Notarisation FAQs

Q1. What functions can a Malaysian notary perform?

A Malaysian notary can, amongst others, attest to / witness signatures of, or certify, documents for use outside Malaysia.

Q2. Do I need to make an appointment for notarisation?

Yes. Appointments are required and subject to our availability. Please make an appointment with reasonable advance notice. We are unfortunately unable to accommodate walk-ins.

Q3. Do you provide notarisation services with short notice, outside your ordinary office hours or during weekends or public holidays? Will there be additional fees?

It depends on various factors, including our availability. As to additional fees, please see question 15.

Q4. Do you require the signatory to be personally present in order to attest or act as witness to a signature?

Yes. We require the signatory to be personally present and sign the document before us. We are unable to attest to the signature of anyone who is not personally present. In addition, even if you will be personally present, please do not pre-sign any documents - we are unable to attest to any pre-signed documents.

Q5. Is my understanding correct that a notarisation must be conducted in person and cannot be done remotely or digitally?

Yes. Your understanding is correct. It has to be done in person.

Q6. Do you need to sight the original in order to certify a document as a true copy?

Yes. We do need to sight the original. If the original document is only available in a digital form (e.g. bank statement or utility bill), we will need to sight the document in its digital form vide your phone, laptop or tablet. We are unable to certify a document as a true copy without sighting the original.

Q7. What information or documents do you require to attend to a notarisation?

• We need to know the type and purpose of the document and the country of use.
• For certified true copy services, please bring both the original and a copy / print-out of the document. For attestation services, please bring the document which needs to be notarised. In either case, we recommend that you bring extra copies in case you require a duplicate as well as as a back-up measure (e.g. in case there is a need to make any corrections).
• Please bring your original government issued photo ID which is valid / unexpired i.e. identity card (for Malaysian citizens and permanent residents) and passport (for others).
• The foregoing is non-exhaustive and we may require additional information and documents.

Q8. Should I print or photocopy the required documents at my end before meeting you?

Yes, please do. Please ensure you bring all required documents and they are ready for our notarisation. We are unfortunately unable to assist with printing or photocopying.

Q9. Are you entitled to decline to provide your services after our appointment is confirmed or when we meet?

Yes. We reserve the right to decline to provide our services at our discretion, especially if inaccurate or incomplete information has been furnished to us, the signatory is not personally present or any original documents are not produced.

Q10. Can I cancel an appointment? Will there be any cancellation charges?

We will specify the cancellation deadline when we confirm the appointment. If you notify us of a cancellation:

• by or before the cancellation deadline, we will not charge a cancellation fee.
• after the cancellation deadline, we reserve the right to charge a cancellation fee equivalent to the quoted notarisation fees at our discretion.

Notwithstanding the above, we may at our discretion specify that an appointment is non-cancellable (e.g. if we agree to an appointment with short notice) and, in such a case, the cancellation fee will apply. In addition, we reserve the right to impose cancellation fees if our cancellation policy is abused. For example, you make and cancel an appointment before the specified deadline but then subsequently make another appointment within thirty days.

Q11. Can I request for an appointment to be rescheduled? Will there be any rescheduling charges?

We will specify the rescheduling deadline when we confirm the appointment. If you submit a rescheduling request:

• before the rescheduling deadline, we will not charge a rescheduling fee except as provided under question 16.
• after the rescheduling deadline, we reserve the right to additionally charge a rescheduling fee at our discretion equivalent to the quoted notarisation fees or as provided under question 16.

Please note that rescheduling requests are subject to our discretion and availability and we are not obliged to accommodate a rescheduling request regardless of the proximity to the initial appointment. Notwithstanding the above, we may at our discretion specify that an appointment cannot be rescheduled (e.g. if we agree to an appointment with short notice) and, in such a case, the rescheduling fee will apply. In addition, we reserve the right to impose rescheduling fees if our rescheduling policy is abused e.g. regardless of whether we are notified before the rescheduling deadline(s), you make and reschedule the same appointment more than one time or you frequently make and reschedule appointments.

Q12. Are you entitled to cancel or reschedule an appointment?

Yes. We reserve the right to do so at our discretion at any time. We will try to notify you as soon as possible if we need to reschedule or cancel any appointment. However, please be assured that we will exercise this right judiciously and only reschedule or cancel under special circumstances (including as described in question 13) or circumstances outside our control.

Q13. What if I am late for our appointment?

We kindly request you to be on time. However, if you are running late, please inform us as soon as possible. In any case, regardless of whether we are informed, if we are made to wait for more than 10 minutes beyond our scheduled appointment time, we reserve the right to do one or more of the following at our discretion:

• grant an extension of time;
• charge additional fees;
• cancel the appointment;
• reschedule the appointment to a time / date convenient to us;
• decline to provide our services.

Q14. What are your notarisation fees?

Notarisation fees are prescribed by the relevant subsidiary legislation under the Notaries Public Act 1959. The fees will vary depending on, amongst others, the following:

• the type of document in question and notarial service required (e.g. attesting to the signature of a document or certifying a document).
• any additional requirements (with / without seal and with / without notarial certificate).
• number of copies required.

Q15. In addition to the notarisation fees, will there be additional fees for appointments with short notice, outside your ordinary office hours or during weekends or public holidays?

Yes. We reserve the right to impose additional fees for appointments with short notice, outside our ordinary office hours or during weekends or public holidays. Our ordinary office hours are from 10am to 5pm (Mondays to Fridays, excluding public holidays).

Q16. I have an appointment for a working day during your ordinary office hours but I wish to reschedule the appointment either to a weekend or public holiday or outside your ordinary office hours on a working day. Will the fees be adjusted?

Yes. We reserve the right to adjust the fees as per question 15. Please note that this applies regardles of whether you request a rescheduling before any rescheduling deadline as contemplated under question 11.

Q17. Are the fees in addition to disbursements and service tax?

Yes. All quoted fees exclude disbursements (if any) and service tax. With effect from 26 August 2025, we will no longer absorb the service tax, which will be separately chargeable.

Q18. Can I request for a fee quote? Other than as mentioned in the previous questions, under what other circumstances would the quote be subject to change or there be additional fees?

Yes. In fact, to manage both your and our expectations, we kindly request you to provide us with complete and accurate information and clearly specify the required notarisation services at the outset so that we can in turn provide you with an accurate quote. We kindly request you to review our quote carefully and highlight inaccuracies (if any) as soon as possible.

We reserve the right to revise our quoted fees or charge additional fees if inaccurate or incomplete information has been provided to us or additional or different services or requirements are required. Non-exhaustive examples of these would be:

• We were informed that only one document is to be notarised (but actually more than one document is required);
• We were informed that there is only one signatory (but actually there is an additional signatory);
• We were informed that the notarisation service required is certified true copies (but it turns out that the notarisation service required is attestation / witnessing of signatures);
• We were only informed of special requirements during our meeting (e.g. the requirement for a notarisation certificate or the requirement for specific attestation language);
• It turns out that the document must be certified or attested to by a lawyer and not a notary.

Q19. When is payment to be made? Do you require a deposit or payment in advance?

Payment is to be made in full during the notarisation appointment. Notwithstanding this, we reserve the right to require a deposit or full payment in advance at our discretion. All payments made are non-refundable, save and except in the unlikely event that we cancel or reschedule an appointment as envisaged under question 12 (excluding our cancellation or rescheduling as envisaged under question 13) and we are unable to accommodate an alternative appointment acceptable to you.

Q20. What types of payment do you accept?

We accept payment by instant bank transfer (DuitNow) or in cash in Ringgit Malaysia only. We are unable to accept other forms of payment e.g. cheques, credit cards, electronic wallets or cash in foreign currencies.

Q21. Is my understanding correct that, as a notary, you will not be able to advise whether the notarised document's substantive contents will satisfy the requirements of the relevant foreign law or party?

Yes, your understanding is correct. Before seeking our notarisation services, we recommend that you verify whether the document's substantive contents satisfies the requirements of the relevant foreign law or party (e.g. either by seeking confirmation from the party you will be submitting the document to or consulting foreign legal counsel or other qualified advisors).

Q22. Is my understanding correct that, as a notary, you will not be able to advise whether the notarisation format will satisfy the requirements of the relevant foreign party?

Yes, your understanding is correct. Before seeking our notarisation services, we recommend that you verify the notarisation requirements with the relevant party. For example, some foreign parties may require a document to be notarised in a particular format or manner (such as specific certification or attestation language or the requirement for a notarial certificate). Please note that we will not prepare or issue a notarial certificate unless you specifically request us to do so. If you have any specific requirements, please make this clear in writing at the outset. Whilst we will do our best to assist, please note that we do not represent or warrant that, or assume any responsibility as to whether, the documents notarised by us will be accepted by the relevant party.

Q23. Is my understanding correct that, as a notary, you will not be able to assist with other or further steps that may be required (if any) in addition to notarisation (e.g. arranging for translation or submitting the notarised documents to the Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs or relevant embassy)?

Yes, your understanding is correct. We are unfortunately unable to assist with other or further steps.