Updated 1-22-24. If you speak more than one language, then you may find yourself in high demand if you become a Notary or Signing Agent.
In fact, signing services such as Diamond Star™ Notaries place a premium on bilingual and multilingual Notaries.
“Bilingual language skills are not a requirement for the Notaries we hire,” says Diamond Star President Philipe Doren, “but I do look first for bilingual Notaries. If they can speak in the native tongue of our non-English speaking clients, they will be called first.”
A nationwide signing service, Diamond Star receives a solid amount of requests for non-English speaking notarizations. Currently, in addition to English, Diamond Star receives the most requests for notarizations in Portuguese, Hindi, Chinese dialects and other Asian languages.
How well should a Notary Signing Agent speak other languages?
Doren himself speaks five languages, and he expects the bilingual NSAs he hires to be able to conduct signings with a high level of language proficiency.
“Conversational language skills aren’t enough,” explains Doren. “Business fluency is very important. They need to be able to conduct a closing the exact same way as they would in English.”
In other words, Signing Agents need to know how to provide clear explanations and answer questions without crossing the boundary into offering advice. For Doren, NSAs who possess this level of language fluency are given an almost automatic advantage on their competition, and he’s willing to go the extra mile to get them to the required proficiency levels.
“I have a questionnaire that I give all our potential Notary hires, and I include a question about foreign language skills,” says Doren.
Once he establishes that a Notary hire is multilingual, he will further vet him or her to ensure they are able to conduct signings in the secondary language.
Demand for bilingual Signing Agents is high
The demand for competent bilingual NSAs is great enough that Doren will work with Notaries who don’t have experience with foreign-language assignments or whose language skills are rusty.
Among other things, he will even have them shadow him at signing appointments, and he will help them create a “script” they can use as they strengthen their skills.
While bilingual Notaries aren’t paid any differently than their monolingual counterparts, Doren says they are likely to receive more overall business, given the increased need for signings conducted in non-English languages.
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