As a Notary I offer a personal service, and each document that needs notarisation will be unique. The information below is set out by way of guidance for notary clients. There is a wide range of different work which a notary may be asked to assist with, and factors such as the value, importance, speed (urgency), complexity and specialised skills needed may be taken into account when providing an estimate of fees for a particular notarial matter in addition to the time involved. Therefore, the fees will vary depending on the individual circumstances. Please get in touch with me with details of what you need. I would like to provide you with an estimate of my notarial fee and any anticipated additional costs for legalisation or other likely costs and an estimated timescale.

My current hourly rate for notary work is £300. My minimum fee is £80. Examples of fees for notarial work where I may charge a fixed fee include:

1. Notarising one copy of your photo card, driving licence (or other proof of address) and one copy of your passport photograph page: £80

2. Extra notarised copies of identification: £10 per extra copy required

3. Notarising a full passport (all pages): £150 for up to 24 pages, including cover (based on ½ an hour of my time), £225 for longer passports (based on 45 minutes of my time)

4. Pension letters or forms confirming you are alive: £80 (a discount for subsequent years may be applied at my discretion).

Examples of fees for notarial work are based on the time involved and for which I would provide an estimate once I know what you would like to do. I have seen the draft documentation to be notarised, including:

5. Affidavit pre-prepared and ready to be sworn before me as a notary: minimum £80.

6. Affidavit of facts prepared by me in a notarial certificate, e.g. freedom to marry: from £225 (from 45 minutes)

7. Powers of attorney: from £300 (minimum 1 hour)

8. Company documents –from £300 (minimum 1 hour)

9. Verification of qualifications – from £300 (minimum 1 hour), but the time involved depends on how many qualifications need to be notarised and how many organisations I will need to contact to verify them. For example, if you have 3 A Levels and a degree to be verified, the time involved to verify that they are genuine might be around 2 hours, and my fee would be £600.

Additional costs

In addition to my notarial fee, any extra costs which have to be paid to other companies or organisations as part of the notarisation process, such as legalisation fees, company house searches, translations, the cost of verification of qualifications and courier charges, all of which would be in addition to my fee. These can vary, so I can provide an up-to-date estimate of these extra costs when you ask me for details about the fees and these costs.

The most common type of authentication of my signature and seal is legalisation by Apostille, which the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office affixes. They offer a standard and a premium service. If you would like me to arrange for an apostille to be affixed, I usually use a consular agent to assist. The document could then be returned to me or you by special delivery post, or it could be couriered to a different country, for example, to the lawyer who had prepared the document, which has been notarised. Currently, the usual cost from the consular agent for obtaining the Apostille using the standard service with the document being returned by special delivery to a UK address is £57, and with the document being sent by courier to an overseas address is £108; using the premium service with the document being returned by special delivery to a UK address is £132 and with the document being sent by courier to an overseas address is £183. Alternatively, you may wish to apply for the Apostille yourself. (The FCDO charge £30 for the standard Apostille and £75 for the Premium Apostille.)

Timescales

I can give you an estimated timescale for completing the notary work when I hear you with details of what you need notarised. This can vary depending on the type of document that needs notarisation, whether legalisation is required (see below), my existing work commitments and availability (currently, my usual working days are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday). If I am unable to assist with the notarisation of your document, or if I am unable to help in the timescale that you need, then I will usually suggest an alternative notary who may be able to assist you instead, or you may wish to look at the Find a Notary page on the Faculty Office website:- https://www.facultyoffice.org.uk/notaries/find-a-notary/ For some types of notary work, I may be able to see you on the same day to notarise the document, for example, if you would like a notarised copy of your identification document. In other cases, there may be preparatory work needed; for example, if I need to verify a qualification such as a degree awarded to you from a UK University, it can take some time for a reply to be received from the university or through the HEDD (Higher Education Degree Datacheck) service when I enquire.

Legalisation timescales

If legalisation by Apostille is needed, you will have a choice as to whether you would prefer to arrange this yourself or would like me to arrange this through a consular agent on your behalf. The consular agent can arrange for the Apostille to be affixed to a document using the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office’s standard or premium service, which is faster than the standard service.

The timescales can vary depending on the service which the FCDO is providing. The usual timescale for the standard service using a consular agent for an apostille is 2-4 days. The usual timescale for the premium service is a 24-hour turnaround if the document can be sent to the consular agent by special delivery before 9 am the next day, which realistically means that I would need to have met with you and notarised your document before 1 pm on the day that it is to be sent out by special delivery to the consular agent, for the Apostille to be affixed on the next day and for the document to be collected the day after. After that, it can be couriered to the destination the document needs to reach (or returned to you or me by special delivery post). Whilst the above timescales cannot be guaranteed, these are the usual timescales.

Some documents may require consular legalisation in addition to or to the Apostille being affixed. I would usually check with a consular agent what the current costs (or estimated costs) and approximate timescales for this legalisation would be and then advise you accordingly.