People often ask us about having their documents 'notarised' or 'attested' by a notary public or by the Indian Consulate, but what does that even mean?
In most cases, they don't know because that's just what their lawyer in India has asked and in this article, we discuss the meanings and give you tips on what you should be asking your lawyer in India to understand the exact requirement.
Notary. Notarised. Notarisation. Notary attested.
Many people use this word as both a noun and as a verb. But the simple fact is that a notary public is a position, title or a role - but it's not a verb. The verb is notarise, which means this is something that the notary public does. For example, the notary public notarises a document. But even the term 'notarisation' can include many different things.- A notary public witnessing you sign a document.
- A notary public certifying a copy of a document.
- A notary public verifying the authenticity or information contained within a document.
- A notary public providing a notary certificate confirming a certain fact.
What about attested?
Occasionally, you may also hear the word 'attest' or 'attested' - but what does this mean? The word 'attest' specifically means that it something is declared to be true or is the evidence of truth. At the heart of what a notary public does is to provide confirmation of facts, whether that's to confirm someone's identity and to witness that they are the person signing a document, or it's to confirm that a document is a certified copy of an original document. Again, the word 'attest' or 'attested' is used in many different context but alone doesn't provide certainty as to what's specifically required.
And consularise?
Is 'consularise' an actual word/verb? Many clients ask for documents to be consularised which presumably means they want it to be stamped by the consulate. In Australia, the consular services for the Indian Government has been outsourced to VFS. In many cases, before VFS will stamp your document, it will need to be notarised by a notary public and sometimes also stamped with an apostille from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).
As both India and Australia are members of the Apostille Convention (see more here), then documents from Australia stamped with an apostille will be recognised in India. However, often despite this official position, some people in India will still want the document to be stamped by VFS before it will be accepted in India.
So what should you ask for?
As you can see, some of these terms aren't actually real words - and that makes it confusing when clients ask for help.
A good idea is to think that when you need notary public services, you need to clearly state whether it involves a person (ie, identifying someone, witnessing their signature, taking an oath or affirmation) or it involves the contents of the document and not specifically the person (ie, certifying a copy, verifying the information).
The difference between the two kinds of service will determine what steps need to happen in order to notarise or attest the documents.
What next?
To obtain a quote on our notary public services for India, please visit https://www.notary-parramatta.com.au/notary-fees/.
Acknowledgements
For more information regarding notary public services for documents going to India, view our notary publications at https://www.notary-parramatta.com.au/jurisdiction/india-notary/.
Frequently asked questions regarding our notary public services can also be found at https://www.notary-parramatta.com.au/faqs/.
For Hindi to English translation services by NAATI accredited translators, see https://hindi-naati-translation.blogspot.com.au/.
Notary Public
Ern Phang is the solicitor director of Phang Legal and a notary public. Ern regularly writes about his experiences as a notary public, including the kinds of problems and solutions that his clients face when sending documents to India.
IMPORTANT: the information in this article is correct at the time of publication, however the law constantly changes. This means you should always refer to the most recent articles because we try to update this blog on a regular basis with the most current information.
