Not every document that leaves Nigeria needs a notary's stamp. Knowing which ones usually do can save you a wasted trip.
The documents notaries commonly certify
The list runs to birth and marriage certificates, school certificates, police clearance certificates, passport data pages, driver's licences and affidavits.
That is a wide spread. It covers identity papers, school records, and legal documents. All of them show up often in visa, study and work applications.
Why these specific documents
Each of these papers tends to travel outside the office that issued it. A foreign university has no direct line to a Nigerian school's own files.
So it wants proof from someone else that the copy is real. A notary's stamp is that proof. It tells the school abroad that a qualified person checked the copy against the original.
What a notary actually does to the document
You bring the original and a copy. The notary checks both side by side.
Then they sign, stamp and seal the copy as a true copy. Or they watch you sign the document and witness it directly.
For some documents, a notary can also help with the next step: getting the ministry responsible for foreign affairs to authenticate it too.
Documents that usually skip this step
Everyday Nigerian paperwork, used only inside Nigeria, rarely needs a notary at all.
A court affidavit of loss, a simple change of name affidavit, or a form for a Nigerian bank normally goes through a court's commissioner for oaths instead. See the Notaries Public Act 2023 explained for how the two roles differ.
Checking the notary before you pay
A stamp means little if the person behind it is not genuine.
The Notaries Public Act, 2023 requires a public register of notaries. The Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court keeps it.
Search notary.gov.ng before you hand over any document, especially an original you cannot easily replace.
If you are choosing between a few options
When a request just says "provide certified documents", ask what it means before you book anything.
Some institutions accept a certified true copy from the issuing school or office. Others want a notary's stamp specifically, or both together. A short phone call or email settles it faster than guessing.
Common mistakes
- Assuming any office's "certified true copy" stamp counts as notarisation. It does not always.
- Sending an original document off to be notarised without keeping your own copy first.
- Skipping the register check, then learning later that the stamp was not genuine.
- Notarising a document without first asking whether the receiving country also wants it authenticated.
For how the law behind notarisation works, see the Notaries Public Act 2023 explained. For checking a specific notary, see how to verify a notary public in Nigeria. For the wider set of affidavit questions, see our affidavit guides.