Perhaps the most common pitfall when translating or notarising your documents is not having the documents approved before you proceed. One thing you need to look out for, is the order in which you need to notarise and translate your documents. Different jurisdictions all have different requirements. Some will need you to sign in the recipient language, others will want you to sign in your native language and have it translated into the recipient language, and others will want everything including the apostille translated, and then the translation notarised with its own apostille. It’s really important to make sure that we get the order of your documents (including the timing of the translation) correct. If we do it in the wrong order then the recipient will send it back and it will most likely cost not only your time but money too.
The easiest way to make sure that you have got things correct is to check with the recipient. It is more than likely that you are not the first person to have this done and they will be expecting the document to be formatted in a certain way. Most companies or institutions are more than happy to explain to you exactly what you need and what they expect to receive.
In regard to the notarisation of documents, you need to make sure that what you notarise is what you’ve been requested. This may seem really obvious, but with language barriers and misinterpretations, this is more common that you think. If something has been excluded that you need to come back and complete that and conversely if you notarise something that you don't need, it will cost you more than you need to spend. In order to help prevent this, you should check online resources, any guidance notes or instructions that you have been sent and more specifically check with the person that you are in contact with. If you are applying to university, the applications/administrations department of the new university will be more than happy to help you. If you are applying to other organisations such as AHPRA, then they have comprehensive online guidance. They recently updated their procedures and now require fewer documents to be notarised and previously. They typically expect to see a notarised copy of your degree certificate. Sometimes I get asked to notarise identity documents too, but that tends to be for the hospitals that you are applying for as AHPRA now have their new online identity verification processes.
The use of AI (for example ChatGPT) is increasing in many circumstances, and whilst they can be useful they are not always correct. There is a warning on most platforms to inform you that it makes mistakes and you need to verify the responses. Sometimes the AI platform that you have used will tell you that you can complete a document in a particular format, it doesn't necessarily mean that that is correct. If you need to prepare a statutory declaration they can assist with the wording but a person or company will tell you exactly what it needs to contain, i.e. the exact content of the declaration. As with all notarisations we need to make sure that what we present is correct.
Another pitfall that we often encounter is where clients have not read or fully understood the documents that have been sent. If somebody is drafting an affidavit for you, make sure that the content is genuinely correct. You will be held liable for making statements that are untrue. You can be fined for wasting the courts time if your lawyer files untrue statements and they later need to be amended. We do need to make sure that any enclosures are present at the same time of signing as they cannot be added later. If they are not attached, you cannot make a statement confirming that these documents are genuine or that you are providing the evidence. There are a few issues with this, as sometimes the affidavits are drafted on your behalf and documents covered by Crown Copyright are included as photocopies (we need to use the originals).
We also need to make sure that powers of attorney include all of the clauses you need and none of the ones that you don’t. Spanish power of attorney may include a clause to request your NIE number, which is great if that's what you want however if you’re only requesting an NIE number it shouldn’t include powers to buy or sell property in your name nor should it include the powers to access a bank account on your behalf.
If you have any questions queries or need clarification on any of the points within this blog or with your query please do not hesitate to contact me.