The U.S. Embassy can perform notarial service for documents to be used in the United States available to both US and foreign nationals. Please do not sign the form before you come to the Embassy. You will need to sign it in front of a Consular officer. These services include:
- Affidavit
An affidavit is a sworn statement. Please note that the U.S. Embassy is not in a position to verify the statement made by the affiant or the information in any attached document of the sworn statement. Only the identity of the individual making the statement will be confirmed. - Power of Attorney
A power of attorney allows you to designate someone to take legal actions on your behalf. A common example of this is empowering someone else to buy or sell property in the United States in your name while you are overseas. We cannot advise you on the specific language or content of a power of attorney, so you may wish to consult a lawyer or other appropriate advisor before coming to see us to have your power of attorney notarized. - Acknowledgement of Signature
An Acknowledgement of Signature or Acknowledgement of Execution is a notarial service which verifies that a particular person signed a given document. It is often used for legal agreements, business documents, etc. It is also used when more than two signatures are required on the document but all of the parties who must sign are not present. We can notarize (or acknowledge) only the signatures of those who are present to sign in front of us or appear in front of us and verify that they have signed the document. - Certified copies of U.S. passports
Preparation for a notary appointment:
- Bring a valid government-issued photo ID.
- Make sure you understand your document. We are not allowed to explain the contents to you.
- Please complete the document with the appropriate names, places, and dates before you arrive (but do not sign the form; you will sign it at the Embassy in front of a Consular officer).
- Please mark the pages where you and the notary need to sign. The Consular staff cannot advise you in any way on what is required of you for your documents so come to the appointment fully prepared.
- Fees: The notary fees are US$50 for each notary signature. See the payment methods page for accepted forms of payment.
- Witnesses – If your document requires the presence of witnesses in addition to the notarization, you are responsible for providing these witnesses. Consular staff cannot act as witnesses.
Please be aware that the consular officer may refuse any notarial service when:
- The host country does not authorize the performance of the service.
- The document will be used in transactions that may be prohibited by U.S. law.
- The officer believes that the document will be used for a purpose that is unlawful, improper, or inimical to the best interests of the United States.
- The officer does not understand the document, due to language or any other reason.
- The officer believes the customer does not understand the document to be notarized, due to language or any other reason.
Due to government regulations, we cannot provide the following services:
- U.S. Apostille
The U.S. Embassy cannot offer any apostille services. - Authentication/Notarization/Legalization of public documents issued in the United States.
Such documents include vital records (birth, marriage, death, and divorce), as well as academic, commercial, or other credentials. Consular officers do not have access to the records of the issuing office or the seal of the custodian of these records. - Certification of True Copies of Documents
The Embassy cannot provide certified true copies of educational transcripts or diplomas, bank statements, court documents, or other such official records. Such requests should usually be addressed to the office which issued the document in question. For example, certified true copies of academic records should be requested from the registrar of the institution that originally issued them.
Notary services are available by appointment only. Please click here APPOINTMENT SCHEDULING PAGE to schedule your appointment.
The U.S. and Trinidad and Tobago are both parties to the 1961 Hague Convention, and thus should recognize each other’s publicly (non-Embassy) notarized documents. To save time and money, we recommend individuals work with a local, Trinidadian or Tobagonian notary public. The notarized documents must be accepted in the United States if they have the TT apostille stamp. The apostille service is provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is free, and requires two days. Additional information can be found on the Trinidad and Tobago’s government website.