Can anyone advise on Notary services which won't cost the earth? South or Central preferably.
I need a notarized copy of my birth, marriage certs plus passport. Has anyone done this kind of thing before and could recommend a place and give me an idea of costs? Either walk in or appt based is fine. I have googled, but in most cases fees are pretty opaque.
Posted Jan 15, 2019, 6:20 PM UTC
04
Hi, so I worked as a Notary for over a year. I'm not going to recommend my old place, but where are they going to be used? I assume its for use abroad.
If you got it done at the last place I worked, you'd be looking at a bill of around £250+vat, so around 300 quid total, but other places probably have a more sane charging system. Some places do 50 quid a document, I think OT Lowry might be able to help you there but I can't attest to the quality of anyone's work.
It's not going to be cheap either way to be honest. I'd just go to a local Notary, you'll have to ring them up to get a quote. In order to notarise your birth and marriage certificates they're goin to have to verify the authenticity of the document with the registry, and this is why the cost might be inflated. They'll charge you like 40 quid just to contact the registry and get their certification of the documents authenticity, then maybe another 50 quid for the notarial certificate itself.
If you need to legalise the documents with an apostille (what country is it to be used in?) then its cheaper to do it yourself by mailing the document to the legalisation office in Milton Keynes, the Notary might charge you like 100 quid in fees + the apostille cost just to legalise it for you. Unless it's urgent, in which case you'll want to ask the Notary to legalise it through the premium service then you'll have to pay out the ass, but it's a same day legalisation once the document has been notarised.
You're going to have to phone around to get estimates as it's not as simple as charging per document. My old place would probs be around 300 all in but others are likely cheaper, mine was in the city and has mostly corporate clients.
Ok, thanks. That's a comprehensive answer!