Consular authority. Consular officers may, at their discretion, accept for recording in the Miscellaneous Record Book of the office concerned unofficial documents such as deeds, leases, agreements, wills, and so on. The object of this service is primarily to afford United States citizens and interests the means of preserving, in official custody, records of their business and other transactions where other suitable facilities are not available locally for making such records. The recording of unofficial documents is not a notarial service, strictly speaking; however, the certifying of copies of documents thus recorded is a notarial service.

Recording procedure. Generally, before accepting a document for recording the consular officer should require satisfactory proof of its genuineness. The document should be copied, word for word, in the Miscellaneous Record Book. At the close of the record a statement that it is a true copy of the original should be entered and signed by the consular officer who copies or compares the record. In the margin of the first page where the document is recorded, the consular officer should note the following data:

By whom the document is presented for recording;

On whose behalf the service is requested;

Date and hour of presentation for recording;

How the authenticity of the document was proved (where appropriate); and

The name of the person by whom recorded (in his proper signature) and the name of the consular officer with whom compared (in his proper signature).

Certificate of recording. Ordinarily, a certificate of recording need not be issued. The original document may simply be endorsed: “Recorded at (name and location of consular office) this _____ day of _________, 19__, in (here insert appropriate reference to volume of Miscellaneous Record Book)”. Below the endorsement should appear the notation regarding the service number, the Tariff item number, and the amount of the fee collected. When a certificate of recording is requested, the consular officer may issue it, if he sees fit to do so. The certificate may be either entered on the document, if space permits, or appended to the document as a separate sheet in the manner prescribed in § 92.17.

Fees. The fee for recording unofficial documents at a Foreign Service post is as prescribed under the caption “Copying and Recording” of the Tariff of Fees, Foreign Service of the United States of America (§ 22.1 of this chapter). For purposes of assessment of fees, the issuance of certificates of recording, when requested, shall be regarded as part of the consular service of recording unofficial documents, and no separate fee shall be charged for the certificate.