Certificate Attestation Services

True copy attestation is a certification that a photocopy is a faithful reproduction of an original document that was produced and inspected. It lets you keep the original in your possession while giving an authority, employer or counterparty a copy they can rely on. It certifies the copy — not the truth of what the document says.

The distinction is who certifies and what weight the receiving party gives it. A notary public's certified copy carries the notary's official standing and is generally what government bodies and courts expect. A lawyer-attested true copy is often accepted for commercial, corporate and internal purposes. Because acceptance varies, the practical step is to ask the receiving party which form they require before paying for either.

Whenever an original cannot safely be surrendered but proof is still required — tender submissions, bank and corporate onboarding, multiple simultaneous applications, or registrations in several jurisdictions at once. It is also the usual answer when a single original certificate is needed in more than one place.

Trade licences and corporate records, passports and identification, educational certificates, contracts and agreements, board resolutions and powers of attorney, and audited financial statements. In practice corporate documents make up the bulk, because a company generally holds one original of each and needs it in several places.

Yes, in essentially every case. The certification is a statement that the original was seen and the copy matches it, so it cannot be issued from a scan, a photograph, or another copy. Presenting anything other than the original is the single most common reason a request is refused.

Not automatically. Acceptance depends on the destination country and the body receiving it, and a document intended for use overseas generally needs further attestation through the relevant ministries and the destination country's mission. Confirming the destination's requirements first avoids paying for a certification that will not travel.

The certification itself does not usually carry an expiry, but many receiving parties will only accept one issued recently — commonly within three to six months — and the copy is only as current as the original behind it. A true copy of a trade licence, for example, stops being useful the moment the licence is renewed.

Most refusals come down to a few avoidable things: the original was not produced, the document is damaged or partly illegible, it is in a language the certifying party cannot work in without an authorised translation, pages are missing from a multi-page document, or the person requesting it cannot show they are entitled to the document. Checking those before attending resolves the majority of them.