Notary Services

I spent today trying to find out how I can get a simple document notarised.  Here is what i found out.

From http://www.rigbygolding.co.uk

Occasionally you may need to have your signature witnessed by a Solicitor/Commissioner for Oaths, in other words to "swear" a document. You may need to do this if, for example, you lose your house Deeds or act as an Executor. There is a statutory charge for this service of £5 per document and £2 for each exhibit.*  (* An exhibit is any document referred to in the document you are swearing. For example, the Will must be produced when swearing an Oath for Executors.)

If the document is for use in any country other than England or Wales then it must be Notarised.

What does a Notary do?

In England and Wales Notaries are largely concerned with the verification of documents and information that will be used in other countries in the world, for clients who have business or property overseas, or who are involved in litigation in foreign Courts.

If your document is for use in England or Wales please see Commissioners for Oaths.

Notaries form an independent branch of the legal profession, although most are solicitors. Their practice as Notaries is quite separate from their practice of any other profession or business, and is not controlled by the rules affecting solicitors. While Notaries have the powers of a Commissioner for Oaths (and most of them are also Solicitors) the work that they do is mainly concerned with foreign matters and their procedures are entirely different.

When do I need a Notary?

Usually you will have been asked by a third party to sign documents in the presence of a Notary Public. For example, if you are selling or buying a foreign property or giving someone a Power of Attorney abroad.

What is a Notary?

A Notary is a public officer who can verify facts, in the case above that it is you who signed the document and that you understood it. The Notary attaches a certificate to the document and verifies it with his signature and seal.

Also, a Notary is about £60-80...

MrsPink - We just went through this too, because we needed my husband's passport copy certified.  Good idea for an info thread.

Here is a site you can use to find a local notary public.
http://www.thenotariessociety.org.uk/

Also, he called about 4 people and some wanted to charge £60 per page/signature.  We finally found a woman who was willing to do the whole passport for £65. 

For info, if the documents you need notorised/certified copies of are for a British mission overseas, a copy certified by a solicitor will suffice.

Documents such as letters of support and sponsorship do not need to be notorised for UK immigration purposes.

Vicky

MrsPink - We just went through this too, because we needed my husband's passport copy certified.  Good idea for an info thread.

Here is a site you can use to find a local notary public.
http://www.thenotariessociety.org.uk/

Also, he called about 4 people and some wanted to charge £60 per page/signature.  We finally found a woman who was willing to do the whole passport for £65. 

We thought I was going to need to have some forms notarised for Bank of America for the change to my married name.  We found a notary through that listing, but didn't end up needing to in the end. 

Hi everyone,

I've been looking into notarizing a copy of my fiance's passport, since he's not going to be with me when I apply for my spousal visa and I'm kinda iffy on him mailing it to me.

I have a friend whose dad is a New Jersey attorney and a valid notary. He said he would notarize a copy of the passport, but that he only has a stamp, and not a seal.

Does the notarized passport copy need to have a seal on it, or will a stamp suffice? I'm not sure if it will make a difference.

Thanks!
Michelle

I think a stamp will suffice but I'm not sure. My H mailed his to me and I included it in my spousal application (which I mailed). But I understand about being iffy about him sending it to you, in case anything happens.

I've been looking into notarizing a copy of my fiance's passport, since he's not going to be with me when I apply for my spousal visa and I'm kinda iffy on him mailing it to me.

My partner mailed mine, as well as many others have as well.  I can understand the concern, but it isn't too bad.

I have a friend whose dad is a New Jersey attorney and a valid notary. He said he would notarize a copy of the passport, but that he only has a stamp, and not a seal.

You need a certified copy.  A notarized copy would validate that someone appeared, presented a form of ID, and signed a document in the presence of someone else.  Is your fiance going to visit this friend in New Jersey and present his passport so that the attorney can copy it and validate that it is a certified copy of the original document?  It would be amiss of any of us to recommend that you copy the pages and just mail them to an attorney to be stamped.  That would be illegal.  If you fiance is going to be in the UK at the time, he just needs to pop off to a solicitor and have them make a certified copy.

Does the notarized passport copy need to have a seal on it, or will a stamp suffice? I'm not sure if it will make a difference.

Stamps or seals are fine for certified copies of passports (or at least should be) though there have been cases of other documents (like birth certificates or marriage licenses) that have been rejected because they are stamped versus sealed.

Did you send the passport through regular mail, or through FedEx or UPS? We've been fine with regular mail, except one time when it took 6 weeks to get him his birthday present - I wound up beating it to England when I flew over a month later! The mailman said something like "Well that's what you get when you mail someone something near Christmas!" 

And yes, we would go see the notary in person - he's right down the street. I just figured it would be easier to do it while my fiance is here, rather than have him go back to the UK, go to a notary, and then mail the copy back to me.

Maybe I'm just confusing myself - do they need a certified copy of his passport, or a notarized copy? Is it the same thing? Or does certified mean the raised seal?

Bah, maybe I should just have him mail the passport.

It think the distinction is subtle.  A notaries stamp on the copy should be sufficient.  We used regular mail.  It took three days from the UK.  We figured we had time to replace the passport if it did get lost in the mail.  He already had to replace it once because it was lost and it took like 4-5 days from mailing off the stuff until he had his new passport, so we weren't too worried.

Don't forget though that you need a certified copy of every page of the passport, including the blank ones.

We had my husband's passport certified in the UK because we thought the rules said that the passport was supposed to prove that he was "present and settled" in the UK.  Maybe this was only an issue for us since he was living in the US under permanent residency prior to returning to the UK?  If he only has a 3 month visitor visa stamp in his passport then he would be considered present and settled in the UK because he would have to return within 3 months?

We had my husband's passport certified in the UK because we thought the rules said that the passport was supposed to prove that he was "present and settled" in the UK.  Maybe this was only an issue for us since he was living in the US under permanent residency prior to returning to the UK?  If he only has a 3 month visitor visa stamp in his passport then he would be considered present and settled in the UK because he would have to return within 3 months?

I asked a few weeks ago whether it mattered if we had his passport notarized in the US or the UK, because it'll be easier and cheaper for us to do it here in the US. I think the general consensus was that it didn't. I always assumed that the fact that he's a UK citizen with a UK passport would prove that he was settled in the UK.

A US attorney can certify a copy of the passport, providing he actually sees the passport.

Vicky

ok so i need a few copies of my passport certified for a variety of things...

do i bring copies to them and then they certify those?  or just the passport and they make the copy and stamp?

Thanks!

so now i am so confused

the bank needs a certified copy of my passport.  So a notary doesn't do this?  A lawyer does?

I want to avoid paying 65 quid a page, OMG!!!!!!

Did you send the passport through regular mail, or through FedEx or UPS? We've been fine with regular mail, except one time when it took 6 weeks to get him his birthday present - I wound up beating it to England when I flew over a month later! The mailman said something like "Well that's what you get when you mail someone something near Christmas!" 

That happened to my once too, I'm assuming they sent it surface mail instead of air mail. He sent his regular (air mail) and it got here in 7 business days. No trouble at all that was: his passport, his birth certificate, his parents mortgage papers etc etc. So I'd say just get him to send it...you might worry a bit but its unlikely that anything will happen to it. Or maybe we were just lucky, I don't know.