Guidance

Russia: notarial and documentary services guide

Documents and certificates available at British Embassy Moscow.

From:
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Published
12 April 2013
Last updated
17 August 2022 — See all updates

Overview

The British consulate can provide a range of notarial and documentary services for British nationals in Russia. Where local notaries can provide services, the British consulate will not provide them. In many cases UK notary public and local notaries can provide services more cheaply.

You must make an appointment for each service that requires your personal attendance. 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 Russia, the UK or a third country.

We aim to perform notarial services within one working day subject to qualified staff availability.

Services we provide in Russia

Consular staff in Russia can:

  • administer an oath, affirmation or affidavit
  • witness a signature
  • make a certified copy of a document
  • unite documents
  • prepare a document in English or the local language
  • convert a civil partnership to marriage

The British consulate will provide these services for private individuals only where there is a direct connection to the UK and where we assess that we have competence to perform the service. We reserve the right to decline services where these conditions are not met.

For information about documents relating to marriage, such as a certificate of no impediment (CNI) and 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 Russia.

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 Visa/MasterCard only on the day of the application. Consular fees are not refundable. While consular staff will give you as much advice as they can, it is your responsibility to ensure that you are obtaining the correct service.

Proof of identity

For all appointments for notarial services you will need to bring acceptable proof of your identity.

We accept passports as proof of identity. We accept confirmation of registration with the Migration Service, renting contract or employer’s letter 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.

The consulate will not draft documents for you. Affidavits, affirmations or statutory declarations are only accepted in the following format:

This service is not provided for commercial cases and applies only to individuals (not companies). The document should be written or printed on both sides of the paper and with no blank sheets and contents are to be divided into numbered paragraphs. If the document consists of several pages there will be a further fee for uniting. We can only deal with documents in English.

What you will need to bring with you:

To request an appointment, submit an enquiry using our contact form. We need to see copies of the documents you need to administer before your reservation can be accepted.

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, power of attorney or probate, or witness deed polls.

Do not sign the document before your appointment.

This service is not provided for commercial cases and applies only to individuals (not companies). The document should be written or printed on both sides. If the document consists of several pages there will be a further fee for uniting. We can only deal with documents in English.

Documents are accepted only in the following format.

What you will need to bring with you:

To request an appointment submit an enquiry using our contact form. We need to see copies of the documents you need to administer before your reservation can be accepted.

Make a certified copy of a document

This service is for British nationals who need certified photocopies of British passports, UK educational documents (only those that have been issued in the UK by a recognised institution and are listed on the Legalisation Office website, and a valid British driving licence (both the plastic photo card and valid paper driving license). The old paper Part 2 of the UK driving license has been discontinued. However, paper driving licences issued before the photo card was introduced in 1998 remain valid meaning we are able to only make a certified copy of the paper counterpart if issued before 1998.

If you would like a certified copy so that it can be legalised in the UK you will need to get a copy certified by a solicitor. You can find:

What you will need to bring with you:

Book an appointment to make a certified copy at British Embassy Moscow

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:

To request an appointment submit an enquiry using our contact form. We need to see copies of the documents you need to administer before your reservation can be accepted.

Prepare a document in English or the local language

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 and 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.

We can prepare these documents in English or in Russian. You should select the correct service and note the difference in fees.

What you will need to bring with you:

For documents in English: Book an appointment to prepare a document in English at British Embassy Moscow

For documents in Russian: Book an appointment to prepare a document in another language at British Embassy Moscow

Convert a civil partnership to marriage

This service is for couples who wish to convert an existing civil partnership into marriage. For information on getting married, see getting married abroad.

You do not need to have formed your civil partnership in Russia, but you must have been living here for 28 days. We can convert civil partnerships formed between 2 British nationals only.

Read what you need to know about converting a civil partnership and then book your appointment using the link below.

What you will need to bring with you:

  • your passport
  • your partner’s passport
  • your original civil partnership certificate
  • proof of residence, such as an employer’s letter, bank statement, utility bills, immigration stamps or hotel bills
  • the correct fee – see the list of fees and payment options

Book an appointment to convert a civil partnership to marriage at British Embassy Moscow

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 additional fee.

Book an appointment to prepare a document in English or the local language.

Services provided by other authorities

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.

Published 12 April 2013
Last updated 17 August 2022 + show all updates

  1. Updated on 17 August 2022

  2. Updated 1 August 2022

  3. Updated on 23 February 2022

  4. Updated on 21 February 2022

  5. Update on 29 September 2021

  6. New form for UK Birth, Marriage and Death Certificates uploaded

  7. Updated in November 2020

  8. Resuming notarial services for exceptional cases

  9. FROM 24 MARCH 2020 BRITISH EMBASSY MOSCOW TEMPORARILY SUSPENDS NOTARIAL SERVICES DUE TO COVID-19 OUTBREAK UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

  10. Information note on renouncing British citizenship added

  11. First published.

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