Are you a bank account holder? Or you’re planning to apply for a bank account sooner? If so, you will be asked to provide documents that are certified as true copies, commonly known as a certified true copy of the original document.

Now, firstly the question that your mind clicked would be that which banks certify documents? Or the documents are certified by someone else. Among all these confusions, this article will be the best helping guide for you. In many cases, certification of your documents is the most essential part of the application process. If certification is not done correctly, it can cause delays in the verification of your documents and as a result, you may get your bank account late. But apart from this, there are a lot of people with zero information about the certification of documents. If you’re one of them, don’t worry. Just read this article thoroughly and it will solve all your queries. So, let’s start!

What is document certification?

Document certification is broadly an action you perform to verify your documents from a qualified third party. It is the document that has to be a true copy by an appropriate certifying authority. You require them when you want to open your bank account or undergo some other legal procedure. In case, you’re applying for a foreign visa, then your documents required for the process will not only be certified but will be translated also to the native language of the country you’re moving to. It is something that needs to be done very carefully because if your certification has problems with it, you may not able to proceed further in your bank account opening process or in getting a visa for travel purposes. Hence, to some extent, you might have understood the certification of documents. Let’s proceed further!

Who can certify your documents?

In the case of making true copies of your original documents, therefore, make sure to certify your document from someone professional who has previous experience in this field. It is better if the person you choose for your certification is not in any relationship with you. Some of the main people who have the legal authority to certify documents include:

• Bank or building societal officials
• Minister of religion
• Councilors in offices
• Chartered Accountant
• Notaries or Solicitor
• Health professionals like Doctor or Dentist
• Teacher or Lecturer

However, the process of certification of documents of two countries can vary based on their laws. For example, in Hong Kong documents can only be certified by notaries, lawyers, public accountants, or a company secretary. While in the U.S. any professional person having good standing in the community is authorized to certify documents. The person certifying the document may charge you some fees.

Which documents need certification?

The choice of documents depends upon the purpose for which you want them to be certified. The certification asks you to get true copies of your documents by the signatures of notaries. These include:

• Foreign Passport
• Letters from a hospital or a doctor
• Photocard driving license
• Letters from the government department
• Copies of Diplomas and national identity card
• Credit Card statements or Building society/ Bank statement
• Social security cards, national identity card, and insurance card
• Gas, Electricity, or Council tax bills through mobile phone bills are not acceptable
• Description of Transactions often banking transaction

How notarization helps in certifying your documents?

If you do not want to pay charges of certification, then a simple and free solution can be found at the nearest branch of your bank. A document is usually notarized when a third party known as a notary verifies your identity, witnesses you by his signatures on the document, and sometimes ask you to take an oath that all the information present in the documents is true. Notaries cover all sorts of legal documents including letters of indemnity.

Since bank representatives hold notarization of a lot of documents like national identity cards and social security cards, it is common that some employees at the bank play the role of notaries. And they offer free notary services to the bank. If you are a customer, then there are chances that you will have to pay fees to get your certificates. To avoid this, you can simply go to your bank or you can also request online. Sometimes, the paper requests are returned without processing because some regulated entities do not allow using the paper requests. You can check out our page for Notarized Translation Services.

How does it work?

The notarization process is pretty simple. Your requests for notarization and give a true copy of your original document to notaries and sign it in their presence. After that, the notary officially notarizes the document with the help of an official stamp, writes the date and his signature certification. Sometimes, the requester must fill the form and keep a copy of the original form with him. Notaries also ask you to show a photograph to confirm if you are the person whose signature they are notarizing on the document. Any document can be notarized on the demand of institutions like diplomas, powers of attorney, copy certificates, the designation for retirement accounts, and many more. Furthermore, the notary also compares the copy and original and attaches a notarial certificate which confirms that the copy is accurate and complete.

Moreover, a certification certifies that the attached document is a copy of the official record of the applicant. Keep this thing in your mind that no official records of your certified copies should be available to notaries. The record book summarizes all the vital records, medical records, and journal records. A copy of vital records is also necessary as it represents birth, death, and marriage certificates because the recording agency controls the originals. Using your insurance card, journal records can be removed from the record book. Your current passport or travel document (copies of passports should include all pages that contain a signature certification, passport number, and extension dates). The current passport application is useful when traveling foreign and often the notaries also copy the passport application.

Types of Notarization

There are several different types of common notarization including:

• Signature witnessing – the notary witnesses your sign.
• Acknowledgment – used for documents that provide powers of attorney and trust. You declare that the existing signature is yours is required.
• Copy Certification – the notary makes a copy of an original document and certifies the copy.
• Jurat – in this the notary public asks you to swear that the information in the document is true.

Which banks can certify documents?

It has become a custom for banks to keep a public notary on staff in most of their branches. There are many U.S. banks performing services of notarization on the requests of their customers. If it is not your actual bank branch, you can just contact the branch manager of the federal branch and he will direct you to a local branch of the bank that has a public notary on the premises. The lists of certainly all the money major central banks which provide certification of documents include:

• JP Morgan Chase & Co.
• Bank of America Corp.
• Wells Fargo & Co.

Most of these banks provide free public notary services to their customers. You can certify your original papers like copies of diplomas, marriage licenses, original marriage certificates, original birth certificates, original death certificates, charter certificates, and naturalization certificates with your picture on them. If you simply want a copy of a naturalization certificate, you should contact the U.S. Department of Citizenship and Immigration Services. Some law offices, insurance company offices also provide service to clients. If you want to open your bank account, the documents like proof of residency, proof of address proof of identity, and a certified copy of your company corporation documents. The requests for notarization are approved by the proof of residency.