Notary Public Singapore

Notarisation is the act of a notary public authenticated by his signature and official seal, certifying the due execution in his presence of a deed, contract or other writing, or verifying some fact.

Legalisation is the authentication by the embassy or consulate, located in the country of the notary public, of the country in which the document is to be used, ie it is the official attestation of the origins of a document. Therefore, a document executed in Singapore for use in Australia would be legalised by the Australian High Commission/Embassy in Singapore and a document executed in Australia for use in Singapore would be legalised by the Singapore High Commission/Embassy in Australia.

If a client intend to use a document overseas, then the recipient/local authorities/embassy of that country may require it to be legalised before it can be considered valid in the country where the client’s documents are to be used.

No, each country has its own legalisation requirements determined by the type of document being legalised and its intended use.

Legalisation is not compulsory and the need for notarisation is determined entirely by the party receiving the documents.

A notarised document without an authentication certificate/Apostille by SAL is INVALID for use overseas.

The notarised documents will be processed on-the-spot, over the counter and returned immediately after processing.

No. A representative may submit the document for authentication on your behalf.

Any recipient of the system-generated notarised document will be able to search and verify the authenticity of the notarised documents via a search register at https://legalisation.sal.sg/.

No. A Notarial Certificate must be issued for ALL documents notarised by a Notary Public and be bound by a Red Ribbon in the SAL prescribed format. This is mandatory regardless of any embassy requirement. A notarised document that does not conform to the prescribed format is invalid.

Rule 8 of the Notaries Public Rules (Cap 208, R1) states that it is mandatory for all notaries public to issue a Notarial Certificate for each document attested by the notary public. For multiple copies of the same document, a separate Notarial Certificate is required for each copy. The only exception applies for Certified True Copies.