Yuen Law offers the full suite of Notary Public services, from notarisation of documents (certifying true copies of their original documents), to witnessing and attesting the execution of documents, and administering oaths and affirmations for affidavits and declarations.
A Notary Public is an individual appointed by the Board of Commissioners for Oaths and Notaries Public to notarise documents, meaning to certify that documents are authentic and have been validly executed. Almost every Notary Public is a qualified lawyer with many years of experience.
We can notarise your documents for local use, and you must then get them authenticated by the Singapore Academy of Law.
If you require documents to be legalised for use overseas, do note that the process has changed since the Apostille Act 2020 came into force on 16 September 2021.
Now, all documents requiring legalisation for use overseas will need to be apostilled by the Singapore Academy of Law. This applies whether they are Singapore government documents (marriage/birth certificates, education certificates, etc), private documents (power of attorney, title deeds, etc), or commercial documents (invoices, certificates of origin, bills of sale,, etc). However, private documents need to be notarised first before apostillisation by SAL.
Authentication of documents is a two-step process
This is for documents that require authentication for use in Singapore.
- Notarisation: A Notary Public will stamp the document and issue a Notarial Certificate. Yuen Law provides same-day turnaround for notarisation. Do give us a call before walking in during office hours as our operations may have changed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Authentication: Next, you will need to bring the notarised document to the Singapore Academy of Law (SAL) to be authenticated. As of 1 September 2021, SAL does not require an appointment for this, and accepts only walk-ins during operating hours.
Legalisation of private documents to be presented outside of Singapore
- Notarisation: Yuen Law provides notarisation services for private documents that need to be legalised for overseas use have to be notarised. To get your private documents legalised, get them notarised first by Yuen Law’s Notary Public,
- Legalisation: Bring your notarised documents to the Singapore Academy of Law to get an Apostille Certificate affixed. No appointment is necessary, and this can be done in-person or by proxy.
Apostille Act 2020 (Singapore) — in force since 16 October 2021
Legalisation of documents used to be a tedious and costly process that entailed in-person visits to SAL or a Notary Public, and then to the consulates or embassies of the destination country to get the documents signed and sealed, among other legal requirements of the foreign country.
As of October 2021 when the Singapore Apostille Act 2020 came into force, this has been much simplified to a 2-step process for documents that need to be recognised in member countries of the 1961 Hague Convention Treaty. Please refer to this chart or the Singapore Academy of Law’s website for more details. (Do note that you will still need to follow the usual legalisation process for documents intended to be used in non-contracting countries.)
In general, if you require our Notary Public to witness the execution of your documents, please do not pre-sign your document before coming to the Yuen Law office. You need to sign it in the presence of our Notary Public.
Yuen Law also offers additional services that you may need. If there’s a pressing reason why you cannot come to our office, we offer on-site notary services. We can also submit your finalised documents to foreign embassies for legalisation.
Notarial Fees are prescribed under the Notary Public Rules. Depending on the exact nature of service, there may be additional fees. It is best to call us beforehand, so we can give you a cost estimate for notarial services you require.
For assistance in matters concerning Notaries Public, do contact us to make an appointment.
