US Embassy notarial service

[watcharacters]

I've used the service a few times and paid 50 USD each time for a single page item.

I now have some documents that are several pages long. Is the notary service fee per page or per related document?

[taxout]

It's per each notarization, regardless of document length. You're paying for the signature/seal.

[lopburi3]

Believe sealed house sale contract and such would be one charge - but normal paperwork would be per page. Below is Embassy wording.

Acknowledgement of Signature

An Acknowledgement of Signature or Acknowledgement of Execution is a notary which verifies that a particular person signed a given document. It is often used for legal agreements, business documents, etc. It is also used when more than two signatures are required on the document but all of the parties who must sign are not present. We can notarize (or acknowledge) only the signatures of those who are present to sign in front of us or appear in front of us and verify that they have signed the document.

Fee: $50 for each document or seal.

[Smokin Joe]

I had two real estate contracts notarized last year for refi of rental property I own. It cost $350 for one (7 signatures) and $400 for the other (eight signatures)

[gk10002000]

Holy Cow. Those are crazy fees. I see a market for a US notary public service in Thailand.

[Smokin Joe]

Holy Cow. Those are crazy fees. I see a market for a US notary public service in Thailand.

I had tears in my eyes while paying the cashier.

Actually, I knew what it was going to cost so it wasn't a surprise but I imagine it would ruin your day to show up thinking it was $50 for the whole thing and maybe not even having enough cash with you to get it done.

And real estate contracts are ridiculously complicated. There is no reason a simple refi contract should need seven or eight notarized signatures.

[watcharacters]

Holy Cow. Those are crazy fees. I see a market for a US notary public service in Thailand.

THat'd be a logical conclusion gk10002000 but unfortunately the only notary seal recognized from Thailand by US institutions is the one provided by the Embassy.

In the US proper, I've had banks provide the service for no charge and I've also had it done places for as little as 10 USD a seal.

I can't remember if the Automobile Club had a fee or not. I believe it was gratis.

But I'm no longer in Kansas.

[purushanti]

Just to add my experience, which is a little bit different:

I have had a Thai lawyer notarize a document, and have had it accepted in USA.

Edited September 20, 2015 by purushanti

[JLCrab]

Just to add my experience, which is a little bit different:

I have had a Thai lawyer notarize a document, and have had it accepted in USA.

Accepted and able to withstand a challenge in court by a conflicting party are 2 separate things.

[khwaibah]

Just to add my experience, which is a little bit different:

I have had a Thai lawyer notarize a document, and have had it accepted in USA.

Accepted and able to withstand a challenge in court by a conflicting party are 2 separate things.

According to this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostille_Convention Thailand became a signatory member on 1 November 2002 to this convention. Therefor it would seem that a notarization of a document by a legally authorized Thai attorny would be accepted.

Edited September 20, 2015 by khwaibah

[taxout]

The Wikipedia listing is incorrect. Thailand is not a contracting state to the convention. Here's the official list:

http://www.hcch.net/index_en.php?act=conventions.status&cid=41

In any event, even if Thailand were party to the convention, a notarization alone would not be accepted in another country under the convention; it would have to also bear an apostille.

Edited September 21, 2015 by taxout

[JLCrab]

If someone were to challenge an important document of which I was the beneficiary party, I would not want to go to court with a document that had been notarized in Thailand by other than the US Embassy in Bangkok-- otherwise, up to you.

[gk10002000]

Holy Cow. Those are crazy fees. I see a market for a US notary public service in Thailand.

THat'd be a logical conclusion gk10002000 but unfortunately the only notary seal recognized from Thailand by US institutions is the one provided by the Embassy.

In the US proper, I've had banks provide the service for no charge and I've also had it done places for as little as 10 USD a seal.

I can't remember if the Automobile Club had a fee or not. I believe it was gratis.

But I'm no longer in Kansas.

I get things in the USA notarized now and then. My bank does it for free because of my account standing. One guy at work charged $1 and he did it on the side and the $1 he collected from people just helped him pay his yearly fee. I think the local Postal shop notarized for $10 when I submitted some stuff for work. If memory serves I only needed one seal, so I can't be sure if a document needing more than one seal would cost $10 for each seal on the same document or not.

But I don't quite understand what you wrote. Are you saying a valid US notary seal but not from the US Embassy in Thailand would not be accepted in the US? How could a US institution not accept a valid US notary seal? But I can imagine the legal beagles or company policy having some words about that.

Thanks

[Tywais]

Details on notarization in Thailand - Siam Legal

As mentioned, Thailand is not a member of the Hague convention on this matter.

[VIPinthailand]

Thailand is so corrupt, better get a real stamp from the USA embassy, you pay more, but at the end nobody will dare to tell u that it is not valid.

[Suradit69]

Holy Cow. Those are crazy fees. I see a market for a US notary public service in Thailand.

THat'd be a logical conclusion gk10002000 but unfortunately the only notary seal recognized from Thailand by US institutions is the one provided by the Embassy.

In the US proper, I've had banks provide the service for no charge and I've also had it done places for as little as 10 USD a seal.

I can't remember if the Automobile Club had a fee or not. I believe it was gratis.

But I'm no longer in Kansas.

"only notary seal recognized from Thailand "

There used to be a US lawyer operating in Pattaya who provided a Notary Public seal on documents. Listed as one of his services on the storefront office window he maintained. His authority was granted by the State of Illinois and it was accepted when I used him a couple of times.

I doubt most "US institutions" have a clue and some low-level clerk pushing papers would be content with anything that looked official. In most cases the fact that you were in Thailand would be irrelevant anyway ... although I think technically the seal shouldn't be used outside the state that granted it. He charged a nominal fee.

In any case he moved elsewhere or left the country.

In some cases people have used Thai notarial services which were acceptable too as shown in this old thread.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/86777-usa-notary-public-in-pattaya/

And for some transactions, a signature guarantee can be had from a bank manager. Really depends on who will get the documents and how fussy they are. When I was living in southern Africa I used a Barclay's Bank Manager to guarantee my signature on a couple of occasions.

Edited September 27, 2015 by Suradit69