chris68

Finally got around to applying for an Irish passport. It really seems the only way to guarantee my non-E.U. wife's status and retain our freedom to relocate in Europe if we want to. Does anybody know how much a notary charges to authenticate and stamp my documents/copy of UK passport/ photos? I know I could probably get my Doc to do this but it's €25 as soon as you shake his hand.

EuroTrash

Ask your notaire? He will know how much he charges...

chris68

Duh

scrubbedexpat056

Hi. Make sure you get the correct level of authentication as you call it. You need a higher level than just a swearing, in the UK it has to be done by a commissioner of oaths. I don't know what the equivalent is in France, but you want to make sure you have understood it correctly. I applied for my Irish passport in Uk and it cost me £120 at a solicitor's office. The backlog for Irish passports is pretty big and the last thing you want to do is delay it by sending the wrong documents. Mine took about 7 months to register my birth and then 2 months to get the passport.
Good luck with it.

dmu

The nearest equivalent is a Notaire or a Juge de Paix.
@chris68 - I'm not sure that a French Doctor is competent to do any more than sign the back of a photo, if that. It would never occur to me to get ours to sign anything of that nature, but if some one here has asked theirs, it would be useful to know!

EuroTrash

Sorry if you think I stated the obvious, but French notaires are self-employed "professions libérales" so basically they can set their own fees for most of the services they provide. It's only when they are carrying out services on behalf of the state, the obvious example being property transfers, that the fees are prescribed by the state. I don't think the state sets a fee for authenticating documents so you would have to ask an individual notaire what their fee is. If you have a notaire you have used before and who remembers you, (s)he may even do it for free.

If it's just a case of confirming that a photo looks like you there should be no need to pay anything if you know people here. For instance business owners are accepted so I got our mayor, who is also a local business owner, to sign and stamp mine (though trying to persuade him to copy out the official wording in English as required by HM Passport Office, met with a dismissive wave and a "poufff"; he wrote his statement in French and I added a translation underneath, wasn't sure it would be accepted but it was). But as Allianco says, I doubt this would be sufficient for your purposes.

Tweedpipe

Picking up on DMU's comment, I too would be a little surprised if a doctor would be competent for a transaction of this nature. However, on a side issue I feel that €25 is money well spent on a doctor's visit, as when I see mine once a year he always gives me a very thorough going-over (in the correct sense - I hasten to add), with never any unease in parting with what many would consider as modest bistro funds. Even for those on SMIC or worse-off, that sum is often a potential life saver.
Just for general interest, I can advise that a French doctor can be called upon to endorse certain other documents that one may require. Some pension funds for example require an annual Certification of Existance, which your GP can countersign. In most cases this would imply a visit to see him/her and the palming of statutory €25, unless you are well in with your GP, who may then sign this after being handed through his/her personal assistant.
In my particular case I receive each year a renewal of the Licence Federale from the French Shooting Federation, which for all legal and especially pratical purposes, has then to be signed, stamped and dated by my GP; a good opportunity if ever there was to get a thorough check-out. This is compulsory to ensure that I'm in good health - and especially sain d'esprit - which many dedicated forum members here may dispute.
All I'm left wondering now is, how do these straight-jackets come off........

Tweedpipe

ET is indeed correct, as usual. I had to smile at the "poufff" comment. I'm sure most of us here have lost count how many times we've heard that dismissive expression from one organisation or another, either on the phone or face to face.
I too have received similar from out local mayor, on asking to copy out two simple lines of official wording in English. The next time on a similar document, I added - in a slightly different handwriting - a French translation myself followed by the two English lines, and handed it to the mayor together with the same pen - for signing. A win-win situation which avoided the all too familiar "poufff".
As DelBoy would say, "He who dares......"

chris68

I got it sorted. In the advice sheet that accompanies the application they say that 'an agent of the police' is acceptable for authenticating copies of documents too ( think UK passport and French driving licence). So I went to the local police station at Pamiers and the guy on the evening shift could not have been more helpful. It was the first night of the Gillets Jaunes protests and he was running between the phone and the police radio all the while (about 1/2 hour of paperwork) - but he did it. Guy was a dude.