Certified Copies for the Visa Packet
A paralegal at a small immigration firm asks Priscilla, the firm's notary, to prepare "certified copies" for a client's visa packet. The originals on the table are: (1) the client's birth certificate issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Health; (2) the photo page of the client's Nigerian passport; (3) a 2019 deed already recorded in the county Recorder of Deeds' office; (4) the client's own two-page handwritten will; and (5) a diploma from a Manila university, in English, bearing a school seal Priscilla has never seen before. The paralegal also wants Priscilla to sign a page "certifying the identity" of the client's sister, who is not present, based on a photo the sister texted to the office. The packet ships tomorrow.
1. Which of items (1) through (5) may Priscilla copy-certify, and which should she refuse?
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A copy certification is the notary's statement that a copy is a true, complete, and accurate copy of the tangible original that was placed before her. It depends on the notary actually holding and examining the original.
- (1) Birth certificate - refuse. It is a public record held by a government custodian. Certified copies come from the issuing agency, not from a notary's rubber stamp. A notarized photocopy is not a certified vital record and may be rejected.
- (2) Passport photo page - generally permissible. She has the original in hand and can compare it page for page; she is certifying the copy, not the passport's validity or the bearer's citizenship. She should copy every page she certifies and note in the certificate exactly what was copied.
- (3) Recorded deed - refuse. It is a public record in the Recorder's custody; a copy should come from the recording office. Copy-certifying it also invites confusion about recording status.
- (4) Handwritten will - permissible with care. It is a private document, and Priscilla can attest that the two pages she copied are what she was shown. She should confirm the pages are numbered and sequential, copy all pages or expressly state that only certain pages were copied, and avoid any implication that she is opining on validity or testamentary sufficiency.
- (5) Diploma - permissible as to the copy only. This is the trap: Priscilla can say the copy matches the paper presented, but she cannot vouch for the school, the seal, or authenticity. She should not add language suggesting she verified issuance.
When in doubt about whether a document falls in the public-record category, the safe course is to send the client to the custodian.
2. What exactly does the copy certificate attest, and what must it not be used to prove? Frame your answer around items (2) and (5).
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The certificate attests a comparison, not a conclusion about authenticity or content. For the passport page and the diploma, a correct certificate says, in substance: the attached copy is a true and complete copy of the document presented to me on [date] by [name].
It does not attest that:
- the passport is genuine, unexpired, or belongs to the presenter;
- the diploma was issued by the named university, that the seal is authentic, or that the coursework was completed;
- the original document is legally effective, validly executed, or admissible;
- any translation or interpretation is accurate.
Because Priscilla has never seen the Manila seal before and cannot independently verify it, any certificate that implies authentication of the school's seal would be misleading, and the receiving agency may treat the whole packet as suspect. If the client needs authentication of a foreign document, that is a consular/authentication question, not a notarial one.
A second practical point: the certificate should be attached to or placed on the copy itself, so pages cannot be swapped, and the journal entry should record how many pages were copied and what document was presented.
3. Can Priscilla sign a page 'certifying the identity' of the absent sister? What notarial act, if any, is available, and what would it require?
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No. Three problems converge:
- No personal appearance. The sister is not before Priscilla. Every notarial act in Pennsylvania rests on personal appearance; a photograph texted to the office is not an appearance, and it is not satisfactory evidence of identity either.
- No such act as 'certifying identity' by the notary's own fiat. Priscilla is not authorized to issue a personal certification that a stranger is who she says she is.
- The act Priscilla could do is different in kind. If the sister needs to establish something in writing, the proper route is a verification on oath or affirmation: the sister writes and signs a statement, appears before a notary (Priscilla or another), is identified through satisfactory evidence, and swears or affirms to the statement. The notary then completes a jurat-style certificate for that act. The sister would have to appear in person, with identification.
Fittingly, Priscilla's role is not to vouch for people - it is to record, accurately, that a person appeared, was identified, and did a specific thing. The deadline does not change this; the appropriate answer to the paralegal is that the sister must appear personally before a notary, and that a texted photo cannot be converted into a notarial act.