And so, typically when you are here in the United States and you need a document notarized for your home country, a regular notary does not have the capacity to do that, but an International Civil Law Notary does and therefore, you have no reason to actually go to a foreign consulate.
Second, yes, a document may be notarized in a foreign country by a notarial officer of that country or by a U.S. citizen taking the document to a U.S. consulate to be notarized by a U.S. consular officer.
U.S. embassies and consulates provide notarial services like a notary public in the United States. A notary is someone who witnesses you sign a document. In countries that are part of the Hague Convention, get your document notarized by a local notary.
Generally, state laws do not expressly prohibit the Notary from notarizing a document that is not in the English language. However, depending on the circumstances, it may be inadvisable to notarize such foreign-language documents. The danger, of course, is that the document is being misrepresented to the Notary.
Notaries in most countries perform very different duties compared to their counterparts in the United States. Foreign Notaries have powers similar to attorneys and are authorized to advise and prepare documents for clients.
For instance, outside of the United States, the only personnel authorized to perform notarial acts, with the same force as performed in the US, are US Consular Officers and US Military Notaries. A California notary cannot notarize documents outside the state of CA, nor outside of the United States.
USPS doesn't notarize documents, as it is a federal organization, and notaries usually operate on a state-by-state basis. However, there are many options to receive notary services, including major banks, such as Wells Fargo and , local notary offices, and your local UPS store.
If you're looking for the cheapest option, a bank or credit union is probably your best bet. If you need something notarized ASAP, an online notary service might be the way to go. And if you have a complex legal document, a law office can provide some extra peace of mind.
The UPS Store locations offer notary services to help make life easier. Once your documents are notarized, the center will help you make any necessary copies and ship them where they need to go.