Over the years many of my readers have asked if they should notarize their Invitation or sponsorship letters. There really is no specific answers to this question. I have written a couple of letters to friends and relatives and I did not notarize the letters. However, for some countries and some countries one is expected to submit a notarized copy.
My suggestion is that you takes some time to read the requirements of the visa office that will be processing your guests application. For example, if you are inviting your cousin from Lagos Nigeria to New York USA, then you would need to search for the visa office of USA in Nigeria and read the requirements. This requirements change from time to time so it is a good idea to go over it each time you need to write an invitation letter.
To find the visa office that is responsible for your guest’s visa application, simply type “visa Office of Country you reside in – Country your guest resides in” For example – United States of America visa office Nigeria.
Usually you should choose the website that contains .gov in it. There are many websites that try to mimic the official website. Be careful to choose the one that has the .gov extension. In our example it will be the 5th website listed in the screen above.
Once you find the site that you are looking for. Simply navigate to the visa page and look for the requirements for applying for a tourist visa. You will usually find a checklist in which you will be able to confirm if a notarized invitation letter is needed or not.
My Personal Advice – I would advice that the letter be notarized. It shows that the document is authentic and there is someone in the country other than the host who confirms the validity of the proposed trip.
sir my name is k v babu age 44 now i am living in india.passed intermediat education and bachelor of degree discontinued and my family details father,mother,2 sisters. I am married and 2 daughters to me. and my sister daughter studying in australia in deaken university in Melbourne at victria.she has on student visa.but I want to visit australia that’s why asking my niece .she must send me but how is wright the invite letter plz send me sample thank you
I want to know that is there any necessity to notarized the invitation letter for applying Ukraine visa from India?
I also have the same question Puja.. as i see now you posted this comment on march 01 and now its July so i wanted to know that what you did? did you get notarized letter or a simple email invitation is possible for visa??
I will invite my brother and his family to visit me in Miami. They are in Colombia , in Bogota. I have to notarized the invitation letter? and where in Miami. I would like to have the address to notarize it, please.