Which do I need?
Notary Public or Commissioner for Oaths in Singapore?
These are two different appointments and they cost different amounts. Choosing the wrong one is the single most common reason somebody pays twice, and the test that decides it is simpler than people expect.
Where will the document be used?
Inside Singapore
Commissioner for Oaths
A flat fee per document, whatever its length. Sufficient for most declarations, affidavits and statements that stay here.
Outside Singapore
Notary public
And almost always something after it: authentication by the Academy of Law, then an apostille or embassy legalisation.
One caveat worth knowing. A document that starts life in Singapore and stays here can still end up needing notarisation if it is later sent abroad, and redoing it at that point means going back to the beginning. If there is a realistic chance the document will travel, say so at the outset.
Questions
Common questions
My form says Commissioner for Oaths, but the document is going abroad
This is the most common version of the problem. Forms drafted overseas often ask for a Commissioner for Oaths, or for one 'or equivalent', because whoever wrote them was thinking of a domestic reader and did not anticipate the document being signed in another country.
If the document is leaving Singapore, work on the basis that a notary is required, and check with the receiving party if you can reach them.
Can the same person do both?
Notary public and Commissioner for Oaths are separate appointments, and many practitioners hold both. What matters is which capacity they are acting in for your document, because that determines the fee and what the certificate says.
What happens if I use the wrong one?
Usually the receiving authority rejects it and you start again, having paid for the first attempt. Where the document has already gone through authentication, that fee is lost too. It is worth a moment's checking at the outset.
Send us the document and we will confirm
A photograph of the form and one line about what it is for is enough. There is no charge for the answer.