Notaries and licensed microfinance: how to use the site's free directory

Two questions come up at the office every day. Where do I find a serious notary for the deed that will explain a large deposit? And is the microfinance institution holding my savings actually licensed?

The panel called Addresses and directories, on the Prepare my file page, answers both, free and without signing up: /en/check-list.html#adresses

It gathers the ground work of your application: where to go on the day, and who to see to build your evidence.

Where to go on the day

The first part of the panel covers your two in-person appointments.

For the medical exam, the official IOM centres are listed with their full address and phone number. In Douala, in Bonapriso, rue Koloko, building number 291, to the left of Doctor Titalom's clinic, before the entrance to Lycee Mongo. In Yaounde, at Carrefour Golf, avenue Rosa Parks, in the pink building facing the United States embassy. The opening hours shown are Monday to Thursday from 8am to 5.30pm, and Friday from 8am to 2pm. Each address has a button that opens it in Google Maps, which spares you dictating it to a taxi driver.

Next to it, the list of what to bring: a valid identity document for each family member being examined, the letter inviting you to apply for permanent residence, the receipt for the payment made at Ecobank before the appointment, and a face mask required by the clinic.

For biometrics, the panel gives the address of Canada's visa application centre in Yaounde, and it accounts for the move: up to appointments on 20 September 2026, it is the Jimmy building in Nlongkak, facing the Yahoot hotel; from appointments on 21 September 2026, it is the 5th floor of the Ekang building, facing the Palais des Sports, in Warda. Open Monday to Friday from 8am to 5pm. To bring: the biometric instruction letter, the appointment letter with its date and time, and the passport used for the application.

The directory of notaries

Further down, a first expandable table gathers Cameroon's 68 notaries holding office, from the 2019 list of the National Chamber of Notaries. All eight regions are covered.

For each one: name, city, region, the address of the office, the post box, the e-mail and the phone numbers. The list starts folded; type in the search bar and it unfolds on its own. The search ignores accents, so Douala and douala return the same thing, and you can search by name, city, region or neighbourhood. Columns sort with one click on their heading.

On a phone, the numbers dial with one tap, the e-mail addresses open in your mail app, and the office address opens in Google Maps.

The directory of licensed microfinance institutions

The second table gathers 384 licensed microfinance institutions, from the list published by the Ministry of Finance as at 31 December 2025. One honest detail is stated there: the ministry announces 385 institutions, and its own list details 384.

This is the column to look at first. Under the name, a note flags institutions placed under provisional administration, those that have ceased operations and those in liquidation. In other words, an institution can be on the official list and be closing down. A statement from such a place will not have the same effect on an IRCC officer.

The category tells you what the institution is allowed to do: the first only serves its own members, the second takes deposits from the public, the third lends without collecting savings. Your ordinary bank is not covered by this list: it falls under different rules.

Why this weighs on your file

IRCC reads the history of your statements over six months. A statement from an unlicensed structure weakens your proof of funds before the amounts are even discussed. And it is unexplained money that worries an officer: a gift, a sale or an inheritance is proved by a notarial deed, not by a sworn statement.

So check before you travel across town, and before you park your savings somewhere.

What these directories do not do

They do not tell you whether an institution is sound today: the list is frozen as at 31 December 2025, and the notaries list dates from 2019. An office may have moved, a notary may have stepped down. Call before you go; the number is in the table.

They do not book appointments for you, neither at the IOM, nor at the visa centre, nor with a notary.

Finally, there is no form here: the search only filters a list already loaded with the page. You type nothing but the word you are looking for, and there is nothing to send.

The panel is at this address, easy to consult on a phone: /en/check-list.html#adresses