Registry documents and what each one proves
This index lists the eighteen registry document types and four add-ons that REGISTRUM orders across corporate, land, insolvency, civil and identity registers in 120 jurisdictions, and states what each one proves. A certified extract restates current filed data. A certificate of good standing is a standalone statement. A certified copy reproduces a specific document held on file.
What a registry document establishes
Each document on this index answers one question, not several. A certificate of good standing confirms that an entity is on the register and has met its filing obligations at the date of issue. It does not confirm solvency. It does not confirm who controls the entity.
A certified extract works differently. It restates selected fields held on file – name, status, registered address, officers, sometimes share capital – certified as accurate at the date of extraction. The extract is a snapshot, not a history. Where a reader needs the sequence of past filings, the extract will not show it; a filing history is a separate document.
A certified copy reproduces one filed item exactly as it sits in the register. Memorandum and articles, a charge instrument, a court order, a resolution – each can be ordered as a certified copy, with a stamp confirming that the copy matches the original held on file. This is the document to order when the receiving party wants the wording of one filing, not a summary of it.
The register of directors and the register of shareholders or beneficial owners sit closer to the extract family. They restate a current position on one register field. Where beneficial ownership is not held on a public register, no certified document of this kind exists, whatever a company's own private records might show.
Land documents follow the same logic on a different register. A land register extract restates who holds title and what charges sit against a plot at the date of search. Insolvency and gazette documents – an insolvency register extract, an official gazette notice – restate a filed event: an appointment, a strike-off, a publication. None of them restate intent, and none of them restate value.
Identity and authority documents close the set: a power of attorney and an apostille certificate. Both restate a fact about signature, seal or authority, and neither restates a fact about the entity itself.
How the form of a document varies between jurisdictions
The same document type does not look the same everywhere. Some registers issue a single-page printed extract with a seal and a signature. Others issue a multi-page digital record carrying a QR code or an online verification link, with no paper equivalent at all.
Language of issue varies too. A record issued in a language other than English is not automatically accompanied by a translation. Where a receiving party abroad expects one, the translation is ordered separately, and it is certified separately from the underlying document.
Certification style also differs. In one jurisdiction, the registrar's own signature certifies the extract. In another, certification runs through a notary or a licensed registered agent, one step removed from the register itself. Where the key to the record is a company number rather than a name, a search by name alone can return nothing, or return the wrong entity.
Age matters in a way that is easy to miss. Some receiving parties require an extract dated within thirty days of use. Others accept an extract of any age, provided the entity's current status is confirmed separately. This is a requirement of the receiving side, not of the register, and REGISTRUM states it as such rather than as a rule of the jurisdiction of issue.
Apostille and legalisation requirements sit on top of all of this. An apostille certifies the signature and seal on a document. It does not certify the truth of its content, and it is not a substitute for the underlying record.
Where a document type does not exist or is closed
Not every document on this index exists in every jurisdiction, and existence is not the same as access. Some registers hold beneficial ownership data but do not release it to a foreign applicant. Others hold it and release it, but only against a fee that is confirmed at the point of order.
A named document sometimes has no direct equivalent. Several jurisdictions issue no separate "certificate of good standing" and instead issue a current extract that a receiving party accepts as the equivalent. Substituting one for the other without checking the receiving side's expectation is a common source of rejection.
Land and insolvency registers close for reasons that have nothing to do with the document itself. A land register may be indexed only by a cadastral key that a foreign applicant does not hold. An insolvency register may publish only through a gazette that is not searchable by name at all.
Where access for a given jurisdiction and document type is still being confirmed against the primary source, the relevant document page states this directly, rather than offering a plausible fee or turnaround that has not been checked.
What is ordered alongside a registry document
Four add-ons recur across most of the eighteen document types. A certified translation renders the document into the language the receiving party requires, certified separately from the underlying extract or copy.
An apostille or legalisation certificate attaches to the underlying document once it exists; it is never ordered instead of it. A notarised copy adds a further layer of certification for a receiving party that specifically asks for one, rather than for a plain certified copy.
Courier delivery moves the finished document from the issuing point to the reader. It is the only add-on that changes nothing about the content of the document itself, only how it arrives.
What does REGISTRUM cover?
REGISTRUM covers eighteen registry document types and four add-ons across corporate, land, insolvency, civil and identity registers in 120 jurisdictions. The index groups documents by what they establish – status, record, structure, charge, title or gazette notice – rather than by jurisdiction, so a reader can compare the same document type across borders before choosing a route.
How current is this information?
This index describes document types and their general form; it is not a live feed from any register. Access regimes and issuing procedures are checked jurisdiction by jurisdiction and dated on the relevant page. Where a specific fee or authority is not yet confirmed, the page states that the access regime is being confirmed against the primary source.
Can a document be obtained from any jurisdiction?
Not always. Some registers restrict extracts to residents, some do not maintain a public beneficial ownership register at all, and some jurisdictions issue no direct equivalent to a document named here. Each document-type and jurisdiction page states whether the route is open to a foreign applicant before an order is placed.
What is the difference between a certified extract and a certified copy?
A certified extract restates selected current data held on file, certified as accurate at the date of issue. A certified copy reproduces a specific filed document – articles, a charge, a court order – page for page, with a certifying stamp confirming that it matches the original held by the register.
Does REGISTRUM issue apostilles?
REGISTRUM orders apostilles and legalisation certificates as an add-on to an underlying document, through the competent authority in the jurisdiction of issue. An apostille certifies the signature and seal on a document, not the truth of its content, and it is ordered after the underlying document exists, not instead of it.
How do I know which document type I need?
State the purpose – opening an account abroad, a court filing, a land transaction – and the receiving jurisdiction on the order form. REGISTRUM confirms which document type and add-ons the receiving side is likely to expect, and returns the route and the limit before any fee is due.
State the entity, the jurisdiction and the date you need it by; we confirm availability and the fee before you pay. If the document does not exist in this jurisdiction or cannot be obtained for you, we say so before you pay and we do not take the order.
REGISTRUM obtains and delivers official records issued by public registers and licensed registered agents. This page describes what those records contain and how they are obtained. It is not advice on the legal effect of any record. To order, write to info@registrumfirm.com.