I am a British National & Citizen living and working in Bangkok, Thailand. I require a Power of Attorney document to be notarised , drafted and legalised.The land is located in another country (Mauritius). Since Thailand is NOT part of the Hague Convention, I will need assistance/advice on legalising the document once it has been notarized so that it is legally recognized in Mauritius.

Any advice?

Not really visa related. But not sure where to put your post.

If there was a embassy or consulate for Mauritius here I would suggest you get it notarized there. They have an embassy in Kuala Lumpur so my next suggestion is to contact them about where you can get it notarized. Website: http://www1.govmu.org/portal/sites/mfamission/kualalumpur/index.htm

Contact one the bigger local law firms. They will either have staff members who are registered as notaries in other countries which are accepted by Mauritius or they will know where to find one.

Sunbelt Asia and Interactive are two you could try:

http://www.sunbeltasia.com/

http://www.interactivethailand.com/

Edited July 29, 20169 yr by eskatonia

Is Mauritious a former French colony? If so, maybe a "notary" from the French embassy would suffice as maybe their legal systems are similar. At least I would co tact the embassy to make inquires.

OP,

you mentioned "Hague convention". that indicates Mauritius authorities demand notarisation "with affixed apostille". if that is the case you have to take a flight to Brunei (Hague signatory}

or use the embassy in KL as Ubonjoe suggested. a consularised certification by own embassy is as good or perhaps better than an apostille.

No, just because a country is party to the Hague Convention doesn't mean it accepts only apostilled documents. If a document comes from a public official in a country not party to the Hague Convention then it has to be legalised the traditional way.

No, just because a country is party to the Hague Convention doesn't mean it accepts only apostilled documents. If a document comes from a public official in a country not party to the Hague Convention then it has to be legalised the traditional way.

-the OP did not mention the Hague convention out of the blue without a valid reason.

-my home country does not accept any "traditional" legalisation of any notary or public official in Thailand. it's either apostille or notarisation by embassy or consulate.

"Since Thailand is NOT part of the Hague Convention, I will need assistance/advice on legalising the document once it has been notarized so that it is legally recognized in Mauritius."

The OP knows what he's talking about: when you can't get an apostille because a country isn't part of the Hague Convention, then you fall back on traditional legalisation. The problem here is that Thailand has no official notaries, so there's no notary's signature to legalise. Normally in this case you simply have your signature witnessed at the embassy of the country where the document will be used, but Mauritious has no embassy in Thailand.

"Since Thailand is NOT part of the Hague Convention, I will need assistance/advice on legalising the document once it has been notarized so that it is legally recognized in Mauritius."

The OP knows what he's talking about: when you can't get an apostille because a country isn't part of the Hague Convention, then you fall back on traditional legalisation. The problem here is that Thailand has no official notaries, so there's no notary's signature to legalise. Normally in this case you simply have your signature witnessed at the embassy of the country where the document will be used, but Mauritious has no embassy in Thailand.

Which countries require an apostille stamp?

Countries that are signatories to the Hague Convention usually will require an apostille stamp after notary certification.

- See more at: http://www.notarypractice.com/faqs/general.php#sthash.OvQFpWzx.dpuf

Edited July 30, 20169 yr by Naam

I needed legalization and apostille for my Thai marriage certificate. Country was very modern, one of the Baltics. Went to the Foreign Ministry on Chaeng Wattana, applied to the small official booth next to police booth on 2d floor, very efficient woman there understood my need, took the papers and promised delivery to Phuket in three days, cost 900 baht. Received as promised, signed, stamped with official Thai stamps, accepted by the receivers in the Baltics.

That was traditional legalization, though without the final step, which would have been the Baltic country's embassy in Thailand stamping the Thai Foreign Ministry's stamp. Whether that final step is necessary depends on what the person accepting the legalized document demands. But there was certainly no apostille involved because Thailand does not issue apostilles.

Obviously, apostilles are necessary on documents only where BOTH countries are party to the Hague Convention; otherwise you fall back on traditional legalization.

Notarization is a special case for Thailand, since there are no official notaries in Thailand so, Hague Convention or no Hague Convention, you can't have a notarization legalized in Thailand; you have to have the signature witnessed at the embassy of the country where the document will be used.

"Since Thailand is NOT part of the Hague Convention, I will need assistance/advice on legalising the document once it has been notarized so that it is legally recognized in Mauritius."

The OP knows what he's talking about: when you can't get an apostille because a country isn't part of the Hague Convention, then you fall back on traditional legalisation. The problem here is that Thailand has no official notaries, so there's no notary's signature to legalise. Normally in this case you simply have your signature witnessed at the embassy of the country where the document will be used, but Mauritious has no embassy in Thailand.

"The problem here is that Thailand has no official notaries..."

Not wanting to drag up the usual (wrong) argument that starts every time this question arises but Thailand does have official qualified and certified notaries. If your country doesn't accept those notarisations (UK does, for example) then that is your problem, not Thailand's.

Note what I said: the key word there is "official."

The local bar association, the Thai Lawyers Council, has itself created a notary program. But that's not the government, and so far as I know you can't legalize a TLC "notary" signature because the notary doesn't act in an official capacity.

Thanks for your comments. I went to a law company near Nana BTS. They said that they could notarise it for me as they have a notary there. They also said that it shouldn't be a problem legalizing it at the Thai Ministry of Foreign affairs on Chaengwattana Rd. However, 20 minutes upon arrival, They phoned the Ministry of Foreign affairs and they said that they would not legalise it. They considered it a document for personal use, and they would only deal with business/company related issues. They told me to contact the British Embassy in Bangkok. The British Embassy said that they do not legalise power of attorney documents. I am stuck in Limbo.    

Did you try contacting the embassy in Kuala Lumpur I posted a link for earlier.

Yes. I got a mail delivery report from their email address at [email protected] but I've just realized that they also have another email address at [email protected] so I sent it to that address just now. Will wait and see what they say. I really appreciate your advice. Thanks. It's good to know that there is a way.