular Fees Act 1980(1)is pleased, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, to order, and it is ordered, as follows:

1.  This Order may be cited as the Consular Fees Order 2012 and comes into force on 6th April 2012. U.K.

Commencement Information

I1 Art. 1 in force at 6.4.2012, see art. 1

2.  In this Order— U.K.

“consular officer” means any person authorised by the Secretary of State to exercise consular functions, or functions in the United Kingdom which correspond with consular functions (including persons who are not, as well as persons who are, consular officers);

“consular employee” means any person in the administrative or technical service of the consular post or diplomatic mission;

“consular premises” means the building or parts of buildings used for the purposes of the consular post or diplomatic mission;

“direct costs” means expenses that are incidental to the performance of a service, such as the cost of posting documents to a customer’s home address or travel costs;

F1 ...

F1 ...

“overseas service” in relation to legalisation means the service for the processing by consular officers at consular posts of applications made in person;

“premium service” in relation to legalisation means the same day service for the processing by a London legalisation office dedicated for companies, solicitors and notaries of applications made in person;

F1 ...

“standard service” in relation to legalisation means the twenty-four hours service for the processing by the main legalisation office at Milton Keynes, of applications made in person at that office and the processing by that office of postal applications within a reasonable time period.

F2 ...

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in art. 2 omitted (27.3.2018) by virtue of The Passport (Fees) Regulations 2018 (S.I. 2018/414), regs. 1, 5(2)

F2 Words in art. 2 omitted (6.4.2016) by virtue of The Consular Fees (Amendment) Order 2016 (S.I. 2016/373), arts. 1, 2(2)

Commencement Information

I2 Art. 2 in force at 6.4.2012, see art. 1

3.  The fees set forth in the table in [F3 Part 1] of Schedule 1 to this Order are prescribed to be levied by consular officers and by [F4 marriage officers under the Foreign Marriage Act 1892 or registration officers under the Consular Marriages and Marriages under Foreign Law (No. 2) Order 2014] in the execution of each of their functions specified in [F3 that table]. U.K.

Textual Amendments

F3 Words in art. 3 substituted (27.3.2018) by The Passport (Fees) Regulations 2018 (S.I. 2018/414), regs. 1, 5(3)

F4 Words in art. 3 substituted (11.12.2014) by virtue of The Consular Marriages and Marriages under Foreign Law (No. 2) Order 2014 (S.I. 2014/3265), arts. 1, 18, 20

Commencement Information

I3 Art. 3 in force at 6.4.2012, see art. 1

4.  The statutory instruments listed in Schedule 2 to this Order are revoked by this Order. U.K.

Commencement Information

I4 Art. 4 in force at 6.4.2012, see art. 1

Richard Tilbrook

Clerk of the Privy Council

Article 3

SCHEDULE 1 U.K.

PART 1 U.K. [F5 TABLE OF GENERAL CONSULAR FEES

Textual Amendments

F5 Sch. 1 Pt. 1 Table substituted (6.4.2016) by The Consular Fees (Amendment) Order 2016 (S.I. 2016/373), arts. 1, 2(3)

Commencement Information

I5 Sch. 1 Pt. 1 in force at 6.4.2012, see art. 1

Fee			£
I. LEGALISATION
[F6 1.	Legalising a signature or seal—
	(i)	Standard Service in the UK	45.00
	(ii)	Standard service in the UK (Next Day)	40.00
	(iii)	Digital (e-Apostille)	35.00
	(iv)	Urgent Service in the UK	100.00
	(v)	Overseas service (in addition to direct costs, if any)	40.00]
II. NOTARIAL AND RELATED MATTERS
2.	Preparing any certificate, declaration or document not listed elsewhere in this table
	(i)	in English	50.00
	(ii)	in any other language	50.00
3.	Signing a declaration of existence (except if required by a department of Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom)		25.00
4.	Administering an oath, declaration or affirmation		50.00
5.	Witnessing a signature		25.00
6.	Certifying a copy of a document		25.00
7.	Uniting documents and Marking of Exhibits		25.00
8.	Supplying certified copies of documents which form part of the records of a court which is, or was formerly, established under the Foreign Jurisdiction Acts 1890 and 1913, for each page		50.00
III. NATIONALITY
9.	Administering an oath of British Citizenship under the British Nationality Act 1981		100.00
IV. BIRTHS, MARRIAGES, CIVIL PARTNERSHIPS AND DEATHS
10.	Receiving notice of an intended marriage, civil partnership or overseas relationship		50.00
11.	Issuing a certificate that no impediment to an intended marriage or civil partnership has been shown to exist, or issuing any local equivalent document for an intended marriage or overseas relationship in accordance with local law
	(i)	in English	50.00
	(ii)	in any other language	50.00
12.	Solemnising and administering oaths for consular marriage; or registering [F7 a civil partnership;] or converting a civil partnership into marriage [F8 ; or converting a marriage into a civil partnership under Part 4 of the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Northern Ireland) (No. 2) Regulations 2020”.]		150.00
13.	Administering an application for the registration of a birth or a death		150.00
14.	Making an addition to or correction in the consular register as necessary		25.00
15.	Issuing a certified copy of an entry in the consular register		50.00
16.	Making a search in
	(i) the consular register of births, deaths, marriages or civil partnerships where the number or date of entry is not provided		50.00
	(ii) the naturalisation, registration or renunciation records kept by a consular officer		50.00
V. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
17.	Forwarding a request to a local authority for the taking of evidence or the service of a document (including effecting service of a document in relation to proceedings in which state immunity is in issue), and returning any evidence received of service or attempted service of a document (provided by [F9 the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office] in proceedings where state immunity is in issue)		150.00
VI. MARITIME SERVICES
18.	Providing or administering a service not otherwise covered in this Schedule in relation to shipping, seamen and related matters, for each hour or part hour (to include travel time if performed away from the consular premises) and in addition to direct costs, if any		150.00
VII. EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE
19.	Administering an application for, and, if successful providing, an Emergency Travel Document [F10 (in addition to direct costs, if any)]		[F11 125.00]
20.	Exceptionally, administering an application for, and, if successful, providing an Emergency Passport, on occasions when it is not possible to provide an Emergency Travel Document [F12 (in addition to direct costs, if any)]		[F13 125.00]
21.	Arranging, exceptionally, for currency to be made available against the deposit of funds
	(i) £0.01-£99.99		10.00
	(ii) £100.00-£499.99		25.00
	(iii) £500.00or more		50.00
VIII. OTHER SERVICES
22.	Providing the services of a consular officer or a consular employee in relation to any other service which the consular post or diplomatic mission has agreed to undertake, for each hour or part hour (to include travel time if performed away from the consular premises) and in addition to direct costs, if any		150.00]
[F14 IX. MULTILINGUAL STANDARD FORMS
23.	Issuing a multilingual standard form		11.00]

Textual Amendments

F6 Words in Sch. 1 Pt. 1 substituted (1.1.2024) by The Consular Fees (Amendment) Order 2023 (S.I. 2023/1388), arts. 1(1), 2

F7 Words in Sch. 1 Pt. 1 inserted (7.12.2020) by The Marriage and Civil Partnership (Northern Ireland) (No. 2) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1143), regs. 1(2), 46(a)

F8 Words in Sch. 1 Pt. 1 inserted (7.12.2020) by The Marriage and Civil Partnership (Northern Ireland) (No. 2) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1143), regs. 1(2), 46(b)

F9 Words in Sch. 1 Pt. 1 substituted (30.9.2020) by The Transfer of Functions (Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs) Order 2020 (S.I. 2020/942), art. 1(2), Sch. para. 19

F10 Words in Sch. 1 Pt. 1 inserted (16.2.2019) by The Consular Fees (Amendment) Order 2019 (S.I. 2019/182), arts. 1, 2(2)

F11 Sum in Sch. 1 Pt. 1 substituted (9.4.2025) by The Consular Fees (Amendment) Order 2025 (S.I. 2025/436), arts. 1(1), 2(2)

F12 Words in Sch. 1 Pt. 1 inserted (16.2.2019) by The Consular Fees (Amendment) Order 2019 (S.I. 2019/182), arts. 1, 2(3)

F13 Sum in Sch. 1 Pt. 1 substituted (9.4.2025) by The Consular Fees (Amendment) Order 2025 (S.I. 2025/436), arts. 1(1), 2(3)

F14 Words in Sch. 1 Pt. 1 inserted (16.2.2019) by The Consular Fees (Amendment) Order 2019 (S.I. 2019/182), arts. 1, 2(4)

F15 PART 2 U.K. TABLE OF CONSULAR FEES RELATING TO PASSPORT SERVICES

Textual Amendments

F15 Sch. 1 Pt. 2 omitted (27.3.2018) by virtue of The Passport (Fees) Regulations 2018 (S.I. 2018/414), regs. 1, 5(4)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Article 4

SCHEDULE 2 U.K.

Commencement Information

I6 Sch. 2 in force at 6.4.2012, see art. 1

Statutory Instruments revoked	References
Consular Fees Order 2011	S.I. 2011/738
Consular Fees (Amendment) Order 2011	S.I. 2011/1691

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order revokes and replaces the Consular Fees Order 2011 as amended by the Consular Fees (Amendment) Order 2011.

The Order sets out fees to be charged for consular services.

While the Order does not increase any of the fees above the levels that were set by the Consular Fees Order 2011 (as amended), the Order removes and rewords certain of the fees in Part 1 of Schedule I as follows:

(i) the fee for fixing a photograph to a document and, if necessary, certifying it as a true likeness (formerly Fee 8) has been removed;

(ii) the fee for forwarding an application for registration, naturalisation or renunciation to the Home Office (formerly Fee 10) has been removed;

(iii) the fee for issuing a certificate that no impediment to an intended marriage or civil partnership has been shown to exist, or issuing any local equivalent document for an intended marriage or overseas relationship in accordance with local law (either in English or in the local language spoken at the place of the consular post or diplomatic mission) (formerly Fee 13), has been redrafted to replace the references to “Nulla Ostas” and “certificates de coutume” with the term “any local equivalent document”;

(iv) the fee for forwarding a request to a local authority for the taking of evidence or the service of a document and returning any evidence received of service or attempted service of a document replaces three separate fees under the Consular Fees Order 2011(formerly Fees 19, 20 and 21) with a single fee of £130;

(v) the fee for providing or administering a service not otherwise covered in this Schedule in relation to shipping, seamen and related matters has been amended to include travel time in the calculation of the charge for providing maritime services.

The Order does not increase the fees in Part 2 of Schedule I beyond the changes introduced in respect of those fees by the Consular Fees (Amendment) Order 2011(2). The fees set out in Part 2 of Schedule I reflect the consolidated fees under Part 2 of Schedule 1 following their amendment by the Consular Fees (Amendment) Order 2011(3).

The Order removes the fees formerly specified in Part 3 of Schedule 1 relating to entry clearance following the enactment of the Immigration and Nationality (Fees) Regulations 2011(4) and the Immigration and Nationality (Cost Recovery Fees) Regulations 2011(5) under section 51 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006(6). Since April 2011 the United Kingdom Border Agency has imposed these fees directly.

A full regulatory impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no impact on the private or voluntary sectors is foreseen.

(1)

1980 c.23.

(2)

S.I. 2011/1691.

(3)

S.I. 2011/1691.

(4)

S.I. 2011/1055.

(5)

S.I. 2011/790.

(6)

2006 c.13.