Notary Stamp Archives

Notary Errors on Documents Destined for Foreign Countries

Last week, our article Use Caution when Notarizing for Elections and Political Candidates described how notarial errors on election and candidate forms can cause a notary to become an ugly headline in the media. There is one more situation that brings notary errors under a microscope. Today’s topic is about errors that appear on notarized documents that will be used outside of the U.S. and requires an apostille or certificate of authentication.

Example of Document Requiring an Apostille

Suppose a citizen of China intends to marry a U.S. citizen and the wedding will take place in China. Before this can go forward, according to information on the website of the Consulate General of China in San Francisco, the U.S. citizen must...

Rainbow of Colorful Notary Stamps and Ink

There's a notary myth that rolls around in forums and on social media from time to time about notary stamp ink color. It goes something like this: the majority of notaries believe that seal ink must be black. Many believe colors may be blue or black. The truth is that only one-fourth of the 50 states have laws that require notaries to select a certain color. All of the other states can choose from any color of ink that can be reproduced darkly on a copier or when scanned. Notaries who are not restricted to a certain color may select from blue, purple, red, blue, or green in addition to black or blue. If you are not sure what color you...