Official certification confirms that you have signed the document yourself. The responsible authority certifies the signature with a certification note. It is essential that you come to us in person and sign the document on site. You may only sign in the presence of the authority.

Please make an appointment at your local government office or citizen service center.

The following can be certified: 

• Signatures, but not the accompanying text
• We do not certify signatures without accompanying text.

Type of certification

• Do you need the document for submission to an authority?
  • Official certifications are issued by the citizens' office.
  • Public certifications are generally issued by notaries. In individual cases, however, they may also be issued by the Citizens' Office.

The Citizens' Office may certify signatures in the following cases:

• Living wills
• Power of attorney
• General power of attorney
• Renunciation of inheritance
• Deletion of land charges
• Registration of a land charge
• Financial matters (seizure, assignment of debt)

In the following cases, the Citizens' Office may not certify the signature:

• Purchase of real estate
• Bidding authorization (in foreclosure proceedings)
  This must be issued by a notary.

Institutions located in Rhineland-Palatinate that serve charitable or benevolent purposes (non-profit associations, social welfare organizations, etc.) are exempt from fees.

• State law on certification authority dated July 21, 1978, as amended on October 12, 1999 (GVBl. p. 325)
• General Schedule of Fees of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate
• Tax Code (AO), Section 52 Charitable purposes (opens in a new tab)

The exhibition will take place immediately.

• Valid identity card or passport
• The document to be signed

We can certify documents (transcripts, copies, negatives, electronic documents, and printouts of electronic documents) as well as signatures and initials. First, a distinction must be made between official and public certification.

Official certification is governed by the State Administrative Procedure Act in conjunction with the Federal Administrative Procedure Act (VwVfG) and only applies to documents whose original was issued by a public authority or whose copy you need to submit to a public authority. The condition is that the issuance of certified copies from official registers and archives is not exclusively reserved for other authorities. We can also officially certify a signature or initials if you are legally obliged to submit the signed document to an authority or other body.

The legal basis for the public certification of signatures is the Civil Code. The public certification of a signature is only permitted in cases prescribed by law.

• Certifications/signatures official: 5 euros (per certification note)
• Public certifications/signatures: €15 (per certification note)
• Certifications for non-profit associations are free of charge.

There are no fees for students, pupils, and trainees if they need the document for their studies or training. This rule applies to a maximum of 3 certifications.

Cash / EC