Entities incorporated or formed in the BVI and other offshore regions often require their corporate documents to be notarized, apostilled and/or legalized. It is therefore important to note the general requirements for eligibility, and the powers of a notary public in the offshore regions.

An Apostille is an internationally accepted method for certification of copied documents. It involves a two step process:

Firstly the copied documents are certified as true copies by a local Notary.

Secondly the notary’s signature is certified as true by the local Supreme Court Registry which keeps a record of the Notary’s signature.

Commonly, when opening a bank account for the company, the Bank will ask for a Notarized and Apostilled copy of the documents evidencing the Company’s registration and the identity of the Company’s initial Director and shareholder.

The Apostille process can take up to a Week or two to complete depending on the country/region in which the process need be undertaken.

The power of notary public

Generally an offshore Notary Public has poWers of:

(1) Drawing, passing, keeping and issuing all deeds of contracts, charter-parties and other commercial transactions;

(2) Attesting to commercial instruments that may be brought before the notary for public protestation;

(3) A commissioner for oaths under the company Act of the relevant region;

(4) Performing such other acts or duties as are required to, or may be performed, by a BVI Notary Public.

The service coverage of notary public

(1) British Virgin Islands (BVI)

(2) Cayman Islands

(3) Singapore

(4) Seychelles

(5) United Kingdom

(6) United States

(7) Marshall Islands

(8) Bermuda

(9) Anguilla