Why don't we print your document?

We don't print documents. It's a policy that we've had for many years as a result of some bad experiences with clients and their documents.

Yes, we know it's inconvenient for you if you don't have your own printer or it's not easy for you to find a printer. There are several printing offices around Parramatta that offer this service. But we don't print documents for clients.

If your lawyer hasn't sent you the original hardcopy document to sign, just make sure you print your document in the form and the format required by your lawyer. Presumably, this will ensure that it's legally valid and will be recognised for whatever it needs to do in India.

Paper requirements are not consistent

Different countries have different document requirements and different paper requirements. For India, it's common that some legal documents are printed on stamped paper, bonded paper, 'legal paper', green foolscap paper, A3-sized paper, or even cardboard. In fact, this isn't even a complete list of variations that we've seen over the years.

All of these papers are not readily available in Australia. In Australia, our documents are generally printed on white A4-sized 80 gsm paper.

We're not in the printing business

Our service is the notary public service. For the most part, this means we're witnessing signatures or certifying documents. But we're NOT printing documents.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, experience has taught us that if we print documents for clients, and for whatever reason the documents aren't correct, incomplete, improperly formatted, or aren't printed on the 'correct' kind of paper then somehow it's our fault and we get blamed (even though there may be nothing wrong with our notary public services in witnessing or certifying documents).

Sure, maybe over the many years, it's only one or two people who have argued that if we printed the document then we're responsible for the document, but that's enough for us to implement a 'no printing' policy across all. It's an unnecessary administrative burden and worries for our office when it's really not part of what we do or what we're paid to do. We just provide the notary public service.

Power of Attorney for India - Getting advice or listening to rumour

Beware - "word of mouth" is NOT the best advice

The unfortunate reality is that too many people come to us with poorly prepared documents based on incorrect/unreliable advice. Sometimes it's because they cannot get the right advice and sometimes it's simply because they listen to rumour or copy what someone else had done previously. In short, if you choose not to get legal advice from a properly qualified and experienced lawyer in India, you're going to run the risk of wasting your money and your time.

Different Country, Different Laws

There are many important reasons why legal documents should be written or prepared in certain ways, especially if those documents are intended to be legally valid, binding and enforceable. Different countries have different laws (even different states within those countries can have different laws), and so it's important that if you're preparing documents for another country that you get the right legal advice for that country.

Although the laws in India and the convention that it follows are largely the results of the British legal system - and similar to Australia - the laws are not exactly the same. Some people ask us to prepare an Australian legal document for use in India, but that is unlikely to be successful just as if you were to bring an Indian legal document and ask the government or the court in Australia to accept it. Of course, there are some documents that the law will recognise because those documents are valid in their country of origin, but without understanding which documents are valid (and for what reason), you're taking a huge risk in guessing.

Ask the right information from the right source

Sometimes, even legal advice may not be enough depending on the intended use of those documents or what you're supposed to achieve. For example, if you're trying to send banking documents to a bank overseas, you could get legal advice on what those documents should be but you would probably have more success contacting the bank to find out what documents they will accept. The bank may have its own forms and other documents and will not accept any other documents, even if those documents are prepared by your lawyer. If you're trying to submit forms to a government office, you should get the right forms from the relevant government department and check with those government officials as to what formal requirements must be followed rather than consult your lawyer (who may not be familiar with the specific requirements of that government department).

So whether it's a specific form, a type of paper (like stamped paper or bonded paper), a certain format, or necessary wording - starting with the right document is the first step.

Signing the document is only the beginning

Aside from preparing the right document, the other thing you'll need to work out is whether there are any other formalities required to ensure that your document is properly signed. For example, some documents may need witnesses, some documents must be signed or stamped in a certain way, some require photographs or fingerprints, and depending on where the document is going to be used it may also need to be countersigned by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and/or the Indian Consulate/VFS.

As a leading provider of notary public services in Sydney, over the last decade and more, we've assisted many people with notarising their documents for use in India. Interestingly, the numerous variations that we've seen make us question whether there is an actual requirement or whether 'anything official looking' with red stamps and seals is sufficient because that seems to be what has been accepted more often than not. Ultimately, the common requirement for all documents being signed in Australia and sent to India is that those documents must be notarised. This is our service to you.

After we have notarised your documents, we highly recommend scanning your documents and sending it to whoever you're dealing with in India to check whether it's sufficient - and if not, for them to propose what else is required BEFORE you physically send your documents to India. If you send your documents to India without checking only to find out that you needed to do something else with your documents, you would generally need to arrange for your documents to be returned to you or arrange to re-sign and notarise your documents. Accordingly, scanning your documents and checking that it's acceptable is going to save you time and money, and provide you with a peace of mind for processing and eventually returning your documents to India.

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.

VFS has rejected your notarised document?

Recently, some of our clients have encountered problems when submitting their notarised documents to VFS.

Unfortunately, you'll need to make your own enquiries with VFS as to what their requirements are when processing your documents regardless of whether those documents are notarised or not, and (as experience and history and taught us) be aware that their requirements can change without warning. Another challenge that you'll face is that documents prepared for you in India (even if they're prepared by your lawyer) and are formatted in a certain way could be rejected by VFS for no other reason than "not enough room" - which is the latest issue that our clients have faced.

This is the unfortunate reality of dealing with VFS. Our clients have had their documents rejected by VFS because after all the signing, witnessing and stamping has been done there is limited space at the end of the document for VFS to attach their stamp or seal. But is this reasonable? Should VFS reject the document simply because there is limited room on the page?

While we, and every other notary, official or consular office face exactly the same challenge on a daily basis, we do not simply reject documents or refuse to help our clients because there is "not enough room" at the bottom of the page. Instead, we address the issue by either 'squeezing' our stamps, seal and signature into the available space at the bottom or in the margins or we attach a separate certificate to the document.

If you've had to have your documents notarised or stamped with an apostille by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, you'll know that a notary certificate can be attached to the document or if you bind your documents then the apostille will be attached to the notary certificate or as a separate bound certificate. Maybe you'll be charged an additional fee for the binding or separate document, but at least your document won't be rejected.

Despite our clients' protests and complaints, VFS has refused to process their documents forcing them to 're-do' (ie, sign, notarise and stamp with an apostille) their documents and incur additional costs! We think it's a questionable attitude and approach especially when VFS (on behalf of the Consulate General of India) is primarily responsible for providing service to and assisting Indian nationals in Australia, but in reality it seems to make 'things more difficult' whether it's due to the bureaucratic model or by choice or design. We're also unsure whether this is an official requirement or a new requirement as it's never been raised previously, or whether it's going to be an ongoing issue. Perhaps it could be just the official who happened to process the documents.

Fortunately, not every document needs to be countersigned by VFS or the Consulate, which means if it can be avoided - then probably you should. However, if it's required, then even before considering what you need to be doing, you should ask whoever you're sending the document to whether VFS or Consulate stamps are required. Unfortunately, if you need to have your document stamped by VFS/Consulate, we're unable to control or determine what they will or won't do. This means we're also unable to guarantee whether your documents will be accepted or not - and that's the reason for this article. When it comes to our notary public services in this regard, our fees for services apply regardless and so you should make your enquiries with VFS before booking an appointment with our office.

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.