A Copy Certification by Document Custodian form is a short affidavit in which you, the holder of an original document, swear that an attached photocopy is a true and complete reproduction of that original, and a notary public witnesses your signature and applies a seal. You fill in the custodian section yourself — your name, a description of the document, its date, the page count — leave the signature line blank until the appointment, and then sign under oath in front of the notary. The finished form is what banks, schools, employers, and foreign agencies accept in place of the original.
When You Need This Form
Most states do not let a notary look at your original, compare it to a photocopy, and stamp the copy as certified. The custodian form is the workaround: you are the one swearing the copy is accurate, and the notary is only verifying your identity and witnessing the oath. That shifts the legal weight onto you, which is precisely why recipients trust the result.
The form works for private and personal records that you hold as the original. Common examples include diplomas and academic transcripts, professional licenses, corporate bylaws and organizational records, medical records, employment documents, and personal letters or contracts.
Documents That Are Off-Limits
Vital records — birth certificates, death certificates, and marriage certificates — cannot be certified this way. Only the government registrar that issued the original can produce certified copies. A competent notary will refuse the request.
The same restriction covers most publicly recordable documents: deeds, court judgments, passports, driver’s licenses, Social Security cards, and immigration documents. Even if the document has not actually been recorded, the fact that a government office could record it disqualifies it. Certified copies must come from the issuing agency.
Naturalization certificates have their own process. For a verified copy of a Certificate of Naturalization or Certificate of Citizenship, you schedule an appointment with your local USCIS office to obtain what USCIS calls a Certified True Copy.1U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. How Do I Obtain an Authenticated Copy of a Certificate of Naturalization
What to Bring to the Appointment
Three items, and getting any of them wrong sends you home.
- The original document. Not a previously made copy. The whole premise of the form is that you, as custodian of the original, are swearing the photocopy matches it. A notary who sees only a photocopy should refuse.
- A photocopy. Legible, complete, and page-for-page with the original. Some states require the notary to make or supervise the copying, so call ahead to confirm whether you should bring your own copy or plan to make one on site.
- Government-issued photo ID. Current and unexpired. A state driver’s license, state ID card, or U.S. passport works. If you have none of these, some states allow a credible witness who knows you personally to vouch for your identity; ask the notary in advance.
One rule that trips people up: the notary performing the notarization cannot also be the custodian. If you are a notary yourself, find a different notary for your own custodian certification.
Filling In the Custodian Section
Templates are available on most Secretary of State websites and through professional notary organizations. Use your state’s version, because the required wording varies. Do not touch the notary section; that part is exclusively for the notary.
A typical custodian section asks for the following:
- Printed name. Your full legal name exactly as it appears on your photo ID. No nicknames or abbreviations.
- Description of the document. The title or subject of the original. Be specific: “Bachelor of Science diploma from State University” beats “diploma.”
- Document date. The date on the original. Write “N/A” if there is none.
- Number of pages. Every page of the original, including attachments and addenda. This number must match the photocopy exactly.
- Signature and date. Leave the signature line blank until you are in front of the notary. The date is the date you sign, not the date you prepared the form.
Use permanent blue or black ink. Whiteout and cross-outs give the notary grounds to refuse; if you make a mistake, start over on a fresh form. Two of the most common rejection triggers are a name that does not match your ID and a page count that does not match the actual copy.
What Happens at the Notary
Copy certification has to be done in person. Remote online notarization is not an option for this act, because the notary needs to physically compare the original with the photocopy.
- ID check. The notary inspects your photo identification and confirms it matches the printed name on the form. If it does not match, the notary will decline.
- Document comparison. The notary reviews both the original and the copy. In states that require the notary to supervise the copying, the copy is made at this point.
- Signing under oath. You sign the custodian section while the notary watches. The notary then administers an oath or affirmation, and you verbally swear that the copy is true, correct, and complete. That step is what turns the form into a legal affidavit.
- Notary completion. The notary fills in the jurat, signs, and applies the official seal or stamp. The jurat records the date and county and confirms that the oath was administered in the notary’s presence.
Once the seal is on, the certified copy is ready. Keep the original in your possession. Only the photocopy with the attached certification form goes to the requesting party.
What It Costs
State law caps what a notary can charge for a jurat, which is the notarial act involved here. Maximum fees range from $2 in states such as Georgia, Nebraska, and New York to $25 in Rhode Island and New Jersey, with most states falling between $5 and $15. Mobile notaries who travel to you typically add a travel fee on top of the statutory rate, and that add-on is not capped everywhere. Visiting the notary’s office keeps the bill at the statutory amount.
If You Need the Copy Abroad
The notarized custodian certification is often not enough on its own for use in another country. Countries that are members of the Hague Apostille Convention accept an apostille, a standardized certificate attached by your state’s Secretary of State that authenticates the notary’s signature and seal. Countries outside the Convention require a longer authentication chain that generally involves both the Secretary of State and the U.S. Department of State.
To get an apostille, submit the completed, notarized form to your state’s Secretary of State. Some states process apostilles for free; others charge a fee. Turnaround runs from same-day for walk-in requests to several weeks for mailed submissions. The notary must be commissioned in the state issuing the apostille: a document notarized in Ohio cannot be apostilled by the California Secretary of State.
If an international deadline is involved, plan for anywhere from a single day to a month between the notary appointment and a finished apostille, depending on your state and whether you appear in person or mail everything in.