Notary Legal Services Melbourne

A full range of notarial services is available at our firm including certification of documents, notarial certificates and witnessing of documents.

Please have the following information available when you contact us for an appointment:

• full name, address and contact telephone number
• description of document
• name of country requiring the document
• number of people to attend and sign
• number of copies of document to be signed or certified
• company details if a company is involved; this may include production of company constitution, preparation of a statutory declaration by director or the attendance of directors to sign on behalf of the company; the company seal may also be required.
• whether a certificate is provided on the document, usually the certificate is prepared by us
• whether a copy of the document can be emailed to us with a copy of any covering letter from your local or overseas lawyers, patent attorneys, government department or commercial associates
• details of available identification including Australian or overseas passport, overseas identity card if applicable or Victoria Driver Licence; identification should be current for all signatories
• if a certificate is required on witnessing a signature please advise how the person will sign e.g. "J. Smith, John Smith, John P. Smith, John Paul Smith, etc."

Costs

Our costs can usually be estimated after we see the documents and obtain information set out above. Typical costs range from $110.00 to witness a single document (where a Notarial Certificate is not required) to upwards of $500.00 for more complex matters.

Appointments

Normally if we have documents in advance only one appointment is necessary. We usually prepare any necessary certificates before your appointment. This is more efficient for you, much faster and less expensive.  Appointments out of the office will involve an additional charge.

Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade - document legalisation service

Some documents, once Notarised, require further stamping at DFAT and some documents also require stamping at a Consulate.

Details of the fees charged by DFAT are available from their website, www.dfat.gov.au. Please note the location of the Melbourne office and the usual office hours.

General telephone and email enquiries are now handled by the Australian Passports Information Service (APIS).  The "document legalisation request form" is available from the Smart Traveller website at http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/services/legalising-documents-australia.html

Documents can be submitted to DFAT by mail or in person. To attend DFAT in person, an appointment must first be made.

Office hours in Melbourne are currently 8.30am to 1.00pm.

A link to the Smart Traveller website is provided here: www.smarttraveller.gov.au

Other Embassies & Consulates

Fees vary for each country. Telephone enquiries will usually be answered without delay by the respective embassies and consular offices.

Interpretation & Translation

In some circumstances interpretation may be required. Similarly an official translation of written documents may be needed. Please advise us if any document is in a language other than English and if the person signing is not literate in English and the language of the document.

Copying

We have facilities for black and white and colour copying to A4. In some circumstances larger documents can be reduced in size to A4. The reduction in size will be noted on any certificate attached to a copy.

Naturally you must produce the original document for examination by us even if you have arranged your own copying.

Visit our law firm for more.