Getting genealogy documents from UK National Archive - any experience?

[Stakhanovite]

Posting for a friend who's not on MN. She is seeking EU citizenship based on records of a Lithuanian grandparent who emigrated to another country, via the UK, in the first half of the C20th.

She's tracked down a ship's manifest in the National Archives that records the grandparent and their nationality, but presumably this isn't a document that can be taken out of the archive and photocopied by a solicitor.

Does anyone have experience of getting certified/apostilled copies of documents in the Archive? Wondering if there's a way to do it in situ? Any advice or contacts very gratefully received.

It wouldn’t be cheap, but perhaps pay for a solicitor to attend the Archives? You’re right that they won’t allow the documents to be removed from the building. You can pay for photocopies to be sent to you, but these won’t be certified.

I have a similar issue in that my grandfather came to the UK from Poland but we think his name was changed at immigration so he had a passport in his Polish name but a marriage and death certificate in his anglicised name and i am unable to prove that the two names belong to the same person. Any ideas how i can go about researching this. Its a pity there is no Ellis Island equivalent in the UK

Have you looked through all census records? You say marriage certificate: was he Jewish? If so, you may be able to request the marriage authorisation online. Wills and probate - check there. Have you looked at the National Archives to see if there are records there? I’m just thinking that by exhausting all records, you may well turn up something to definitively link the two.

And are you sure his name was changed by immigration? Maybe he changed it by deed poll. Have a look at newspaper records to see if there’s an announcement there.

Sorry if I’m speaking out of turn or if you know all
this already.

@Greenpeanutsnail thnks for all your help. My problem is that there is nobody left to ask in the older generation. He was Jewish but he was already known by his anglicised name when he was married. I don’t know when or how he changed his name particularly as i am not sure of the date he came to the UK. I have his date of birth and marriage & death certificate but nothing else.