How to get your documents notarised – Notary Public Sydney

Before you visit a Notary, you should take the following steps to ensure that your documents are notarised in an efficient and cost-effective way:

Before you attend a Notary

If you require a notary to certify or attest to a private document for use in a foreign country, it is highly recommended that you ask a lawyer from the country in question, to draft the document. While it is certainly possible for Notaries to draft legal documents, it is very difficult, unless the Notary is intimately familiar with the applicable laws of the foreign country, to guarantee that the document will be valid in that jurisdiction. Accordingly, we would highly recommend that you hire a lawyer from the country in question to draft the document/s. If you require assistance in this regard, we can assist you with locating and contacting overseas lawyers.

It is also highly recommended that you take time to carefully review the documents you wish to have notarised before you attend a Notary public Sydney and to complete the document/s to the best of your ability.  However, do not sign the document if you are required to do so.  Notaries are legally required to witness your signature and if you have already signed the document, you will need to sign again which can cause some confusion in foreign jurisdictions.  If you have already signed the document/s which need to be notarised, we recommend that you print them out again. 

Once you attend our office, we will provide you with a Notarial Certificate of the original which attests that it is a true copy of the original.

What to bring to your appointment

We recommend that beyond bringing hard copies of the document/s you want to have notarised, that you also bring 100 points of valid ID with you.  You should also check that the details as they appear on your documents are the same as those on your corresponding ID documents.  

Translations

If we are required to check your understanding of the document/s, you will need to provide us with an accredited English translation, which you should bring with you to our appointment.  You can obtain an accredited English translation from the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI). 

Stamp / Bonded Paper

In certain cases the document/s you require to be notarised with need to be printed on stamp or bonded legal paper.  Stamp and bonded legal paper is not widely available in Australia and we cannot provide it to you.  If it is necessary that your documents are printed on either one of these papers then we strongly recommend that you have the documents printed overseas and sent to you by registered post.