Notarial certification in Thailand: fees, timelines and the three legalisation routes

Price and timeline table

These figures are budgeting estimates, not binding quotations. Government fees are separate from the service fee, and the applicable price is confirmed in a written quotation after the documents have been reviewed.

What makes the price differ

How the work actually runs

1. 1. Confirm the destination's requirement

   Ask the receiving institution in writing whether it needs an attorney's certification, consular legalisation or an apostille, and whether a specific wording or form must be used.

2. 2. Check the documents

   Originals are reviewed for completeness, signatures and issuing authority. Photocopies and unsigned drafts cannot be certified.

3. 3. Translate where required

   Translation is prepared and checked against the original, keeping names spelled exactly as they appear in the passport.

4. 4. Attend the certification appointment

   The signatory signs in front of the Notarial Services Attorney with the original identification document; a certified true copy requires the original for comparison.

5. 5. Ministry of Foreign Affairs step

   Where the chain requires it, the certified document is submitted to the Department of Consular Affairs for legalisation.

6. 6. Embassy legalisation or apostille

   The file is then submitted to the destination's embassy in Thailand, or processed as an apostille where that route applies.

7. 7. Delivery and record keeping

   The completed file is returned with copies retained, so a replacement can be produced quickly if the destination misplaces a page.

Documents to prepare

• Original identification document of every signatory, valid on the appointment date
• The original document to be certified, complete with all pages and annexes
• Any wording, template or form prescribed by the receiving institution
• A company affidavit and evidence of signing authority if the signatory acts for a company
• Correct spelling of names as they appear in the passport, for the translation
• The destination address and deadline, so the route can be planned backwards from it

Mistakes that make you pay twice

Frequently asked questions

Is there a notary public in Thailand in the common-law sense?

Thailand does not have the common-law office of notary public. The equivalent function is performed by a lawyer who holds a Notarial Services Attorney licence from the Lawyers Council of Thailand and is authorised to certify signatures, certify true copies, administer affidavits and certify certain facts. Documents produced this way are widely accepted abroad, though many foreign authorities then require the further legalisation steps described here.

What is the difference between certification, legalisation and an apostille?

Certification is the attorney's confirmation that a signature was made before them or that a copy matches the original. Legalisation is a chain in which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs authenticates that certificate and the destination's embassy then authenticates the ministry. An apostille is a single certificate that replaces the chain between countries that operate that system. The correct route is determined by the destination country and by the receiving institution, not by the sender's preference.

How much does certification cost?

Fees are charged per document or per signature rather than as a single package, so the total depends on how many items are involved. Translation is priced separately, usually per page, and the government and embassy fees in a legalisation chain are additional and payable to those authorities. Because embassy fees differ widely between missions, a reliable total can only be given once the destination and the document list are known.

Can certification be done the same day?

Usually yes for straightforward signature certification and true copies, provided the signatory attends with valid original identification and the document is complete. What cannot be compressed the same way are the ministry and embassy steps, which follow their own published timeframes and appointment systems. If a deadline is tight, plan backwards from the embassy's processing time rather than from the certification appointment.

Does the signatory have to attend in person?

For certification of a signature, yes: the whole point is that the attorney witnesses the act of signing and verifies identity. A certified true copy requires the original document but not necessarily the person named in it, depending on the document type. Where a party genuinely cannot travel, the workable alternative is usually a properly executed power of attorney, which itself has to be certified.

Do documents need to be translated before certification?

It depends on the destination. Some authorities want the original certified and the translation attached; others require the translation itself to be the certified document. Getting this the wrong way round is a frequent cause of rejection, so the sequence should be confirmed with the receiving institution before any work begins. Names must be transliterated exactly as they appear in the passport throughout the file.

Why would a foreign authority reject a certified document?

The recurring reasons are a mismatch in name spelling between documents, a missing step in the legalisation chain, a certificate that has passed the recipient's validity window, incomplete pages or annexes, an unclear description of the certifier's authority, and wording that does not match the institution's prescribed form. Almost all of them are avoidable by obtaining the requirement in writing at the start.

Can a company document be certified?

Yes, and it is common for affidavits, board resolutions, powers of attorney and certified copies of the company affidavit. The signatory must show that they are authorised to bind the company, normally through the affidavit's signing-authority clause together with the company seal where the articles require one. If the authority comes from a board resolution, that resolution should be part of the same file.

How long is a certified document valid?

Thai certification does not carry a statutory expiry, but the receiving institution almost always imposes one — three or six months is typical for immigration, banking and academic use. Because the validity clock is set by the recipient, documents should be certified close to the date of submission, and the whole chain should be scheduled so that the last step finishes shortly before the deadline rather than months ahead.

What should I send when asking for a quotation?

Send a list of the documents, the destination country, the name of the receiving institution, any wording they require, and the deadline. With that information the correct route can be identified, the number of chargeable items counted, and the government and embassy fees separated from the service fee, so the quotation reflects the real total instead of the certification step alone.

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