Can a Notary Certify a Copy of a Document?

Certified true copy, notarized copy, certified copy — which did they ask for?

Three phrases get used as if they meant the same thing, and the mismatch is why so many of these get rejected. A certified copy is an official reproduction issued by the office that holds the original — a vital records office, a court clerk, a county recorder. A certified true copy usually means the same thing, though some institutions and most foreign consulates use it loosely for any copy formally attested as matching the original. A notarized copy involves a notary rather than the issuing office, and is the one with real limits on it.

Before anything else, ask the receiving party which they want, in those words. If they need the issuing agency's certified copy, no notary of any kind can substitute for it, and the rest of this page will not help you. If they will accept an attestation, read on.

Two different things get called a “notarized copy”

The confusion behind this question is that one phrase covers two unrelated acts. In a copy certification the notary looks at your original, compares it to the photocopy, and signs a certificate saying the copy is complete and accurate. The notary is vouching for the copy itself.

In a copy certification by document custodian the notary vouches for nothing of the kind. You sign a written statement swearing the copy is a true copy of a document you hold, and the notary notarizes your signature on that statement. The notary never examines the original — they are notarizing your oath, not the paperwork.

That distinction decides everything else on this page, because the first act is restricted by state law and the second is just an ordinary jurat.

Whether your state allows it at all

Copy certification is a state-by-state power. A majority of states authorise it in some form, a number do not grant it at all, and a few allow it only for specific document types. A notary in a state without the authority is not being unhelpful when they decline — performing an act their commission does not cover is misconduct.

Because it is a state power, the rule follows the notary, not you. A notary commissioned in a state that permits copy certification can perform it for a signer anywhere, within whatever limits that state's law sets.

Vital records and public records are off-limits everywhere

This is the hard limit, and it is the same in every state that allows copy certification at all. A notary may not certify a copy of a birth certificate, death certificate, marriage certificate, divorce decree, court record, or any other document that a government office issues certified copies of.

The reason is straightforward: the issuing agency already provides that service, and a notary's certificate would compete with an official one while carrying none of the same authority. Many of these records also carry “illegal to copy” language on their face.

• • Birth, death, marriage and divorce certificates — order from the vital records office
• • Court documents — request a certified copy from the clerk of court
• • Recorded deeds and liens — the county recorder issues certified copies
• • Academic transcripts — usually the registrar, though some schools permit notarized copies
• • U.S. passports and naturalisation papers — federal rules govern these, not your notary

The workaround: copy certification by document custodian

When direct copy certification is unavailable — because your state does not grant it, or because the notary is commissioned somewhere that does not — the custodian route usually solves it. You write and sign a short statement that you hold the original and that the attached copy is a true, correct and complete copy of it. The notary administers an oath and notarizes your signature.

The result is a sworn statement from you, backed by a notarial certificate, rather than a notary's certification of the copy. Many receiving parties accept it precisely because the legal weight sits with your oath: you are the one making the representation, under penalty of perjury.

The limit is the same as before. If the underlying document is a vital record, the custodian route does not rescue it — the receiving party wants the agency's certified copy and nothing else will do.

What Florida allows

Florida is one of the states that does grant the power. Under § 117.05 of the Florida Statutes a Florida notary may make an attested photocopy of a document, provided the document is neither a public record nor one that can be recorded in the public records. The notary must supervise the copying itself, which is why they will ask to see and copy the original rather than accept one you bring.

That carve-out for public and recordable documents is what keeps deeds, court filings and vital records outside the power, and it lines up with the general rule above.

Ask the receiving party before you pay for anything

Almost every wasted trip on this topic comes from guessing what the other side wants. “Certified copy” means something specific to a records office and something looser in ordinary speech, and the two get used interchangeably.

• • Do you need a certified copy from the issuing agency, or a notarized one?
• • Will you accept a custodian statement sworn by me and notarized?
• • Does the copy need to be in colour, or single-sided?
• • Is there a deadline for how recent the certification must be?

Doing it online

The custodian route is a natural fit for a remote online notarization, because what is being notarized is your signature on a statement — exactly what a RON session is built to handle. You upload the statement with the copy attached, verify your identity, swear the oath on video and receive a sealed PDF.

Direct copy certification is the harder case online, since it depends on the notary examining a physical original. Where you need that specific act, a notary in the room is usually the answer. The custodian statement is the route that travels.

Terms worth knowing

Notarial certificate

— The wording the notary completes and signs on the document: the venue (state and county), the date, the type of act (jurat or acknowledgment), the signer's name, and the notary's signature and seal. If a form has no certificate, the notary attaches a loose one.

Jurat

— A notarial act where you sign the document in the notary's presence and swear or affirm that its contents are true. The certificate reads "sworn to (or affirmed) and subscribed before me". Affidavits and sworn applications use a jurat.

Sworn statement

— Any statement made under oath or affirmation. An affidavit is a sworn statement in writing.