Notarial and documentary services guide for South Korea
Documents, certificates, letters and notes available at the British Embassy Seoul.
Overview
The British Embassy Seoul can provide a limited range of notarial and documentary services for British nationals in South Korea. Where lawyers can provide services, the British Embassy will not provide them.
You must make an appointment for each service. 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 district, registry office, tax authorities, immigration office or another authority either in South Korea, the UK or a third country.
Services we provide in South Korea
- make a certified copy of a UK passport
- administer an affidavit for the purpose of marriage under South Korean law. For information about documents relating to marriage, see getting married abroad.
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 all fees.
Payment
See the full list of consular fees and current consular exchange rate.
Fees will be calculated to the won equivalent of the pound charge according to consular exchange rate. You can pay by Visa, MasterCard or cash (local currency only). Refunds of consular fees are not given for certificates or notarial services that are not accepted by the requesting authority.
Proof of identity
For all appointments for notarial services you will need to bring acceptable proof of your identity.
We accept passports, alien registration cards, etc. as proof of identity.
Administer oaths, affirmation or affidavit
We can witness affidavits and affirmations for the purpose of getting married under local law in South Korea.
See getting married abroad for more information.
The British Embassy Seoul cannot witness any affidavits relating to company registrations.
Book an appointment to administer an oath, affirmation or affidavit in British Embassy Seoul.
Make a certified copy of a document
If you need a certified copy of your British passport, you will need to submit the original document. We cannot accept copies or scans.
We cannot make certified copies of British birth, marriage or death certificates, which can be obtained from the appropriate local register office or the General Register Office in the UK.
We are not able to certify educational documents e.g. school diplomas. Contact the British Council in Seoul. For details of this process please see the British Council English or Korean.
We are not able to certify documents issued by Korean authorities e.g. alien registration cards or family registers, etc.
What you will need to bring with you:
- the document that you need a certified copy of
- the correct fee
- proof of identity and address
Book an appointment to make a certified copy of a document in British Embassy Seoul.
Services provided by other authorities
If you cannot find what you are looking for, please refer to the list of services which may be provided elsewhere in our Living in South Korea guide. If there is no specific requirement for a notarial service or certificate to be provided by the British embassy, local lawyers can sometimes provide these services more conveniently, quickly and cheaply.
Certificate of signature
We no longer issue a certificate of signature for British nationals. Please refer to local lawyers in South Korea. For those who are residents in South Korea, please contact the closest district office in your area for further information.
Authenticate academic records
We cannot authenticate diplomas or other documents from universities and other schools in the United Kingdom or provide notarial services related to such credentials. Contact the British Council in Seoul. For details of this process please see the British Council English or Korean.
Sign a declaration of existence
We no longer witness life certificates for British nationals claiming a British pension abroad. View the list of people working in a recognised profession (PDF, 17.7KB).
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 by the relevant local 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. British nationals wishing to obtain any further information must contact the relevant local authority.
Last updated 4 February 2022 + show all updates
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Edited - Services we provide in South Korea
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First published.