e-StampNotary
Most passport annexures are now plain-paper self-declarations requiring neither stamp paper nor a notarial seal. You print them, you sign them, you submit them. Annexure F, used where a passport has been lost or damaged, is the main one that still normally requires a sworn affidavit. If a document broker tells you every annexure must be notarised, he is describing the position as it was, not as it is. Check the current requirement on the passport portal or at your appointment, and come to us only for what genuinely needs an oath.
Annexure F, and why it is different
A lost or damaged passport is a serious matter: a travel document has left your control. What the authority wants is a statement made on oath, with the consequences of a false oath attached, setting out how the passport was lost, when, where, what steps were taken, and the police complaint reference. That is an affidavit, sworn under section 8(1)(e) of the Notaries Act, 1952, valid as a notarial act only under signature and official seal as section 8(2) requires.
File the police complaint first. The affidavit refers to it, and an affidavit that says a complaint will be filed shortly is not what the counter is expecting.
Section 8(1)(g): documents that take effect outside India
Section 8(1)(g) of the Notaries Act, 1952 is a distinct limb: a Notary may prepare, attest or authenticate an instrument intended to take effect outside India. This is the limb that covers the paperwork people bring when a family member is abroad — a power of attorney for a property matter here executed by someone living overseas, a sponsorship or support affidavit for a visa application, a consent for a child to travel with one parent, a declaration of relationship for a foreign university or immigration file, an affidavit of single status for a marriage abroad.
Rule 10(1) of the Notaries Rules, 1956 fixes a separate and higher maximum for this work: ₹200 for an instrument intended to take effect outside India, against ₹35 for ordinary attestation of execution.
Apostille and consular legalisation are functions of the Ministry of External Affairs and the relevant embassy or consulate. A Notary does not apostille anything, cannot promise an apostille, and should not charge you as though he could. What a Notary does is the first step — the notarial attestation that the MEA chain sits on top of. Anyone offering you a one-stop apostille from a notary counter is selling you somebody else's function.
The order of operations for a document going abroad
- Draft to the destination's requirement, not to a generic Indian format. Embassies and foreign authorities are specific about what a declaration must state, and a document that omits a required recital comes back.
- Get the wording confirmed by whoever is going to receive it, where you can. A five-minute email to the university or the lawyer abroad saves a month.
- Notarial act here, under section 8(1)(g) where the instrument takes effect outside India.
- Authentication and apostille or legalisation through the MEA route and, where required, the embassy.
A power of attorney executed abroad, used here
The reverse direction is just as common: a son in Canada or the Gulf needs someone in Vadodara to deal with property or a bank. The document is usually executed before a notary public there and then authenticated through the Indian mission, and it will need to be stamped in Gujarat before it is acted on — see power of attorney stamping.
Two points of substance. Section 84 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 directs a court to presume that a power of attorney executed before and authenticated by a Notary Public was so executed and authenticated — that presumption goes to execution, not to the truth of the contents, and it is rebuttable. And where the POA is to be used to present a document for registration, section 33 of the Registration Act, 1908 requires it to be authenticated. A POA does not transfer property: Suraj Lamp & Industries (P) Ltd. v. State of Haryana (2011) held that sale agreement, general power of attorney and will transactions do not convey or create title in immovable property — only a registered conveyance does.
Translation
Section 8(1)(h) allows a Notary to translate a document and verify the translation, with the fee capped by Rule 10(1) at ₹100. Gujarati school certificates, revenue records and older property papers frequently need an English version for a foreign authority. Where the destination requires a sworn or certified translator of its own choosing, that is their rule and we will tell you rather than let you waste a step.
What we will not do
Backdate an affidavit to fit a submission deadline. Notarise a declaration for a person who is not here. Certify a copy against a scan — the original must be produced, see true copy attestation. Or promise that a foreign authority will accept a document, which is never within anyone's gift here. More at what a notary cannot do.
What to bring
- The blank annexure or form, printed, so we can see what is actually required
- Original passport, or the photocopy and passport number if it is lost
- Police complaint copy where the passport has been lost or stolen
- Original photo identity and address proof of the deponent
- The email, letter or checklist from the embassy, university or foreign lawyer
- Details of the person abroad — full name, address and relationship — for a POA or sponsorship document