Mandatory Authentication of Notarised Documents in Singapore from 1 October 2019

With effect from 1 October 2019, all documents that require notarisation by  a local Notary Public in Singapore will have to be authenticated by the Singapore Academy of Law (SAL).

The Singapore Academy of Law appoints and regulates about 700 Notaries Public who are licensed to notarise documents in Singapore. These licences have a one-year validity, safeguarding the integrity of the notarisation system.

The introduction of mandatory authentication ensures that all notarised documents originate from properly appointed notaries in Singapore and that the notarised documents are issued in compliance with the Notaries Public Rules.

An e-Register has been set up to log all notarised documents. All Notaries Public in Singapore will be using the e-Register to issue notarial certificates and have the Singapore Academy of Law authenticate them.

With effect from 1 October 2019, in order to submit your supporting documents (notarised translation of your documents) to the ICA for PR or Citizenship application, you need to do the following:

1) Appoint a translation service provider to translate your documents (if they are not in English)

2) Pay Notarisation Fee to a Notary Public to notarise the translated documents  (SGD80.00 onwards depending on the number of documents you have)

3) Pay Singapore Academy of Law’s Authentication Fee of SGD85.60 – inclusive of GST at the Notary Public’s Office.

4) The Notary Public will then certify the translated documents and issue a Notarial Certificate with QR code via the Singapore Academy of Law’s portal.

5) Bring the notarised documents to the Singapore Academy of Law to obtain an Authentication Sticker and Stamp, which will be pasted behind the Notarial Certificate.
There is no due date and no additional fees will be incurred for this process. However, under the Notaries Public Rules, authentication can only be considered as completed and valid after this process is completed. It can be done on-the-spot at the Singapore Academy of Law’s Counter located at:

The Adelphi

1 Coleman Street #08-06 Singapore 179803

All documents are to be submitted during the operating hours as follows:

Mondays – Fridays 9:00am to 4:30pm
Weekends & Public Holidays: Closed
Eves of Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year: 9:00am to 12:30pm

Once authentication is completed, any recipient of the notarised documents, such as the ICA will be able to search and verify the authenticity of your notarised and authenticated documents via an e-Register hosted on https://legalisation.sal.sg

Notarised documents that were created before 1 October 2019 will not be affected by this new notarisation and authentication system.