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.
