A notary public in the USA is different to a notary public outside of the States in that the notary does not need to be a qualified lawyer and is more like an official State witness. Many documents need to be notarised for use in America. If you are dealing with a property transfer, you will be asked to sign the Warranty Deed and various affidavits before a notary. Some States also require legalisation at the FCO but this is a relatively new development and it is not always requested prior to notarisation. You should ask your realtor to check with the title company for completion of the documents.

Canada sometimes require documents to be notarised but often recognise UK solicitors. Some immigration documents and applications to the medical council require a notary rather than a solicitor.

Most countries in Europe require legal documents to be notarised if they are being signed overseas. The UK is the major exception. The civil law jurisdictions such as Spain, France, Portugal, Italy, Romania and Bulgaria are particularly strict about the need to have documents notarised and most European countries are members of the Hague Convention which means that notarised documents can be legalised at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office without the need for further embassy attestation.

The United Arab Emirates, Oman and Saudi Arabia often require company documents to be notarised, legalised and attested before they can be recognised in those countries. Documents for Dubai may need further attestation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abu Dhabi. The UAE embassy has strict regulations about dealing with each document individually (rather than bundling them) and the current fee for attestation of a commercial document at the UAE embassy is £500.

Personal documents that require notarisation tend to be degree certificates and identification documents to enable individuals to work in the Middle East. Again, the embassies have strict requirements as to how the documents should be notarised and legalised.

China, Indonesia, Malaysia and India are the main countries that we deal with in Asia that require documents to be notarised and attested. India now accepts legalisation at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office rather than then High Commission but China, Indonesia and Malaysia all require embassy attestation in addition to the Apostille. There are strict requirements for how import/export documents must be signed and submitted to the embassies and for China, documents must be securely bound with ribbon by the notary. Powers of attorney are common documents for India to enable land to be transferred without the owner being present.

Degree certificates for China must be verified and notarised before being submitted to the FCO and embassy and must be correctly sealed and bound.

Generally, Australia recognises UK solicitors as commissioners for oaths but some documents require authentication by a notary public. For example, property deeds, passport copies for superannuation applications and copy documents for AMC/AHPRA applications. No further legalisation at the FCO or embassy is required.

South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria and Kenya all require documents to be authenticated by a notary public and documents for Egypt must also be legalised and attested. Bank account documents, property transfers, travel consents and powers of attorney are common documents that require notarisation for South Africa.

A power of attorney is a very important legal document that allows an individual or group of individuals to sign documents on behalf of the business. The power of attorney will need to be signed on behalf of the company, usually by a director, in the presence of the notary. The notary will check the authority of the signatory to bind the company and then sign and seal the power of attorney to ensure that it is legally binding in the UK and in the intended country of use.

An affidavit is a statement made under oath. It is the written equivalent of giving evidence in court. If a person makes a statement in an affidavit that is not true or is inaccurate in any way, then that person is potentially committing perjury and there are criminal sanctions which can be enforced in the UK or overseas. It is essential therefore that anyone signing an affidavit on behalf of a company is able to make the statements based on their own knowledge and believes the statements to be true.

A statutory declaration is specific form of statement affirming that the information contained in the statutory declaration is true to the best of the signatory’s knowledge. If the Statutory Declaration is going to be used overseas, the receiving jurisdiction may insist that the Statutory Declaration is witnessed by a Notary Public rather than a solicitor or commissioner for oaths.

Depending on the country that you are dealing with a transfer deed may need to be witnessed by a notary public. The transfer deed is the formalisation of the contract. It is the document that transfers ownership of property from one party to another.

A Certificate of Good Standing is a document issued by Companies House in relation to UK companies. It confirms that the company exists and can be used to verify information such as registered office, date of incorporation and director details. Because the document is signed by the Company Registrar, it is possible to get an original Certificate of Incorporation legalised by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office without the need for notarisation. However, some countries, such as Spain, often request that the document is notarised also. If you need to have a certificate of good standing notarised, it is important that the notary orders the document personally from Companies House as this is the only way that the notary can verify the authenticity.

The Memorandum of Association is part of the bank of documents required when a business incorporates in the UK. It sets out the purpose and authority of the company. A notarised copy of the memorandum of association may be needed to establish whether a company can set up an overseas branch or foreign bank accounts. It is usually requested together with a copy of the Articles of Association but for some jurisdictions such as the United Arab Emirates, these documents must be notarised as separate documents.

A Certificate of Incorporation is a fundamental company document produced by Companies House when a business incorporates in the UK. If the company changes its name, a new Certificate of Incorporation on Change of Name is produced and this should be placed with the original document if a notarised copy of the certificate of incorporation is required. Although this document is available to download from Companies House, companies setting up offices or bank accounts overseas may be asked to produce a notarised and apostiled copy.

Certified accounts are copies of the company’s accounts that are lodged with Companies House on an annual basis. Businesses with interests overseas may be asked to produced a notarised and legalised copy of the Certified Accounts for tax purposes in that country, primarily to avoid double taxation.

The Articles of Association are part of the bank of documents required when a business incorporates in the UK. It sets out the purpose of the company, the authority of the directors and the powers of the shareholders. A notarised copy of the articles of association may be needed to establish whether a company can set up an overseas branch or foreign bank accounts. It is usually requested together with a copy of the Memorandum of Association but for some jurisdictions such as the United Arab Emirates, these documents must be notarised as separate documents.

Digital signature applications are required primarily for directors of companies incorporated overseas, such as India. Some jurisdictions allow documents to be signed digitally but in order to acquire a digital signature, the director must sign the application form before a notary public, attaching a photograph which the notary must seal.

These are specific forms required in the Netherlands to allow personal information to be stored and processed. If you are a director of a company registered in The Netherlands, you may be asked to sign a Datacheck form before a Notary Public.

Trademark assignments and associated documents are often time sensitive and need to be registered in several jurisdictions simultaneously. As each jurisdiction has its own notarisation and attestation requirements, the IP lawyer will co-ordinate with the notary public to ensure that all documents are effective in each country in which the trademark is registered.

Board resolutions are written records of decisions made at board meetings. Depending on the jurisdiction that you are dealing with, you may be asked to produce a notarised board resolution demonstrating that the company has agreed to open a bank account or issue a power of attorney. Board resolutions are ordinary documents and not deeds which means that they do not need to be witnessed directly by the notary in order to be notarised. They can be signed by the Company Secretary before the notary.

When dealing with business overseas, you may be asked to produce a notarised document confirming the details of the UK company directors. Often this information is freely available at Companies House but sometimes further information is required such as passport copies or proof of personal address. To verify this information, the notary will need to see the director with their identification documents.

Distribution agreements often need to be legalised by the UK embassy of the export country and in order to do so, will first need to be witnessed by a notary public and attested at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The embassies tend to have specific requirements for how the distribution agreements should be formed and the information that they must contain. When lodging the application with the embassy, we may need to include additional documents such as passport copies of both signatories and a copy of the certificate of incorporation.

Shareholder agreements do not usually need to be notarised unless they relate to a specific matter involving a foreign jurisdiction, such as the establishment of an overseas branch. The shareholder agreement would usually be notarised by attaching it to an affidavit from the Company Secretary who would certify its authenticity.

A power of attorney is a very important legal document that allows an individual or group of individuals to sign documents on behalf of the signatory. The power of attorney will need to be signed in the presence of the notary. The notary will check the identification of the signatory and then sign and seal the power of attorney to ensure that it is legally binding in the UK and in the intended country of use. By notarising the document the notary public is confirming that they witnessed the signature and that the signatory understood the legal nature of the document that they were signing.

Certified copy documents are often required when an individual wants to work in another country or to operate a foreign bank account. In order to certify the copies as true copies, the notary must have the original documents and if it is photographic identification, the individual must appear before the notary. If the documents are educational qualification documents, then further verification checks may need to be carried out by notary before certification.

In order to notarise a copy of a degree certificate, the notary must verify that the qualification is authentic by contacting the awarding body. The verification procedure is usually delegated by the university to an outside agency that the notary is registered with. It is possible for a notary to simply take a photocopy of the degree certificate and stamp it as a true copy of the document presented however, this is not best practice as by notarising the document, it is implied that the notary has taken proper steps to verify that the degree is genuine and has been granted by a recognised degree awarding body in the UK. All of our notarised degree certificates are properly verified and authenticated.

Depending on the jurisdiction that you are dealing with, the transfer deed in a property sale or share transfer may need to be notarised. This is so that the deed is correctly witnessed and will be deemed to be legally binding in the UK and the country in which the property or sales are located.

If you have foreign assets, either land, bank accounts or shares, it is highly recommended that you have a will that covers those assets. This is to ensure that your foreign property passes to the correct beneficiaries and to make the probate process as easy as possible for the executors. The country in which the assets are based will determine how the foreign will must be signed to be valid and it is essential that you take proper legal advice from a lawyer qualified in that country who will prepare the will and give you signing instructions.

A grant of probate is a court issued document in the UK which means that it can be legalised directly without the need for notarisation but it is not uncommon for a foreign jurisdiction to request that the grant of probate is notarised prior to being legalised. The notary can obtain the grant of probate directly from the Probate Registry which enables the document to be notarised as authentic and then legalised by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and/or embassy.

A statutory declaration is specific form of statement affirming that the information contained in the statutory declaration is true to the best of the signatory’s knowledge. If the statutory declaration is going to be used overseas, the receiving jurisdiction may insist that the declaration is witnessed by a Notary Public rather than a solicitor or commissioner for oaths.

A certificate of living is required by foreign pension companies and governments to demonstrate that the pensioner is alive and entitled to receive payments. It may be requested annually or every other year and the legalisation requirements depend on the receiving jurisdiction. The pensioner will need to appear before the notary with passport and address identification to enable the notary to witness their signature on a notarial certificate.

An affidavit is a statement made under oath. It is the written equivalent of giving evidence in court. If a person makes a statement in an affidavit that is not true or is inaccurate in any way, then that person is potentially committing perjury and there are criminal sanctions which can be enforced in the UK or overseas. It is essential therefore that anyone signing an affidavit is able to make the statements based on their own knowledge and believes the statements to be true. If the affidavit needs to be notarised then it must be signed in person before the notary.

Personal contracts do not usually need to be notarised unless they are going to be used in the USA or relate to property transfers. For a contract to be notarised, it must be signed before the notary who will witness the signature of the person signing, check their identification and confirm that they understand the document and wish to be bound by it.

Medical professionals wishing to work in Australia must register with the Australian Medical Council and/or the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Authority. Both bodies require certain documents to be notarised as part of the application process. As it is not necessary to verify the authenticity of the qualifications, this is a relatively straight-forward process. The applicant must produce the original documents to the notary to enable notarised copies to be produced. The documents may include GCSE certificates to demonstrate that the applicant attended secondary school in the UK, personal identification documents and qualification certificates. It is important to follow current guidance from the AMC and AHPRA as to what documents are required.

A certified copy passport may be required for visa purposes or to obtain a foreign identification number or to operate a foreign bank account. Some countries will accept certification by a UK solicitor but many countries will insist on a notary public.

A change of name deed for use in the UK does not require notarisation but if you are intending to register the change of name overseas, you may opt to use a notary public as your official witness. This will enable to change of name deed to be notarised and legalised. If you have already completed the change of name deed, you can still have it notarised by attaching it to an affidavit declaring it to be a genuine document. The notary public will prepare this document which will need to be signed before the notary public. You will need the original change of name deed and other identification at the appointment.

Warranty Deeds are most often required in connection with property transfers in the USA. The deed requires two witnesses in addition to the notary public signature and seal but the notary can act as one of the witnesses. The other witness can be any competent adult not connected to the signatory or the transaction.

A travel consent may be required if a person under the age of 18 (or 21 for some countries) is travelling without both parents. The requirements depend on the country that the minor is travelling to and whether the minor has a British passport or a foreign passport. Advice should be sought from the airline before travel but there seems to be a great deal of inconsistency in the advice and caution should be used, particularly if the child is travelling with grandparents, family friends or unaccompanied. The consent to travel should also enable the accompanying adult to consent to any necessary medical treatment.

If you wish to marry abroad, you will be asked to complete a declaration to confirm that that you are free to marry. This form will need to be completed by both the bride and the bridegroom and may need to be signed before a notary public, depending on the legal requirements of the overseas jurisdiction. The form will usually be provided by the registrar or celebrant and will need to be signed under oath.