Notary & Apostille F.A.Q.

1. How do I notarize or certify a copy of my passport, driver’s license or other government, company or educational documents?
Commonwealth of Virginia notaries have no authority to compare a copy with the original of a document and notarize it or write a statement where we “certify it is a true copy.” VA notaries are only allowed to notarize a written statement or agreement someone is making about something or someone plus the signer’s original signature, so notarizing copies of passports, educational documents, or anything else, do not qualify.

What we can do in these types of situations is notarize a statement (that can be written or typed directly on the copy or as an attachment) that the owner of the original makes about the copy. We cannot tell you what to write (since we are not attorneys), but we have seen others say something like “I affirm that the attached is a photocopy of my VA Driver’s License” or whatever the original document is (wording the VA County Clerk allows if obtaining an apostille afterwards). You can check with the person or organization receiving your documents as to whether this alternate certification/notarization format will be acceptable. Someone in management at a company can write and sign a stronger statement, where he or she certifies that a copy of a company document is a true and accurate copy (if his or her company created the document). We could then notarize that statement and signature. None of the above techniques can be used for Commonwealth of Virginia vital records such as birth certificates, marriage certificates or death certificates (certified copies would have to be obtained from the VA Department of Health Division of Vital Records and Health Statistics for birth, death and certified marriage records or from www.vitalchek.com). In addition, for education documents, your receiving authority may be looking for the school to make the statement, instead of you. There is a procedure for obtaining a certified copy of your US passport through the US State Department that you can do yourself for $50 plus shipping, which is detailed here: http://www.travel.state.gov/passport/npic/npic_872.html). We do not know how long it takes for this State Department method.

2. Is there a VA notary and apostille office I can visit?
For notary jobs, this is strictly a traveling notary housecall/officecall service (A notary can meet you at your home, office, local cafe or any other convenient location for notarizations). For the apostille service, we do offer an office to manage the apostille process (at 214 Aidan Dr, Orange, VA 22960, by appointment only). We do not provide the apostilles at the office (we obtain them for you by bringing your document to the county and state agencies within the VA government). Documents that require an apostille that don’t require notarization can be sent via FedEx to a mailing address we can provide once the documents are reviewed.

3. Can you obtain a certified copy of my VA marriage certificate?
We would need the original of a notarized authentication letter. You can click on the link below for the wording and format required.

• Download a sample consent letter

You can fill in the following names on the line for who to provide the records to: Teresa Tamrat.  We also will need a xerox of your marriage license that includes date and location of marriage and full names of bride and groom and birthdates.

Then we will obtain the proper authentications or apostille after obtaining the marriage certificate.

4. How does it work with a mobile or traveling notary public and what is the difference between a mobile notary and a regular notary?
A mobile notary is just like any regular notary public except that a Commonwealth of Virginia mobile notary travels to your location to notarize your documents. In addition to the $5 fee allowed by law for each notarization, mobile notaries in VA are permitted to charge a travel fee. VA mobile notaries are, typically, much more knowledgeable about how to properly notarize a document since we notarize all day, 7 days a week, while notaries who notarize on a part-time basis typically have minimal notary public training and experience. About 75% of the notarizations we see from other notaries are done incorrectly. You can witness the frequent rejection of improper notarizations at the local County Clerk’s office. All we will say here is: Let the buyer beware. To set up a traveling VA Notary appointment, simply provide us with your window of availability so we can schedule a time and you choose the location.

5. What on earth is an “apostille”?
It means “word that is impossible to pronounce or spell.” No, not really. Actually, it is a French word (pronounced ah-poh-STEEL) and is often misspelled as “apostil” and “apostile.”  It is a form of authentication issued by the Commonwealth of Virginia Secretary of State that is attached to foreign-bound documents being sent to countries that participate in the Hague Convention of 1961. 

6. What is an apostille agent?
An apostille agent walks the document through the apostille process, which typically includes a VA notarization and/or local county authentication and the apostille attachment by the Commonwealth of Virginia Secretary of State.

7. Can you notarize a document written in a foreign language?
Yes, as long as we can communicate with the signer directly in English.

8. Do you notarize on weekends?
Yes, we provide mobile notary service on weekends (both Saturday and Sunday)…and even most holidays. The local Commowealth of Virginia County and State offices are not open on weekends for VA apostille service, but we can get things started by having a Notary meet you during the weekend or receiving the documents by FedEx.