What we will not promise
The notary is not checking the translation
The extra step buys a verified signature. It buys nothing whatever about the words on the page.
What you will see advertised
“Notarised for accuracy.”
Three words, and the second and third of them do not belong together — which is easy to miss, because the phrase sounds like a stronger version of something that is entirely real.
What a notary actually does
A notary public verifies the identity of the person signing and witnesses the signature. No notary in this country attests that a translation is correct, and none is qualified to — the notary usually cannot read the source language.
The act is real and it is worth paying for where the receiving office asks for it. What it covers is a signature. Everything a notarial seal asserts is true of the person holding the pen and silent about the words on the page.
Why the confusion is so easy to sell
A notarised translation feels more official and it costs more, and both of those are true, so it is not surprising that people assume the extra money is buying extra checking.
The confusion is understandable, because a notarised translation feels more official and often costs more. What the extra step buys is a verified signature, which some consulates and every apostille require. It buys nothing about the words. If a notarial seal made a translation accurate, the accuracy of every document in the country would depend on somebody who never read it.
What we do instead
We notarise where the receiving body asks for it, we say what it does, and we say when it is money you do not need to spend. Most immigration filings take a certificate of accuracy with no notarisation at all, and being told that is worth more to you than being sold the extra step.
The rate card lists the notarial fee as its own line rather than folding it into a package, and the estimator says so when you have chosen more certification than the office you named usually asks for. It is the one place on this site where the software argues you into spending less than you arrived intending to.
The other nine
One argument in ten parts. Each one is a sentence this trade sells and a plainer thing that is true instead.
Send us the document
A photograph is enough to quote from, and you will hear what the problem is — if there is one — before anybody starts work rather than afterwards.