Notary certificates stapled to documents

USA Indian Passport Renewal
1

For my passport renewal, I have gotten all the required documents notarized (proof of US address, change of appearance affidavit etc). Since I am in California, the notary did not sign or stamp anything on the copies, but provided a separate attached certificate for each document as the California notary rules require. He then also stapled each certificate to its corresponding document while informing me that this is also required by California rules.

Is it ok to submit the documents with notary certificates stapled to them? Would this conflict with the VFS instructions to not staple documents? If so, should I remove the staples and use paper clips instead (but in that case would I be tampering with notarized documents)?

Would appreciate any insight from people who’ve successfully applied in California. Thanks in advance!

2

Were you able to staple or did you use paper clips

3

I sent the documents with notary certificates stapled to them. It did not cause any issues and I got the new passport back within a week (tatkal). I’m guessing vfs and the sf consulate must be aware of the California notary rules.

4

Did you sign each page of your copy? if we have multiple pages should we sign and notarize each page?