How long does the apostille on the diploma actually take?

Plan for 2 to 4 weeks, and start now if you are aiming for spring.

The timing depends entirely on your country:

1. Most of Europe (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Netherlands): 3 to 10 working days, sometimes same-day if you go in person to the prefecture or foreign ministry.

2. UK, Ireland, Australia, Canada: 1 to 3 weeks by post. Canada does not use apostilles for every province, so some students need consular legalisation instead — that path takes longer, closer to 4 weeks.

3. Latin America and North Africa: 2 to 5 weeks is realistic. Notarisation before the apostille is usually the slow step, not the apostille itself.

On your second question: the apostille goes on a document your government can authenticate. For most universities that means an official certified copy or a transcript issued by the registrar, not your single original parchment. Ask your registrar for a "certified true copy for apostille" — they do this routinely and it protects your original.

One thing that catches people out: the apostille certifies the signature, so the document must be signed and stamped by someone your ministry recognises. A printout from a student portal will be rejected.

If you are applying with us, send us a photo of the diploma before you start the process and we will tell you which document your school will accept — that one check saves most students a repeat trip.