Is there a requirement for a personal appearance in front of a notary?
Attending Notary will depend on what the Notary is being asked to certify. If it is a document required for a governmental or court reason, or where you have to sign in his presence, then you may need to see the Notary. Otherwise it should be possible merely to deliver the documents to us without personal appearance. It will all depend upon the task required.If I need to meet with the notary, how long will the notarial appointment take?
If I need to meet with the notary, how long will the notarial appointment take?
Attendance in front of a notary should take around 20 minutes. Attendance may of course take longer if the document is not straightforward, or we have additional documents to draw up. It will assist the process greatly if you can send the documents to us via email prior to your appointment.
What is the availability of a notary?
We keep normal office hours. We will, however make arrangements to see you out of hours, or at your office, as necessary.Attending a notary
Preparing for the notarisation
While each and every notarial instruction is likely to be different, we will require at least the following information and documentation:
- The instruction correspondence and supporting documentation. This is usually from the person who prepared the notarial document or needs the notarial document to be notarised, explaining the nature of the document and the legal requirements of the recipient country.
- For business applications, verification detail of the company entering into a transaction. This usually comprises the act of incorporation and the memorandum and articles of association. It may involve the resolution appointing a director and the resolution authorising a director or another person to undertake a particular transaction.
- For personal applications (or where you appear on behalf of a company), we will require a current valid passport and two utility bills showing your current address (dated within the last three months).
We will discuss additional requirements on application. We will need to be satisfied that you have authority to enter into the notarial act.
Anti-Money Laundering
It should be noted that we are obliged to comply with anti-money laundering legislation. Therefore additional requests for documents and information may, in appropriate circumstances, be required.
Register
We are required under our faculty rules to maintain a register of all notarised public form documents. These are available to all those who have a proper right to see them, including their client and any other parties involved in such documents.
Fees
Our rules require notaries to charge a ‘proper’ fee which is appropriate for the level of service offered and which will enable us to meet the cost of acting properly and within the demands of good professional practice. There is an emphasis on the time taken and the nature of the matter, its complexity and the amount involved.
The legalisation office also levies a charge.