e-StampNotary
Please read this before you ask for a draft
People come to a notary's office assuming that a change of religion works like a change of name - swear an affidavit, publish it, and update the records. It does not. Gujarat has a separate statutory regime governing religious conversion, and it requires prior permission. We are deliberately not setting out its terms on this page, because those terms have been the subject of litigation and amendment and we do not publish anything on this website that we have not verified as currently in force.
What we will say is this: the process is a legal one, it is separate from anything a notary does, and it comes first. An affidavit sworn before that process is addressed is not a shortcut around it.
Bring your situation to the office, or telephone. We will tell you what applies to your facts and what the sequence is. We will not draft or swear a conversion-related affidavit on a walk-in basis, and we would ask you to be cautious of anyone who offers to.
Two things that are often confused with this
A change of name is a different matter
Many people who ask for a religion affidavit in fact want their name corrected or changed across their records, which is an ordinary and well-trodden process - see name change affidavit. If two versions of your name are in circulation and nothing else is in issue, a one and same person affidavit may be all that is needed. Neither of those touches religion, and neither should be drafted as if it did.
A community or category certificate is a different matter again
Claims to a caste or community category run on the certificate issued by the competent authority, not on a declaration - see caste affidavit. Religion and community are not interchangeable in that context and the entries have consequences for entitlements, so nothing should be declared casually in either direction.
Why the caution matters more here than elsewhere
A false or premature declaration about religion is not a paperwork error. Entries about religion feed into marriage, succession, adoption and entitlement questions, and the personal law that governs a person's succession follows from them. An affidavit sworn today can be produced years later in a dispute about property or a claim by a family member. Section 8(2) of the Notaries Act, 1952 makes an affidavit a notarial act only under the notary's signature and official seal, and section 8(1)(e) is what permits the oath to be administered - but the seal certifies the swearing, never the truth of what is sworn. In this area, that distinction is the whole point.
What we can help with
- Explaining what applies to your situation, and in what order, before anything is spent.
- The ordinary record-correction work that often turns out to be what was actually needed.
- Drafting, where drafting is the right step and the prior requirements have been dealt with - in Gujarati or English.
- Telling you plainly when the matter needs advice from an advocate conducting the specific proceeding rather than a document from a notary.
Stamp duty would be as currently prescribed under the Gujarat Stamp Act, 1958, confirmed at the counter, and administering the oath is capped at ₹35 under Rule 10(1) of the Notaries Rules, 1956, receipted and entered in the register in Form XV. But the cost is not the point on this page. The sequence is. See also what a notary cannot do.
What to bring
- Aadhaar, PAN and any other identity documents showing the current entries
- The letter, form or requirement that prompted this - from an employer, a department or an institution
- School leaving certificate and birth certificate
- Marriage certificate, if married
- Any earlier affidavit, gazette notification or application already made