Policies

Policies

Onyx Notary & Apostille
Last updated: March 19, 2026

These policies explain how services are scheduled, delivered, and managed by Onyx Notary & Apostille, a service of Onyx International Services, LLC. By booking an appointment or engaging services, you agree to the policies outlined below.

Contact Information

Email: hello@onyxinternationalservices.com 
Location: Wheaton, Illinois

Service Area:

• In-office and mobile services in Illinois
• Document coordination for apostille, legalization, translation, notary, and courier-related support based on service availability and recipient requirements

General Service Policies

Onyx Notary & Apostille provides services in compliance with applicable Illinois law, recipient instructions, and professional standards. Notarial acts in Illinois require the signer’s personal appearance before the notary at the time of notarization. The signer must also be identified by personal knowledge or satisfactory evidence. 

Onyx Notary & Apostille is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. We do not draft legal documents, select forms for clients, or advise clients on the legal effect, sufficiency, or suitability of a document. Clients are responsible for ensuring their documents are appropriate for their intended use. Illinois law prohibits a notary from preparing legal instruments or filling in blanks in a document other than the notarial certificate. 

All signers must appear willing, aware, and able to sign. Service may be declined if a signer appears coerced, impaired, confused about the transaction, or otherwise unable to understand the act being performed.

A notarial act may also be declined if the document is incomplete, if the notarial certificate is blank or improper, or if the requested act would violate Illinois law or professional standards. Illinois law prohibits a notary from signing a blank affidavit or certificate of acknowledgment. 

Identification Requirements

All signers must present identification acceptable under Illinois law and the circumstances of the notarization, unless the signer is personally known to the notary. Acceptable identification should be valid, government-issued, and sufficient to establish the signer’s identity.

Failure to provide acceptable identification may result in refusal of service and applicable non-notarial fees, including any travel or scheduling fees already incurred.

Witness Policy

Some documents require one or more witnesses. Witness requirements are determined by the document itself, the receiving party, or applicable law, not by the notary alone.

Clients may provide their own witnesses, or witness coordination may be available with advance notice for an additional fee. Any witness provided must be disinterested, not named in the document, and not benefit from the transaction.

If a document or signing method has specific witness requirements, those requirements control. For example, Illinois guidance states that a signature by mark requires two witnesses in addition to the notary. 

In-Office and Mobile Appointments

Onyx Notary & Apostille offers both in-office and mobile appointments.

Mobile appointments may include separate travel, convenience, urgent, after-hours, hospital, or special scheduling fees. These fees are separate from any statutory notarial fee. Illinois limits the fee for a traditional non-electronic notarial act, while other non-notarial service fees may still apply separately. 

A brief grace period may be accommodated when possible. If an appointment cannot proceed because a signer is unavailable, identification is insufficient, documents are incomplete, or the client is otherwise not ready, applicable non-notarial fees may still apply.

Remote Online Notarization (RON)

Remote notarizations are performed in compliance with Illinois law using approved audio-video communication technology and applicable identity verification procedures. Additional requirements may apply depending on the document type, the signer’s location, the receiving party’s requirements, and whether the document is eligible for remote notarization.

Clients requesting remote notarization must be prepared to complete any required identity verification steps, use compatible technology, and follow all platform instructions at the time of the appointment.

Not all documents, transactions, or receiving parties will accept remote notarization. Clients are responsible for confirming acceptance with the receiving party when needed.

Applicable fees, technology requirements, scheduling procedures, and service limitations for remote notarization will be provided at the time of booking or before the appointment is confirmed.

That wording stays broad enough that you are not overpromising specific procedures on the website before the flow is fully live, but it is still accurate and professional.

Apostille, Legalization, and Translation Services

Onyx Notary & Apostille assists with document preparation support, submission coordination, and status tracking for apostille, legalization, and related document services.

Certified translations are coordinated through qualified third-party translation providers. Acceptance of apostilles, legalizations, and translations is determined solely by the receiving authority.

Processing times are estimates only. Government agencies, consulates, embassies, shipping carriers, and foreign receiving authorities may change requirements, timelines, fees, or procedures without notice.

If a document is rejected due solely to an error directly attributable to Onyx Notary & Apostille or its service partner, reasonable corrective efforts will be made at no additional service charge where appropriate. Government fees, third-party fees, and shipping charges remain subject to the refund policy below.

Courier and Hand-Carry Services

Courier and hand-carry services are limited to lawful documents and approved items only.

Clients are responsible for accurately disclosing contents and confirming that all items are legal and permitted for transport. Prohibited, restricted, hazardous, or improperly declared items will not be accepted.

Delivery timelines are estimates and may be affected by weather, traffic, airline operations, customs, government processing, or other events outside our control.

Cancellation Policy

Plans can change. If you need to cancel or reschedule an appointment, please use the cancellation or rescheduling link provided in your appointment confirmations and reminders, or contact us as soon as possible.

Appointment deposits are not intended to penalize clients who provide reasonable notice. When an appointment is canceled or rescheduled in advance, the deposit may be applied to a new appointment or refunded, depending on the circumstances.

For mobile appointments, travel time, schedule availability, and reserved appointment slots are set aside specifically for your booking. Repeated last-minute cancellations, repeated rescheduling, no-shows, or cancellations after travel has already begun may result in forfeiture of the deposit and may limit future booking availability.

If Onyx Notary & Apostille must cancel an appointment, you will have the option to reschedule or receive a refund of any prepaid service fees or deposit collected for that appointment.

Refund Policy

Refund eligibility depends on the service requested and whether work, travel, filing, coordination, or account setup has already begun.

Appointments and notarization services
Deposits may be applied to a rescheduled appointment or refunded when cancellation is made with reasonable notice. Once a notarization appointment or other scheduled service has been completed, fees are non-refundable.

Mobile service, travel, and reserved time
If travel has already begun, if a mobile appointment is missed without notice, or if a client is unavailable at the agreed appointment time and location, the deposit or travel-related portion of the fee may be non-refundable.

Apostille, legalization, translation, and document support services
Once work has begun, refunds are not available for time already spent, administrative work already performed, shipping charges, courier costs, translation work, or any government, consular, or third-party fees already paid or incurred on the client’s behalf. If a refund is approved, it will apply only to the unused portion of the service not yet performed and for which no outside cost has been incurred.

Legacy Vault purchases
Legacy Vault purchases are non-refundable once account setup has begun or access has been issued. If a purchase is made in error and account setup has not yet started, a refund may be considered at our discretion.

Non-refundable third-party and government fees
Government filing fees, county fees, state fees, consular fees, translation fees, shipping charges, platform fees, courier fees, and other third-party charges are non-refundable once incurred.

Outcome-based limitations
Refunds are not issued based on an outcome outside our control, including rejection, delay, or refusal by a receiving agency, consulate, foreign authority, recorder’s office, court, lender, school, or other institution, unless the issue was caused solely by an error on our part.

Document Acceptance

Onyx Notary & Apostille follows recipient instructions when provided. Final acceptance of any document is determined by the receiving agency, court, lender, school, consulate, foreign authority, or other receiving institution.

We are not responsible for rejection based on recipient discretion, incomplete or incorrect client documents, policy changes, or requirements imposed after submission.

Privacy

Onyx Notary & Apostille collects only the information reasonably necessary to provide services, schedule work, communicate with clients, process payment, and comply with applicable law.

Information may be shared with service providers or agencies involved in completing your request, such as payment processors, translation providers, shipping carriers, courier partners, software platforms, or government agencies, only as needed to perform the requested service.

Personal information is not sold. Reasonable safeguards are used to protect sensitive information, but no system can guarantee absolute security.

Right to Refuse Service

Onyx Notary & Apostille reserves the right to refuse or stop service when appropriate, including for reasons such as:

• suspected fraud, coercion, or duress
• incomplete or improper documents
• missing or unacceptable identification
• signer unavailability or lack of awareness
• unsafe conditions
• abusive or inappropriate behavior
• any request that would violate Illinois law, recipient requirements, or professional standards

Accessibility and Language

Clients must be able to understand the document and the notarial act being performed. Illinois guidance does not allow a notary to take an acknowledgment from a person who does not speak or understand English unless the nature and effect of the instrument are translated into a language the person understands. 

If an interpreter, translated document, or language support is needed, the client is responsible for arranging that support unless otherwise agreed in advance.

Partnerships and Referrals

Onyx Notary & Apostille may coordinate with independent service providers, including translation providers, shipping carriers, and courier partners, when needed to complete a client request. Those providers operate under their own qualifications, procedures, pricing, and policies.

Updates to These Policies

These policies may be updated periodically to reflect changes in law, procedures, pricing, or services. The most current version will be posted on this page.

Questions

If you have questions about these policies or need help determining the appropriate service, please contact:
hello@onyxinternationalservices.com