Attesting copies of your passport (and other documents) during the lockdown

Notary public services continue for some documents

At the moment our office is closed to the public due to the restrictions and the current stay-at-home orders in place across Greater Sydney. However, as a leading provider of notary public services in Sydney that hasn't stopped us from continuing to offer notary public services in support of the Indian community with respect to certain documents.

While we can't provide witnessing services (ie, for the power of attorney or declarations or affidavits) right now, we can still attest, certify and notarise copies of original documents such as:

• passports (Australian and foreign passports)
• Australian visas (VEVO)
• Australian birth certificates
• Australian marriage certificates
• Australian death certificates
• Australian police clearance certificates
• Australian drivers licences, and
• Australian utility bills.

If you're in urgent need of these services, then please review the following steps to see which relates to you. You can always call us on 02 9687 8885 if you have any questions about whether we're able to assist you and you can always choose to wait until the restrictions have been lifted to make an appointment with our office.

Attesting copies of original passports

Original passports should be delivered to us by courier. You can attempt to post it to us, however considering that items often are lost in the mail, we don't recommend this method.

A courier service is generally a door-to-door service. If you have any trouble arranging your own courier, we can arrange for a courier to collect your documents from you. The courier service that we use is generally a same-day service across Sydney, which sometimes means we can arrange for a collection in the morning and a return delivery by the afternoon (or the following business day at the latest).

Many of our clients have already elected to use service to great success and satisfaction, and so it's already a proven process during these past few weeks.

Attesting copies of Australian visas (VEVO)

As the VEVO is an electronic document, we can verify and notarise a copy of your VEVO without a physical document. In order to notarise your VEVO, we must verify your visa status and obtain a copy of your VEVO from the Department of Home Affairs. This allows us to confirm the details of your visa and we notarise a true and correct printed copy of the electronic document (ie, your VEVO) that we obtain from the Department of Home Affairs.

In most cases (because we offer discount pricing), we notarise a copy of your VEVO with a copy of your passport which also means that you'll need to provide us with your original passport as well (see above). However, if you prefer to avoid the logistics of sending your passport, we can notarise the VEVO by itself.

Once we have notarised your VEVO (and your passport), we arrange for a same-day courier to return the notarised documents (with any original documents) to you.

Attesting copies of Australian personal certificates

Birth certificates, marriage certificates, and death certificates issued in Australia (or for this specifically, issued from NSW) are issued by the Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages.

You must either arrange for these documents to be issued by the Registry directly to our office or if you have the original you can either post them or have them delivered to us by a courier. As these certificates can generally be easy to replace (ie, it's just an application to the Registry) we think using the post should be sufficient and it's unnecessary to incur the additional cost of a courier unless you wish to have the possibility of a same-day service or you have other documents, such as your passport.

After we've notarised copies of your certificates, we're able to return the original certificate and the notarised copy to you by same-day courier.

Attesting copies of Australian police clearance certificates

Police certificates issued by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) or the NSW Police can also be sent to us by mail or by courier. We require the original certificate as it contains security features which is important for the purposes of verifying that the document is original and authentic.

If you've obtained your certificate from an authorised accredited body, we can generally verify these certificates online through the relevant website as they're normally issued electronically. If you're not sure whether you can rely on a certificate from an authorised accredited body, we recommend applying for your police clearance certificate from the AFP or NSW Police.

Once we've notarised your police clearance certificate, we'll arrange for it to be returned to you by same-day courier.

Attesting copies of Australian drivers licences

We cannot notarise copies of your digital drivers licence. This means that if you want copies of your drivers licence to be notarised, you must arrange for your original drivers licence to be delivered to us.

We recommend using a courier service to deliver your drivers licence to us rather than sending it to us by post. Once we receive your drivers licence, we're able to notarise a copy of it and return both the notarised copy and the original licence to you by same day courier.

We're unable to notarise copies of an overseas drivers licence UNLESS it's part of our Indian Drivers Licence Verification (IDLV) service. For the time being, due to the current restrictions, we've suspended our IDLV service as it also requires you to attend our office in person to verify your identity and to sign the IDLV affidavit.

Attesting copies of Australian utility bills

If you're attempting to provide evidence of your current address (ie, to VFS) by supplying a copy of your utility bill, it's likely that your utility bill must be notarised. As most utility providers now issue their bills and statements electronically, you must to arrange for your provider to email a copy of your bill to us directly.

Once we receive your bill from your provider, we're able to verify and certify the bill by confirming that it was received directly from your provider. We can then notarise your utility bill on that basis. After we've notarised your utility bill, we'll arrange to have it returned to you by same-day courier which means this  process can be completed quite quickly.

What next?

To obtain a quote on our notary public services for India, please visit https://www.notary-parramatta.com.au/notary-fees/.

Acknowledgements

This blog is supported and maintained by Phang Legal. Phang Legal is a leading provider of notary public services in Sydney. With offices conveniently located in Parramatta, Phang Legal supports and services the Indian community across Sydney with readily available and easily accessible notary public services at highly competitive rates.

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/.

Ern Phang
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.

Surviving the lockdown when you need to get things done

Thank you to everyone who has asked about our notary public services. We appreciate your interest and consideration, however as we would have mentioned to you over the phone or by reply email - our office remains closed to the public while the current restrictions and 'stay at home' orders are in place. Stay tuned to government announcements in case the restrictions are extended.

Of course, we understand that some people have very urgent matters that they need to attend to overseas and that delays can be costly. We wish we could help. Our notary public services rely heavily on face-to-face appointments and so the current situation is not ideal for us either.

We will continue to review this situation as it unfolds and in light of government announcements. Further updates will be announced in due course.

What can we notarise during the restrictions in Greater Sydney? (July 2021 update)

We are currently closed for face-to-face appointments

Thanks for your continued interest in our services and our support. Unfortunately, due to the extended restrictions across Greater Sydney, our office is still closed to face-to-face appointments until further notice.

What does this mean?

We're still providing legal and notary public services, however, they're limited to services that don't require face-to-face appointments. These services include:

• Attesting or certifying copies of documents. Generally, this still means that you must arrange for the original document to be delivered to our office*. We do NOT recommend posting important original documents like passports but if it's urgent and absolutely necessary, then you should arrange for your document to be couriered to our office. Once notarised, our office will arrange for a return courier to ensure that your original documents and notarised copies are returned to you safely and securely.
• Verifying documents. If you have certain electronic documents that must be verified (such as Australian visa documents (ie, VEVO), Australian educational documents, Australian medical documents, Australian employment documents), these documents can be verified (before being notarised) with whoever issued the documents. Alternatively, if these documents are not electronic documents and there are only original documents, then the same applies as attesting and certifying. We require the original documents to be delivered to our office* before we can contact whoever issued the documents to verify them.

*If you personally deliver original documents to our office, you may be subject to a fine for breaching the current 'stay-at-home' orders. Any documents must be able to be slipped under our door as our office will NOT receive you or open the door for you when you arrive.

Accordingly, we can only recommend that you arrange for your document to be sent by courier (or if you are not concerned that the document could be lost, arrange for it to be posted) otherwise we suggest waiting until the restrictions have been lifted.

Importantly, during the current restrictions, we are not providing services that require a face-to-face appointment, mainly this refers to services that include witnessing. This means we cannot notarise documents such as:

• Power of attorney, both general power of attorney and special power of attorney.
• Declarations and affidavits (including the Indian Drivers Licence Verification)
• Passport renewal forms such as Form V, Form I, or Form J
• Australian visa renewal such as Form 1229
• Life certificates
• Court documents

For this service or for any of these documents that require witnessing or a face-to-face appointment, you must wait until the restrictions have been lifted before calling our office to make an appointment.

Update

Restrictions for Greater Sydney have now been extended to 30 July 2021.

Do you offer discounts for notary fees?

Notary public fees

The NSW Government publishes recommended notary fees for notary public services, however, notaries are not required to follow this scale and can charge whatever they want - or whatever the market is willing to support.

The reality is that notary public services can be expensive because only senior lawyers who have qualified to be a notary public (and admitted as a notary public) can practice as a notary public. Accordingly, when seeking notary public services, you are also asking for assistance from a senior lawyer.

We don't strictly follow the recommended notary fees, which can be complicated and confusing, rather we apply our own discounted fixed fee rate for all of our notary public services. In that way, everyone already receives a discounted fixed fee, cheaper than what they would pay elsewhere. To obtain a quote, please visit our website for more information (see below).

No, notary public services are not free

Perhaps you are confusing a notary public for a justice of the peace. A justice of the peace is a free service. A notary public is not a free service.

If you need to use your documents in Australia, then generally you should be able to use a justice of the peace to attest your documents or to witness your signature. However, if you need to submit your documents to VFS or you need to send your documents to India (or any other country overseas) then likely you would need to have your documents notarised by a notary public.

If you're not sure whether your documents must be notarised by a notary public, then you should ask whoever has asked you to have your documents attested in Australia whether you can have them attested by a justice of the peace. If they accept a justice of the peace, then presumably you don't need to have your documents attested by a notary public.

If your documents must also be authenticated by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade or stamped with an apostille (especially if your documents are being used in India or need to be submitted to VFS), then your documents must be notarised by a notary public, they cannot be attested by a justice of the peace.

Why do people think that notary public services are free? 

This is a little confusing. Notary public services around the world are not free, so why do people think that notary public services in Australia would be free? Of course, you may still find notaries who are willing to provide free services - but this would be an exception rather than the general expectation. As mentioned above, perhaps people are confusing notary public services with services of a justice of the peace.

While a notary public and a justice of the peace are titles of roles that come with responsibilities and obligations, many people use the words as though they are verbs.

For example, people ask "can you notary this document?" or "can you justice of the peace this copy?"

That's like asking "can you firefighter this fire?" or "can you policeman this criminal?"

Although it actually doesn't make sense, we still need to understand what people are asking and what they actually need. There are so many people who call us and just say "I want to notary", which we interpret as meaning they require notary public services.

Also, just because we provide notary public services, we are not a justice of the peace and therefore we do not provide services of a justice of the peace. Again, these are just titles of roles that people have for the services that they provide and they are not randomly interchangeable just because someone wants a 'free' service and not a paid service. This means that as a notary public we don't just "JP" a document or "just sign it but don't notary it". Again, that doesn't actually make any sense.

We are a notary public service. As a notary public service we provide notary public services. This means that we notarise documents and notarisation means we sign and seal documents.

Are you the cheapest?

Why is this one of our most commonly asked questions? Sure no one wants to pay more than what they should, but our fee is already low and it's fixed. A lot of other notary public services don't offer this kind of low-cost fixed fee service. If you want to continue to shop around, that's your choice. Everyone's entitled to look for a service provider that's within their budget or price range. We certainly don't guarantee that we're the cheapest, but we're certainly not the most expensive either. But to ask us if we're the cheapest isn't going to help. You'll have to do your own research because we don't promote 'cheap' and we don't promise that we're the cheapest either.

Do you offer further discounts?

We might offer further discounts on certain fees or combinations of documents, especially those required by clients wanting to send their documents to India. However, these discounts are only applied to specific bundles of documents that are notarised together or to multiple documents that need to be notarised exceeding a specific amount (ie, 10+). Discounts aren't applied arbitrarily or just because someone asks.

Many people think that discounts should be applied subjectively and possibly arbitrarily just because they ask. Some even think they're entitled to a discount and they demand a discount.

This is NOT how we operate especially since it's inherently unfair to others. For example, if you ask and are given a discount, but someone else doesn't ask and they aren't given a discount, is that fair? If that doesn't help, how about if someone else received a discount but you don't - for now real reason. Is that fair? Unfortunately, many people seem to think that they're entitled to a discount while totally disregarding what everyone else pays for our services. Why should they be entitled to a discount or why they should pay less than everyone else? Our pricing policy ensures that everyone pays the same fee so that it's fair for everyone.

What do you really want?

So many people want so many things. They want attention now. They want the best service. They want to pay the lowest price. They want the fastest turnaround. They want the closest location. If you can find a notary public who can tick all the boxes, then you're fortunate. But if that's not possible, then you'll need to start to consider what's most important to you. It's about understanding your own priorities.

There's no point calling us for an appointment, but complaining that the price is too high. If the price is too high, then look for someone who is cheaper. There's no point telling us that no one else who is cheaper is available to see you now or that they're further away. We can help you, but you need to choose us to help you. 

What next?

To obtain a quote on our notary public services for India, please visit https://www.notary-parramatta.com.au/notary-fees/.

Acknowledgements

This blog is supported and maintained by Phang Legal. Phang Legal is a leading provider of notary public services in Sydney. With offices conveniently located in Parramatta, Phang Legal supports and services the Indian community across Sydney with readily available and easily accessible notary public services at highly competitive rates.

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/.

Ern Phang
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.