# certified copies in NY



## ksss (Oct 28, 2011)

hi,
so notary publics in NY can not do certified copies. Who can and how much does it cost? The post office? A real notary only?


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

ksss said:


> hi,
> so notary publics in NY can not do certified copies. Who can and how much does it cost? The post office? A real notary only?


It depends on what you need done. I have never heard of USPS to notarize anything.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

The job of a notary public in the US is to validate signatures. That's all they are able to do, AFAIK.

If you need a certified copy of a government document (like a birth certificate), you need to go through the process of having the document apostilled. Not sure what other means there are of certifying a copy.
Cheers,
Bev


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## Davis1 (Feb 20, 2009)

ksss said:


> hi,
> so notary publics in NY can not do certified copies. Who can and how much does it cost? The post office? A real notary only?


a certified copy is a copy from an original source


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## ksss (Oct 28, 2011)

It is uni documents and work related stuff. Do banks do it?


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

Normally, a "certified" document in the US will have an embossed seal that "proves" the document is genuine. If your uni documents already have this, then you're set. (I know the last set of university transcripts I received has an embossed seal - but I got these documents years ago and I'm not sure if they still do this.)

The work related stuff is trickier unless your work has some sort of seal (usually wielded by the corporate secretary).
Cheers,
Bev


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

Bev - just FYI - a lot of employers now request transcripts to be provided directly by the issuing educational institution in so called "sealed envelope".

Banks generally certify copies free of charge; embossed seal or stamp. For legal purposes they will not touch last wills.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

twostep said:


> Bev - just FYI - a lot of employers now request transcripts to be provided directly by the issuing educational institution in so called "sealed envelope".
> 
> Banks generally certify copies free of charge; embossed seal or stamp. For legal purposes they will not touch last wills.


I suppose those conventions explain why there isn't really a standard method of "certifying" copies in the US, as there is in some other countries. 
Cheers,
Bev


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## ksss (Oct 28, 2011)

Seems hard to believe there is no standard. I have some 20-30 docs, the bank is not going to like taht. How about the post office? australian post office can do it.


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

ksss said:


> Seems hard to believe there is no standard. I have some 20-30 docs, the bank is not going to like taht. How about the post office? australian post office can do it.


USPS is not a notary public service. The US is not Australia. Why do you not google "notary public" in your zip code and pay the small fee generally associated with the service? As you have been asking this all over for the last couple of days you could have taken your documents in batches to the bank. NY State Notary Division should be able to direct you. Pls confirm that the verbiage on the notarized copy will suffice.
Otherwise - you have gotten plenty of direction all over.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

twostep said:


> USPS is not a notary public service. The US is not Australia. Why do you not google "notary public" in your zip code and pay the small fee generally associated with the service?


It may well have changed since I lived back there, but a notary public's job is to validate signatures. And for that, the document normally has to be signed in front of the notary. I notice, though, in the Wikipedia article on notaries that it says that notaries in the US are particularly restricted in what they can do. Notary public - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It may depend a bit upon exactly who is requesting the "certified" copies and what they expect. For example, a "certified" copy of a birth certificate is one issued by the local birth registration authority. And most times I've heard of business documents needing to be certified, what they mean is that the document is in essence an original, signed by the corporate secretary or other corporate officer, usually with the signatures notarized at the time.

Perhaps if the OP could explain what or who is requiring the certified copies we'd be better able to suggest how and where he could obtain them.
Cheers,
Bev


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## ksss (Oct 28, 2011)

As stated in my first post notary public are not allowed to certify copies.
I have some 20-30 work and uni related documents that i need for 2 different purposes so i am just looking for a generic way of somebody certifying copies. A bank then?
Easy enough but by now it sounds so complicated i consider doing it on my visit to Europe rather.


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## Davis1 (Feb 20, 2009)

Certified copy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## ksss (Oct 28, 2011)

The documents are not for use in the US so the american way of certifying me certifyfing the copy is probably not good enough. Banks and post offices cannot do it. Still american unis ask students to submit certified copies.


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