Thread Topic: A "notarized" copy of a foreign passport
Topic Originator: Gloria Delucchi
Post Date May 20, 2010 @ 12:17 PM |
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Gloria Delucchi
1 Posts
(San Francisco, CA)
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A solicitor in England is requesting that an Italian citizen residing in California provide her with a notarized copy of the client's Italian passport. I know that as a NP in California I cannot do that. Can I notarize a statement signed under oath by the holder of the passport that he presented the original passport to me for comparison and that the photocopy is a true copy of that passport? Or something to that effect? Does anyone have appropriate wording? Thank you.
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Marian Harmon
271 Posts
(Lancaster, CA)
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You can notarize a signature an anything almost kind of a statement. There is no actual wording that you can choose, that's up to the individual asking. It's not up to you to tell them what may or may not be appropriate, and to do so crosses in to the line of legal advise.
EXCEPT... you should never notarize a signature on a document wherein you are actually named, so the example you list above is a big no-no.
HOWEVER... There is a document called "copy certification by document custodian" (CCDC) that is commonly used in situations like this. As a notary... you need to be VERY careful that you not supply this to anyone by telling them it's what they need. You don't have the authority to make that decision.
In my opinion, they need to ask you for the form. You'll find some notaries disagree with me on that. I do carry these forms, but only supply them if asked specifically for it.
There's no guarantee that the CCDC form will be accepted in England, so you need to avoid giving them the impression that it will. That's why they should ask for it first.
The best way to approach this is to tell them that state law prevents you from certifying a copy of a passport, and that you're pretty much limited to notarizing their original signature on a document.
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Paul Williamson
103 Posts
(Inverness, FL)
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I know this may sound funny, but it has happened. There is nothing prohibiting the custodian of the passport providing it to someone who is authorized to make certified copies of non-public, original documents, such as passports. Then the certified copy and the original is returned to the custodian.
For example, in Florida, notaries are authorized to make certified copies of some documents. Passports are one of those documents that we can attest to the copy, if we make the copy.
Further, it may be necessary to have the notarization authenticated by the state's Secretary of State, applying an apostille to the notarized document. The solicitor should be able to tell the custodian whether or not a notarized statement by the custodian attesting to the copy would be accepted and whether or not an apostille would be required.
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Joan Bergstrom
187 Posts
(Riverside, CA)
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email me at joan.bergstrom@yahoo.com
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