ISSUES/QUERIES RELATING TO NOTARY PUBLIC (“NP”) AND COMMISSIONER FOR OATHS (“CFO”)

1. BRING ALONG the document/s that you wish to sign.  Do not pre-sign the document/s.  The NP or CFO has to verify your identity and then inform you to sign the document/s in front of and in the presence of the NP or CFO.

2. You are not allowed to pre-sign a document and ask another person to bring the document to our office, expecting the NP or CFO to confirm that you had personally attended at our office and signed the document before the NP or CFO.

3. Identity documents to bring along to enable us to verify who you are include the identity card (hard copy or on Singpass app), passport, driving licence and all other cards that bear a recent photograph of yourself.

4. The NP or CFO only witnesses your signing of the document, whatever language it is in, and does not advise you on the contents or its legality. The NP or CFO may decline or refuse to witness your signature if the contents of the document is not clear or not lawful.

5. A Notarial Certificate or Apostille, is mandatory for all documents witnessed by a NP.

6. There is a request of including different documents in a Notarial Certificate to save costs. Please check with the party who has tasked you to sign the documents whether there should be a separate Notarial Certificate for every single document.  Documents cannot be exhibited in the same Notarial Certificate if they are not related or not mentioned in the main document.

7. For Certifying True Copy (CTC), please bring along the original hard copy of the documents so that we can have sight of and compare them with the copies. Please take note that a picture or video footage of the document on a mobile device is (usually) not the original document.

8. We do not offer translation of documents. You can either google for translators, or we can assist by putting you in touch with freelance translators whom we have worked with.   You are to deal directly with the said translators on their charges and turn around time.

9. It is not our practice to issue an appointment letter for you to take leave to attend at our office for matters relating to NP or CFO.

10. We have been asked “Need to wear long pants to go” for an appointment before the NP or CFO. The short answer is you can wear whatever you deem appropriate to attend at our office.

11. While our CFO is listed as available for video commissioning, we prefer that the first session is a physical session in which you attend at our office physically to sign before our CFO. This is to enable us to verify your identity as we may not know you. 

12. NP are still NOT ALLOWED to carry out remote witnessing, although the relevant legislation has been passed in Parliament but not yet come into operation: see https://www.reach.gov.sg/latest-happenings/public-consultation-pages/2024/public-consultation-on-remote-witnessing-and-electronic-signing-of-statutory-declarations. The actual procedures will be published at the appropriate juncture.

13. For documents to be used outside of Singapore, it is more likely than not that you should sign before a NP instead of a CFO.  Please check with the party who has tasked you to sign the documents and/or the issuer of the documents.

14. There may be a requirement for certain type of documents to be signed in a particular type of ink and/or colour. Please check that you are aware of such requirements.  We are not responsible if you sign using the wrong ink or type of ink.

15. We usually do not know the number of sets of documents that you need to sign before the NP or CFO. Please check with the party who has tasked you to sign the documents as to the number of sets needed.  You are to bring along the number of sets required as we may not be able to provide printing services for the number of sets you need.

16. In respect of Statutory Declarations in English for non-standard matters, we can help you to prepare. Charges, depending on the subject matter, complexity and length, will apply and such charges are separate from the charges for NP or CFO.

17. Our CFO is able to interpret English affidavits and Statutory Declarations in Mandarin and Cantonese dialect. Interpretation charges may apply.

18. For payment of the NP and CFO charges, we accept cash and PAYNOW. We regret that we are unable to accept payment by credit card, PAYPAL, the virtual payment apps or virtual currency like Bitcoin.  Further, as we do not offer any credit terms, payments should be on the spot.

19. We are open from Mondays to Fridays, from 9:30am to 5pm and are closed on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. The quickest method is to call our land line 65356077 (not whatsapp) and ask for either Wendy or Florence to check that the NP or CFO will be in the office when you come down.  For non-urgent appointments, it is fine to whatsapp to 96922522 or email to enquiry@tanleeandchoo.com.sg.