What are the Requirements for Certify Documents in the UK?

If you are searching “certify documents near me” then you must be looking for a reliable and convenient source to certify your documents. And there is a high probability that you have heard this term for the first time.

No worries we got your back. This article is a detailed overview of what certify documents are? Why do you need to certify documents? The whole procedure for document certification. Who has the authority to certify different types of documents?

What are the requirements for certified documents? Do bank charges certify documents?

If all these were your queries on hearing this term for the first time buckle up because we will address each one briefly.

What is a Certified Document?

There are so many official documents that we can’t use originally. So instead of these original documents certify copies are required for several purposes. It can be used for vital records of the office, copies of original certificates, copies of any of the apostille, copies of legal documents, birth certificates, marriage certificates, licenses, federal documents, court-issued documents, immigration documents, common identity documents, etc. These document copies are authentic because it has a sign of relative authority as proof of authenticity as a primary document.

Certify documents often have a validity time limit, which may be specified within the document or determined based on a reasonable duration. Various types of documents, such as legal documents, certificates, and marriage licenses, can undergo certification services.

The validity requirements for these documents differ, often varying across different common law states.

Moreover, obtaining a true likeness of the original document is essential. This involves securing a notarial certificate, typically requiring the contact details of the certifying authority or individual. Public records or government agencies often oversee the certification process for public documents, ensuring their authenticity and compliance with legal standards.

Fortunately, the process usually doesn’t entail hefty fees. These certified copies serve multiple purposes, including office, legal, or other official needs, preserving the safety of the original documents. Safeguarding essential records like identity cards, birth and death certificates is crucial, as they hold significant official value.

To obtain a certified copy, it necessitates the signature of an authorized individual, affirming its accuracy. These documents can also be utilized internationally. However, intentional use abroad might entail additional protocols, such as professional translation accompanied by a certificate of translation for documents with language differences.

Why do you need to Certify Documents?

There are so many official documents that we can’t use originally. So instead of these original documents certify copies are required for several purposes. It can be used for vital records of the office, copies of original certificates, copies of any of the apostille, copies of legal documents, birth certificates, marriage certificates, licenses, federal documents, court-issued documents, immigration documents, common identity documents, etc. These document copies are authentic because it has a sign of relative authority as proof of authenticity as a primary document.

Certify documents often has a validity time limit. It can be termed in the document or according to the reasonable time. Different types of documents can be certified like legal documents, certificates, marriage licenses, etc. There are different requirements for the validity of documents. Mostly these documents are used in common law states.

There is no heavy fee to make such documents. You might need it for different purposes for office, legal work, or any official work. The main purpose of these documents copy is to keep original documents safe. We can not risk our primary documents with everyone especially the official ones like identity cards, birth and death certificates, etc.

A certified copy needs the signature of the authorized person. You can also use these documents in other countries. But using them intentionally requires some other protocols as well like a professional translation with a certificate of translation of the primary document. Translation requirements are for those document which has language difference.

How to Certify a Document?

Certifying a document is not very complex. The procedure is super easy all you need to do is to follow the following steps:

• Go to the photocopier and make photocopies of documents you want to certify.
• Find the authorized person who can certify your document. Any layman can’t do this task and it will not be considered valid. Only the signature of authorized persons is considered valid.
• The next step is to present both copy and original document to that authorized person.
• He will check and do his or her signature on it with dates.
• You may have to pay the fee for certification.
• You can also follow the same procedure in online certification. Also, you need to send documents via email and an authorized person will sign or stamp them to make them certified. After that, you can print your copies out.
• In the case of original documents in any other language, you need a professional translation of it to make it certified. Attach a copy of the professional translation by document translation services along with the original document and its photocopies. A certificate of accuracy is also required. This type of document should be translated by document translation services they also give a certificate of accuracy. Like a personal document, you can not translate it by yourself because you can not make a certificate of accuracy and it requires high-quality translation.

Who can  Certify a Document?

As mentioned above only an authorized person or authority can certify documents. These authorized people can be according to the type of certification you need.

Following are a few authorized people who can certify a document.

• Bank official
• Councilor
• Paralegal
• Religious ministers
• Army officer
• Employee
• Police officer
• Lawyer
• Notary public
• County clerk
• Public officials
• County sheriffs
• Government officials etc.

Police departments

Department of Public health/

The list goes on. You need to find the authorized according to the niche of your documents. A notary public is those who have official records of ancestors of people. If you need to certify a notarization document you need to consult a notary public or a county clerk. You often need notarization fo several legal purposes.

The county clerk often has such a piece of information and authority too. And for other types of certification, you need to find other authorities like a few documents certification can be done by powers of Attorney. You can certify true copies of birth by any official person services or lawyer.

Different type of document is certified by a different type of people. There are different criteria for personal documents, school documents, naturalization certificates, authentication certificates, official documents, non-recordable documents, and birth certificates and death certificates.

What are the Requirements for Certified Documents in the UK?

In the UK process for certification of different types of documents is super easy. Following are few exact requirements for certified documents in the UK.

• Only those documents are considered as certified which have this writing on the document “Certified to be a true copy of the original seen by me”. This means the authorized person has checked the document himself.
• Another very important requirement is the signature of the authorized person
• The third one is the date of certification and the date till it is valid.
• Some personal details like address etc.

All these things are required on the true copies of documents in order to get them certified.

Types of Certification

There are several kinds of documents that need to be certified. These include different types of academic degrees for admission and scholarships in universities of your country and foreign country universities. The second most important and famous type is professional certification.

Here we can use the above-mentioned example of you running your dad’s business.

You need an official notice as proof of your authority over the business to show other authorities. It can be valid for a limited time or for whole life. License is also a kind of certification. Another very famous sub-category of digital certification is cybersecurity certification. It is used to access different websites and media platforms.

There are several other kinds of certification which include, environmental certification, film certification, music certification, nursing certification, etc.