UK Degree Certificate and Transcript Authentication for Taiwan: TRO London Education Document Requirements, Solicitor Certification, FCDO Apostille and University Confirmation

Before you submit an education document to the Taipei Representative Office in the UK, you should prepare it through the correct route.

For UK degree certificates, academic transcripts and other education documents used in Taiwan, TRO London usually expects one of two routes:

Route 1: solicitor or notary certification with authenticity confirmation, followed by a paper-based FCDO apostille

Route 2: original education document plus direct academic confirmation from the issuing university or institution to TRO

The right route depends on your document type, the issuing institution and what the Taiwan authority requires.

Route 1: Solicitor or Notary Certification Before FCDO Apostille

You may first ask a UK-based solicitor or notary to certify or notarise your education document.

The solicitor or notary must check the authenticity of the document with the issuing university or relevant issuing party before certification.

This is important because TRO London expects the certification to confirm that the document is genuine or authentic, not only that it is a copy.

Acceptable wording may include:

“I certify that the document is genuine/authentic.”

or:

“I certify this is a true copy of the authentic/genuine document.”

After the solicitor or notary has certified or notarised the document, the document must then go to the FCDO Legalisation Office for apostille.

TRO London accepts paper-based apostilles only.

PDF Degree Certificates and Electronic Academic Documents

Many UK universities now issue degree certificates, transcripts, confirmation letters or academic records in PDF or digital format.

The FCDO will not apostille PDF documents directly from issuing authorities.

If your education document is a PDF or electronic document, you may need a UK-based solicitor or notary to check the document with the issuing university first.

Once the solicitor or notary confirms the authenticity of the document, they can certify or notarise it for the FCDO apostille process.

After that, the FCDO can attach a paper-based apostille. The document can then be prepared for TRO London authentication, if required by the Taiwan authority.

Route 2: Original Degree Certificate or Transcript with Direct University Confirmation

You may also provide an original degree certificate or original academic transcript.

In this route, you must ask the issuing university or relevant issuing party to send academic confirmation directly to TRO London.

The university may need to send:

• academic confirmation
• confirmation of award
• confirmation of transcript
• certified copy confirmation
• confirmation of the original degree certificate
• confirmation of the original academic transcript

The confirmation should come directly from the issuing university or party to TRO London.

This direct confirmation helps TRO verify the academic document before processing.

Important: Processing Time Starts After School Confirmation

For education document authentication, the processing time does not start simply when you post the application.

The processing time starts from the day TRO receives confirmation from the school, university or issuing party.

This is an important timing point if you need the authenticated education document for Taiwan employment, study, visa, immigration, registration or professional purposes.

You should contact the issuing institution early to avoid delay.

How Ginkgo Advisory Can Help

Ginkgo Advisory assists clients who need to use UK education documents in Taiwan.

We can help with the UK-side process before and after TRO London submission, including:

• checking whether your UK degree certificate, transcript or education document needs solicitor or notary certification
• verifying the document with the issuing university or institution where required
• preparing solicitor certification wording that confirms authenticity
• arranging our 2 working days UK FCDO apostille service
• preparing the document for TRO London legalisation
• checking whether your document needs direct university confirmation to TRO
• assisting with the TRO authentication application form
• assisting with the TRO authorisation letter where an agent submits for you
• arranging TRO London postal submission
• helping coordinate return courier delivery to Taiwan or another overseas address

This helps keep the process clear from the beginning, especially if you are already in Taiwan, Hong Kong or another overseas location and need UK-side handling.