Notary & apostille (category guide)

Singapore Academy of Law appoints Notaries Public and issues authentication / e-Apostille for notarised documents — SAL does not notarise for you. Start at the SAL directory, confirm whether the receiving authority wants notarisation only, apostille, or embassy legalisation, then book a notary near you. Notarial fees are regulated; page-based overseas translation-plus-apostille quotes of thousands of dollars for LTVP packs are a common Reddit failure mode — ask your embassy in Singapore for accepted translators first. Commissioners for Oaths handle statutory declarations for many local uses; notaries handle documents destined abroad. Pair immigration counsel when the pack is a common-law LTVP affidavit, not when you only need a signature witnessed. Apostille and notarisation authenticate documents for foreign courts; they do not draft a Singapore will or CPF nomination — use will-writing counsel for estate instruments, then legalisation only when a foreign registry demands it. Family ops note: school transcript notarisation for transfers loves to land on helper rest days — keep a coverage owner before you queue at the notary.