Notary Services

The American Citizen Services Unit provides notary services for those persons wishing to execute documents in the presence of a U.S. consular officer. This service is available to both American and foreign citizens who need to have documents notarized for use in the United States.  We provide the following notary services:

• Taking acknowledgments of signatures on documents for use in the United States, such as deeds, powers of attorney, etc.
• Administering oaths or affirmations to people executing affidavits for use in the United States
• Certifications of true copies of certain documents
• Notarization of U.S. Savings Bonds

Please note that we are not authorized to perform the following services:

• Authentication of documents issued by the Government of Israel.  Because the Government of Israel is a party to the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement for Legalization of Foreign Public Documents, you must obtain an apostille instead.
• Fingerprinting 
• Authentication of civil documents issued or notarized in the U.S. that you intend to use in another country.  These require an apostille that you should obtain from the jurisdiction in the U.S. where the document was issued or notarized.
• Medallion Signature Guarantees  
• Authentication of U.S. academic credentials
• Notarization of Form I-864 Affidavits of Support.  These forms no longer need to be notarized.

If you have any questions about whether or not we provide a particular notary service, please e-mail us at JerusalemACS@state.gov.   

How to Prepare for Your Notary Appointment

• Please read your document(s) through carefully and make sure you understand them before the interview.  If a document is not clear, check with the office or organization requiring the notarized document or your legal advisor.  Consular staff cannot explain your document(s) to you.
• Know exactly where you are meant to sign. The consular staff cannot advise you in any way on what is required of you.
• Mark every page where the notary needs to sign, with a marker sticker sticking out of the document.  Also make clear which pages should be attached to each other, for instance with a paper clip.
• Fill in the document(s) with the appropriate names, places and dates.  However, DO NOT sign your document.  You will sign under oath at the Consular Section before a consular officer.
• Bring your passport or another form of government-issued photo identification.
• If the name in your photo identification differs from the name on the documents you wish to have notarized, please bring evidence of a name change.
• Bring the entire document, even if only one page is to be notarized.
• If your document requires witnesses in addition to the notary, you are responsible for providing these witnesses.  Consular staff cannot serve as witnesses.  Witnesses cannot be a spouse or a relative, and each witness will need photo identification.  This is particularly important with regard to last wills and testaments. 

Fees

The fee for each signature by the consular officer is $50.  Documents will not be notarized until the appropriate fee is paid in full to our cashier, and all fees are non-refundable.  See our fee schedule for details on what forms of payment are accepted. 

The Consular Section certifies signatures for U.S. Savings Bonds free of charge.

Scheduling an Appointment

Appointments are required for all notary services.  To make an appointment, please visit this page.