Notary Public Services in Nepal: Act 2063, Council, Fees & Process (2026)

Most documents that travel internationally — affidavits for visa files, sworn declarations for embassy filings, certified translations of citizenship and academic records, attested powers of attorney for property transactions — pass through a notary public's stamp before they reach the receiving counter. Without that stamp, the embassy, the foreign court, or the bank's compliance team treats the document as unverified and rejects it.

In Nepal, notarial work is regulated under the Notary Public Act 2063 (2007) read with the Notary Public Rules 2063, administered by the Nepal Notary Public Council — an autonomous federal body chaired by the Attorney General. The Council licenses notaries, sets the fee schedule, enforces the code of conduct, and runs the disciplinary track for complaints.

This guide covers the full notary picture in Nepal — the legal framework, who can become a notary, the licensing process, the authorised acts a notary can perform, the official fee schedule, and how individuals and businesses should find and engage a notary in Kathmandu and other cities. Updated for FY 2082/83.

Alpine Law Associates — trusted by 1,000+ clients across family, corporate, civil, and criminal cases in Nepal.

Speak with our lawyers today →

Our team works alongside licensed notaries on document attestation for visa files, NRN affidavits, corporate powers of attorney, court-bound sworn declarations, and certified translations. The most frequent friction we see is at the receiving end — a document attested by a Nepali notary submitted to a foreign embassy or court that requires apostille or further consular legalisation, where the client did not budget for the second-stage attestation. As a full-service law firm in Nepal, our drafting team coordinates the document chain from drafting through notarisation through onward attestation so the document arrives at the receiving counter in the format that counter accepts.

Legal Framework — Notary Public Act 2063

The Notary Public Act 2063 (2007) is the substantive statute governing notarial work in Nepal. It establishes the Nepal Notary Public Council as the federal regulator, defines who can be enrolled as a notary public, prescribes the acts a notary may perform, sets the licensing and renewal regime, and provides for disciplinary action including suspension and cancellation of notarial licences.

The Act is supplemented by the Notary Public Rules 2063, which set out operational procedures — application forms, fee structure, register-keeping requirements, and the Council's complaint and inquiry procedures. The Council issues circulars from time to time that adjust specific operational details (fee schedule revisions, renewal timelines, disciplinary precedents).

The Council itself is an autonomous body chaired by the Attorney General of Nepal, with a Secretary and member representatives drawn from the legal profession and the government. It is funded through application fees, licence fees, and government allocations, and it operates from its office in Kathmandu with reach across the seven provinces through the affiliated notary registry.

The full text of the Notary Public Act and Rules is published on the Nepal Law Commission portal at lawcommission.gov.np. The Council's own portal — operational notices, complaint forms, and the Council's annual report — is at notarypublic.org.np.

Key takeaway: The Act sets the framework, the Rules set the procedure, and the Council issues operational circulars. When evaluating a notarial act, read the Act first for the substantive provision and the Council circulars for the current fee or operational rule.

Who Can Become a Notary Public in Nepal?

The Notary Public Act 2063 sets cumulative eligibility conditions. The Council's enrolment examination is the gateway for most applicants; a small number of senior practitioners qualify for direct enrolment without examination.

The application process runs through the Council's office in Kathmandu. Successful applicants receive a notary public certificate valid for 5 years across Nepal — the Act does not impose a city-of-residence restriction on the licence, though most notaries operate primarily from one city for client-facing reasons.

Key takeaway: Notarial enrolment is a top-up qualification on the underlying advocate licence — every notary in Nepal is first an Advocate registered with the Bar Council, then a notary licensed by the Notary Public Council on top of that.

What Acts Can a Notary Public Perform in Nepal?

The Notary Public Act 2063 and Rules define the scope of authorised notarial acts. A notary cannot perform acts beyond the statutory scope — an attestation outside the Act's authority is legally void and exposes the notary to disciplinary action.

• Affidavit attestation — taking sworn statements from individuals on facts, circumstances, or declarations. The notary administers the oath, witnesses the signature, and seals the document. Affidavits are the most common notarial act in Nepal.
• Signature verification and identity confirmation — confirming that a specified person signed a specified document in the notary's presence. The notary verifies identity through citizenship or passport before attesting the signature.
• Certified copy of original documents — comparing a copy against an original document and certifying the copy as a true copy. Used for academic records, citizenship, court orders, and corporate registration documents that need to be submitted in copy form.
• Sworn translation — between Nepali and English (the two languages most used in cross-border filings). The notary attests both the accuracy of the translation and the translator's identity.
• Oath administration — administering oaths and solemn declarations for sworn statements that will be filed at court, embassy, or government office.
• Attestation for international use — first-stage attestation that documents typically need before further legalisation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and (for non-Hague countries) consular legalisation by the destination country's embassy.
• Sworn deposition recording — recording a witness's statement under oath for use in legal proceedings, common in court-bound cases and arbitration.
• Power-of-attorney attestation — attesting the grantor's signature on powers of attorney, particularly for cross-border transactions, NRN property dealings, and corporate authorisations.
• Document authentication — attesting the authenticity of corporate resolutions, board minutes, and company-issued documents that require notarial certification before submission to regulators or banks.

The notary's act is documentary and procedural — the notary does not adjudicate the truth of the underlying statement, only the fact of the signature, the identity of the signatory, and the formal accuracy of the document. False statements made on oath before a notary expose the deponent (not the notary) to perjury liability under the Criminal Code 2074.

Key takeaway: A notary attests procedure, not truth. The deponent's substantive statement is their own responsibility; the notary's responsibility is the formality of the signing and the identification of the signatory.

Notary Public Fee Schedule in Nepal

Notarial fees in Nepal are not free-market — the Notary Public Council sets fee schedules through circulars, and notaries are prohibited from charging beyond the prescribed range. Charging in excess is grounds for disciplinary action including licence suspension.

The fee schedule is updated by Council circular from time to time. Where a notary asks for a fee materially above the prescribed range, request the Council circular reference; if no circular supports the figure, the request is non-compliant and can be reported to the Council. The Council's complaint procedure is published on its portal at notarypublic.org.np.

Beyond the notarial fee, downstream stages may apply additional charges — Ministry of Foreign Affairs legalisation (typically NPR 200 to 500 per document under the prevailing schedule), consular legalisation by the destination country's embassy (denominated in local currency or USD), and translation-services fees where the document needs Nepali-English or English-Nepali translation work distinct from the certification.

Key takeaway: Notarial fees are regulated, not negotiated. If a notary's quote feels high relative to the indicative ranges, ask which Council circular supports the figure. The Council enforces the schedule.

Notary Public Licensing and Renewal

The notary licence is valid for 5 years from the date of issuance and is renewable. Renewal is not automatic — the licence-holder must file a renewal application at least 60 days before expiry, and the Council may run an inquiry into the notary's record before granting renewal.

Notaries operating with a lapsed licence are not legally authorised to attest documents — the resulting attestation may be challenged on validity grounds at the receiving counter. Always verify a notary's licence is in force before relying on the attestation; the Council maintains a register of currently licensed notaries.

Key takeaway: The 5-year licence is renewable but not automatic. For ongoing matters that require attestation across the renewal cycle, plan the renewal in advance to avoid a gap.

How to Find and Engage a Notary in Kathmandu

Most notarial work in Nepal is concentrated in Kathmandu Valley because of the volume of court filings, embassy submissions, and corporate transactions originating in the capital. The Council maintains a register of licensed notaries, but in practice most clients identify a notary through three channels.

1. Through the firm handling your matter — law firms typically maintain a working relationship with one or more licensed notaries who handle the firm's attestation needs. The firm coordinates the document chain end-to-end and bundles the notarial fee into the matter cost.
2. Through the Council register — the Nepal Notary Public Council publishes operational notices and licensee information at notarypublic.org.np. The register is the authoritative source for confirming whether a specific notary holds a current licence.
3. Through specialist notary service providers — Kathmandu has several specialist providers focused on notarial work for individuals and small businesses needing fast-turnaround attestation. These include established services such as notary in kathmandu and notary in nepal, both Kathmandu-based notarial services that handle affidavits, attestations, and certified translations.

Whichever channel you use, three checks before engaging a notary save time at the receiving counter: confirm the notary's licence is currently in force, confirm the fee falls within the Council's indicative range, and confirm the receiving authority's specific requirements (some embassies want apostille, others want consular legalisation, others accept the notarial attestation alone).

For documents heading to a foreign court, embassy, or regulator, the notarial attestation is usually the first stage of a multi-stage chain — notary, then Ministry of Foreign Affairs legalisation, then (for non-Hague countries) consular legalisation by the destination country's embassy in Kathmandu or by Nepal's mission in the destination country.

Key takeaway: The notarial attestation is one stage in a longer chain for international-use documents. Confirm the receiving authority's full requirement before booking the notary so the chain runs in one continuous trip rather than back-and-forth visits.

Common Document Types and Use Cases

Most notarial requests in Nepal cluster around a defined set of document types and downstream use cases. Knowing the typical pattern helps clients prepare the right document set in advance.

For the underlying frameworks that drive several of these use cases — citizenship, marriage, NRN status — see our pillar guides on citizenship in Nepal, marriage registration in Nepal, and NRN rights and law in Nepal.

Key takeaway: Identify the receiving authority's full requirement first, then work backwards to the notarial step. Most rejections at the receiving counter trace to a mismatch between what was attested and what the counter actually wanted.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

From years of notarial-document filings handled by our Kathmandu office, these are the recurring errors that cause receiving-counter rejection or trigger return-for-correction.

• Engaging an unlicensed or expired notary — verify the notary's licence is currently in force on the Council register before relying on the attestation. An attestation by an unlicensed notary may be void.
• Wrong attestation type for the use case — affidavit attestation versus signature verification versus certified copy are different acts. Receiving counters reject documents attested with the wrong notarial form.
• Skipping the MOFA legalisation step — documents heading abroad usually need a second-stage MOFA legalisation after notarisation. Skipping this stage triggers rejection at the destination embassy or court.
• Not confirming consular requirements — non-Hague-Convention destinations require consular legalisation by the destination country's embassy. The chain is notary → MOFA → consulate; missing the third step is the most common cross-border attestation failure.
• Translation done by the notary directly — translation work and translation certification are different. Most notaries certify translations done by professional translators rather than performing the translation themselves; some specialists do both. Confirm what's included.
• Charging above Council schedule — if a notary asks for a fee well above the indicative range without showing a Council circular, it is likely non-compliant. Push back or change notary; complaints can be filed with the Council.
• Insufficient identification at signing — bring original citizenship or passport (not photocopies) for signature verification and identity confirmation. Photocopies are accepted as supporting documents but the original is required for ID.
• Missing the underlying document — for certified copy work, the original document must be presented to the notary at the time of certification. The notary cannot certify a copy from another copy.
• Treating notarial attestation as legal opinion — a notary attests procedure (signature, oath, identity), not the substantive truth of the document. For substantive legal review, engage a lawyer separately; the two services are distinct.

For drafting and document preparation that precedes notarisation — affidavits, declarations, powers of attorney, sworn statements — our team handles the drafting work as part of legal-document drafting in Nepal.

Key takeaway: Most notarial-document rejections trace upstream to wrong attestation type or missing onward legalisation, not to the notary's work itself. Map the full receiving-counter chain before booking the notary visit.

Related Questions About Notary Public in Nepal

These are the questions our team is asked most often during notarial consultations — short answers below, with links to deeper guides where relevant.

Can Any Lawyer in Nepal Notarise Documents?

No. Only Advocates who have additionally been licensed as Notaries Public by the Nepal Notary Public Council can perform notarial acts. Holding an LLB and a Bar Council enrolment is necessary but not sufficient — the notarial certificate from the Council is the operational instrument. Always check the notary public certificate (and confirm currency) before relying on an attestation.

Is an Online or Remote Notary Available in Nepal?

The Notary Public Act 2063 contemplates in-person attestation — the notary must witness the signature in person and confirm identity from original documents. Remote or online notarisation is not a recognised statutory category as of FY 2082/83. Some specialist services offer same-day in-person visits at the client's location for convenience, but the act itself remains in-person.

How Long Does Notarisation Take in Nepal?

For a standard affidavit or signature verification with original documents in hand, the notarial step itself typically takes 15 to 30 minutes including drafting confirmation, identity check, oath administration, and stamping. Document preparation before the visit (drafting, translation) is usually the longer time component. Multi-stage attestation chains for international use add the MOFA and consular steps separately.

Conclusion

Notary public services in Nepal in 2026 sit on a clear regulatory foundation — the Notary Public Act 2063 read with the Notary Public Rules 2063, administered by the Nepal Notary Public Council. The Council licenses notaries on a 5-year cycle, sets the fee schedule, and enforces the conduct standards. Authorised acts span affidavit attestation, signature verification, certified copies, sworn translations, oath administration, and the first-stage attestation for documents heading abroad.

The most common cause of friction we see is not the notarial step itself — it is the misalignment between what was attested and what the receiving counter actually wanted. A document for a Hague-Convention country needs apostille; for non-Hague countries it needs full consular legalisation; for domestic court filings the notary's seal alone is sufficient. Map the full chain before booking the notary, confirm the notary's licence is in force, and the document arrives at the receiving counter in the format that counter accepts.

For end-to-end help with affidavit drafting, sworn declarations, powers of attorney, certified translation coordination, and the broader corporate-and-personal documentation stack that surrounds notarial work, speak with our lawyers today → — Alpine Law Associates is a full-service law firm in Kathmandu with a dedicated drafting and document-coordination team handling individuals, NRNs, and corporate clients across all seven provinces.

Last reviewed: April 2026