Notarial and documentary services guide for Laos
Documents, certificates, letters and notes available at the British Embassy in Laos.
Overview
The British consulate can provide a range of notarial and documentary services for British nationals in Laos.
Where local notaries can provide services, the British consulate will not provide them. In many cases local notaries or lawyers can provide services more cheaply, quickly and conveniently.
Some services may be available by post. You must make an appointment for each service that requires your personal attendance. Please use the links after each service to make an 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 Laos, the UK or a third country.
Services we provide in Laos
Consular staff in Laos can:
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administer an oath, affirmation or affidavit
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make a certified copy of a document
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legalise a document
For information about documents relating to marriage, such as affirmations or affidavits of marital status, see getting married abroad.
If you can’t find the service you are looking for on this page, please see other services provided by the British embassy in Laos.
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 full list of consular fees
Payment
We accept payment by cash in the local currency on the day of the appointment.
Please see here for our full list of Consular Fees.
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 or national identity cards as proof of identity.
For proof of your address, you will be expected to provide proof of your current and/or previous address(es), by submitting recent and original copies of one of the following documents in English listed below:
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village residency certificate
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utility bills
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bank/building society/credit card statement
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building society/savings bank passbook
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electoral role confirmation letter
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 Laos. See getting married abroad to find out what you need to do.
The consulate will not draft documents for you. First check with the consulate what format they need and then have the document drawn up or checked by a professional.
We are only able to accept documents which have been prepared using certain templates. Please contact the Consular Section for an example.
What you will need to bring with you:
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The oath, affirmation or affidavit that you will swear or affirm
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The correct fee – see the list of fees. and payment options
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Proof of identity and address – see what we will accept as proof
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A photocopy of each of the above documents.
Book an appointment for an oath, affirmation or affidavit in Vientiane
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 handle wills or probate, or witness deed polls.
Please do not sign the document before your appointment.
What you will need to bring with you:
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The document that you will sign before a witness
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The correct fee – see the list of fees. and payment options
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Proof of identity and address – see what we will accept as proof
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A photocopy of each of the above documents.
Book an appointment for witnessing a signature in Vientiane
Make a certified copy of a document
This service is for customers who need certified photocopies of British passports, Home Office registration/naturalisation certificates, UK educational documents (only those that have been issued in the UK by a recognised institution and are listed on the Legalisation Office website), British driving licences and British divorce decrees.
We are not able to provide certified photocopies of any foreign documents including ID documents, passports and driving licences
You should apply to the General Register Office for copies of British marriage, birth and death certificates.
What you will need to bring with you:
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The document to be copied
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The correct fee – see the list of fees. and payment options
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Proof of identity – see what we will accept as proof
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A photocopy of each of the above documents.
Book an appointment for certified copies in Vientiane
Unite documents
This service joins documents together using ribbon and a seal and is usually only needed for legal reasons.
What you will need to bring with you:
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The documents to be united
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The correct fee – see the list of fees. and payment options
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Proof of identity – see what we will accept as proof
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A photocopy of each of the above documents.
Book an appointment to unite documents in Vientiane
Prepare a document in English
This service is for customers who require a signed and stamped version of one of our standard letters. In a limited number of cases consular staff can write a statement of fact (‘preparing a certificate’) to help British nationals with various local authorities. The wording must be cleared with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office in London, which means these documents will take longer to prepare.
We can only provide this service if we have proof that the wording/content you require is correct and unambiguous. This service is provided at the discretion of consular staff and we can refuse to provide it. Please contact the consulate before making an appointment.
Please contact the Consular section before making an appointment.
What you will need to bring with you:
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The wording or content and proof it is correct and unambiguous
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The correct fee – see the list of fees. and payment options
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Proof of identity – see what we will accept as proof
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A photocopy of each of the above documents.
For documents in English:
Book an appointment to prepare a document in English in Vientiane
Legalise a document
This service is for customers who require confirmation that the signature, seal or stamp on a document is genuine. It does not certify the authenticity of a document or give approval of its content. UK public documents can be legalised by the Legalisation Office.
What you will need to bring with you:
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the document to be legalised
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the correct fee – see the list of fees](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/laos-consular-fees). and payment options
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Proof of identity – see what we will accept as proof
Book an appointment to legalise a document in Laos
Download information notes
We have produced the following information notes (also known as standard letters) that you can download free of charge to present to local authorities:
If you need an officially stamped/sealed version this attracts an additional fee.
Book an appointment to prepare a document in English
Services provided elsewhere
We no longer provide life certificates for British nationals claiming a British pension abroad. Please refer to the list of people working in a recognised profession who can do this for you.
The British Embassy no longer handles applications for renunciation and naturalisation or registration as a British citizen. All applications are now handled by the UK Visas and immigration.
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legalising UK documents/certificates: Legalisation Office
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provide copies of British birth, death & marriage certificates: General Register Office
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renew British driving licences or provide certificates regarding British driving licences: DVLA
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provide good conduct certificates: Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly the Criminal Records Bureau)
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certificates confirming British nationality: UK Visas and immigration
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certify your fingerprints: Metropolitan Police UK
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Pension certificates: DWP
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Taxation & UK National Insurance contributions certificates: HMRC
Copies of Birth and Death Certificates
We no longer facilitate birth and death registration. Please follow these links for more information about how to register a birth or death abroad:
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 / consulate 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 16 January 2020 + show all updates
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Deleting services the embassy no longer provides.
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New appointment system launched for Consular services available at the British Embassy Vientiane.
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Details of the services we provide have been updated
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Changed consular fees table
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Updated to include list of consular fees
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Updated this list to include new consular fees table.
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First published.