Four different things get called “certifying a document”, and they are not interchangeable. Doing the wrong one costs weeks and is not refundable.

1. A statutory declaration or affidavit

A sworn statement of fact, made by you, before a Commissioner for Oaths.

Use it to declare a name discrepancy, a date of birth, the loss of a document, or the facts of a birth for late registration. It is cheap, it is quick, and every Ghanaian institution accepts it.

— statutory declaration

2. A certified true copy

Someone authorised confirms that a photocopy matches an original they have seen. A Commissioner for Oaths, a notary public, and often the issuing institution itself can do this.

Never surrender an original where a certified copy will do. Institutions lose things.

3. Notarisation

A notary public authenticates a signature or a document in a form recognised internationally. This is the one you need when a document is leaving the country, and it is a different appointment from a Commissioner for Oaths even though the same lawyer may do both.

4. Authentication and legalisation

This is the chain that makes a Ghanaian document usable by a foreign government.

  1. The issuing authority produces or certifies the document — the Births and Deaths Registry, the Passport Office, WASSCE results from WAEC, a university’s registrar, the CID.
  2. Notarisation, where required.
  3. Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, which authenticates it as a genuine Ghanaian public document.
  4. The receiving country’s embassy or high commission in Accra, which legalises it for use in that country.

Ask which one they want, in writing, first

The apostille is a shortcut that replaces steps 3 and 4 — but only between countries that accept it from each other. Assuming an apostille is available, paying for one, and finding the receiving authority wanted embassy legalisation is the single most common and most expensive mistake in this whole area.

Email the university, the employer or the immigration authority and get the answer in writing before you spend anything.

Common cases

A degree or transcript for a foreign university. The registrar issues and seals it, sometimes sending it directly. Many institutions will not accept a transcript that has passed through the student’s hands at all.

— Universities in Ghana

WASSCE results. WAEC verifies results directly to institutions, and many foreign bodies require that direct verification rather than your printout.

A birth or marriage certificate for a visa. Issued, authenticated, legalised. Allow a month.

A police clearance certificate. Same chain. — Police clearance

A power of attorney for property in Ghana, signed abroad. The reverse direction: executed and notarised where you are, then legalised at the Ghanaian mission there, then stamped here. Get this right — land transactions executed on a defective power of attorney are a major source of Ghanaian litigation.

— Buying land in Ghana

Practical rules

  • Start a month early. Every step has a queue
  • Take more certified copies than you need while you are already there
  • Keep documents flat and clean. A stamped, sealed document with a staple through the seal has been rejected before
  • Check the spelling of your name at every step. An error introduced at step one is carried through all four and invalidates the lot
  • Use a lawyer for anything touching land, an estate or a company — Professional services