Notarial and documentary services guide for Angola
Documents, certificates, letters and notes available at British consulates in Angola.
Overview
The British embassy can provide a range of notarial and documentary services for British nationals in Angola. Where local notaries can provide services, the British embassy will not provide them. In many cases, local notaries or lawyers can provide services more cheaply, quickly and conveniently.
You must make an appointment for each service that requires your personal attendance. Use the links after each service to make an appointment. A member of staff will contact you to confirm your appointment. Before booking, make sure you have selected the correct service and that the document will be accepted by the relevant authority. This could be the local town hall, registry office, tax authorities, immigration office or another authority either in Angola, the UK or a third country.
Services we provide in Angola
Consular staff in Angola can:
- administer an oath, affirmation or affidavit
- witness a signature
- make a certified copy of a document for British nationals
- make a certified copy of graduate certificates (from UK universities only) for British nationals
- provide an informative note for holders of UK driving licences who wish to apply for an Angolan driving licence
What to bring to your appointment
See the individual services below for details of supporting documents to bring. Make sure you have acceptable proof of address and identity, and payment for any fees. See the list of consular fees.
Payment
We accept payment by cash only in local currency on the day of the appointment.
Proof of address and identity
For all appointments for notarial services you will need to bring acceptable proof of your identity and address. We accept passports and national identity cards as proof of identity. We accept national identity cards and addresses statement documents received through post as proof of your address.
Administer an oath, affirmation or affidavit
This service is for people who need to swear an oath, make an affirmation or make an affidavit in front of a consular officer. You may need to make an affirmation or affidavit of marital status in order to get married in Angola. See getting married abroad to find out what you need to do. The embassy will not draft documents for you. First check with the embassy what format they need and then have the document drawn up or checked by a professional.
What you will need to bring with you:
- the oath, affirmation or affidavit that you will swear or affirm
- correct fee – see the list of fees
- proof of identity and address
Book an appointment to administer an oath, affirmation or affidavit at the British Embassy Luanda.
Witness a signature
This service is for customers who need to sign a document and have their signature witnessed by a Consular Officer. The document must be prepared before your appointment as we will not draft documents for you. We do not witness wills, probate, or deed polls. Please do not sign the document before your appointment.
What you will need to bring with you:
- the document that you will sign before a witness
- correct fee – see the list of fees payment in cash
- proof of identity and address
Book an appointment to witness a signature at the British Embassy Luanda.
Make a certified copy of a document
This service may be offered to British Nationals who need certified photocopies of British passports or Home Office registration/naturalisation certificates, British driving licences (both the plastic card and paper document), British divorce decrees and UK educational documents - full list of recognised UK educational bodies(only those that have been issued in the UK by a recognised institution and are listed on the Legalisation Office website
What you will need to bring with you:
- the document that you need a certified copy of
- correct fee – see the list of fees
- proof of identity and address
Book an appointment to make a certified copy at the British Embassy Luanda.
Please note that if you would like a certified copy so that it can be legalised in the UK you may need to get a copy certified, signed and dated by a UK public notary or solicitor. Find out more about how to get your document legalised
Provide an informative note for UK driving licences
This service is for holders of a British Driving Licence. There is no fee for providing this letter.
What you will need to bring with you:
Your United Kingdom photo card or valid paper driving license. Please note that the old paper Part 2 of the UK driving license has been discontinued. However, paper driving licenses issued before the photo card was introduced in 1998 remain valid.
You must obtain an original letter from the United Kingdom’s Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) confirming that your license has been issued.
The British embassy will provide you with an information note, signed and stamped. There is no fee for this service.
You provide all of the above to the Angolan authorities together with the application for an Angolan licence.
Book an appointment to get an information note at the British Embassy in Luanda.
The British embassy does not issue letters confirming the authenticity of United Kingdom driving licences. Should you require confirmation of your driving licence details please telephone, email or write to DVLA.
Services provided elsewhere
Legalise a document
Legalisation is the official confirmation that a signature, seal or stamp on an official public document is genuine. It does not certify the authenticity of a document or give approval of its content. UK public documents such as birth, death, marriage and divorce certificates can be legalised by the UK government in the UK. This is also known as an apostille. There are three steps you need to follow to have your United Kingdom document legalised for use in Angola:
Step 1: Contact the Legalisation Office, Milton Keynes, UK.
To check if the document can be legalised and to apply online for this service please visit Legalisation Office.
Please note that in order to get your document legalised you may need to get a copy certified, signed and dated by a UK public notary or solicitor. The Embassy does not provide this service. You can locate a UK notary
Step 2: Have the document legalised by the Angolan Embassy in London 46 Bedford Square, Bloomsbury, London WC1B 3DP, UK Phone: +44 20 7291 8700
Step 3: For use in Angola the document(s) must be stamped by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Mirex) - Edifício II do Mirex, Rua Major Kanhangulo, n. Baixa/Luanda Phone: 222 33 97 40 / 222 39 67 76 Fax: 222 39 32 46 / 222 39 67 76
Before undertaking these steps, you are encouraged to contact the local authorities for confirmation on what is required.
There is no requirement for the British Embassy in Angola to view or stamp these documents once these steps are complete.
Verifying a UK degree certificate
The British Embassy is not able to verify documents. If you need your UK degree certificate verified you should contact the issuing organisation. Alternatively you may refer to the official Higher Education Degree Datacheck - HEDD
HEDD is for employers, agencies, universities, embassies and councils who wish to verify whether a candidate is a current or past student of a university or college, the award and grade they received, and their dates of attendance. UK degree certificates can also be legalised by the Legalisation Office. Further details
Data protection
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office holds and uses data for purposes notified to the Information Commissioner under the Data Protection Act 1998. Such personal data may be disclosed to other UK government departments and public authorities.
Disclaimer
This information is provided as a general guide and is based upon information provided to the embassy / consulate by the relevant authorities and may be subject to change at any time with little or no notice. Accordingly the FCDO and the British embassy will not be liable for any inaccuracies in this information. For all notarial and legalisation services it is the responsibility of the customer to ascertain the precise requirements of the person requesting the notarial or legalisation service and to satisfy themselves that the service provided by the embassy/consulate will be accepted.
Last updated 6 October 2017 + show all updates
-
updated content
-
First published.