Frequently Asked Questions

The law in most countries requires that a signature on a document be witnessed or other procedures applied before the document can be used for legal purposes or in a court of law. Within Australia, services such as certifying true copies, statutory declaration and other witnessing services are conducted by Australian Notary Public. Some documents require legalisation (through Apostille or Authentication) by DFAT. Notarial services are legal acts, which allow a written record to be used for official or legal purposes including in a court of law. The range of, and requirements for, notarial services are varied. It is the client’s responsibility to know which service he/she requires.

The onus is on the client to know which stamp is required on their document. In Australia, they should check with the Embassy/Consulate of the country where the document is to be used. An overseas client should check with the local authorities as to which stamp is acceptable to meet local requirements (or the Embassy/Consulate of the receiving country). In some cases, the client may have received advice from the legal adviser in Australia or from the institution requiring the document.

The most common Australian Government documents that require notarisation are: Birth Certificates Marriage Certificates (from the Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages – not the certificate issued by the celebrant at the church or time of ceremony) Death Certificates Divorce Certificates/Decree Nisi, or orders stamped by an Australian Court Citizenship Certificates (either issued from Australia, or signed by an Authorised officer at an Australian mission) National Police Criminal Records Checks issued by the Australian Federal Police (not ones issued by private companies) Photocopies of original Australian Government documents cannot be authenticated or apostilled in Australia or overseas unless they have been notarised as a ‘true copy’ by an Australian Public Notary within Australia.

The most common private documents that require authentication or apostille are: • Powers of Attorney • Affidavits • Wills • Bank statements • Company documents • Photocopies of documents The above categories of documents, if presented in Australia, must be notarised by an Australian Notary Public before being presented to DFAT for legalisation.

As of 1 July 2014, all education documents presented for legalisation must have been issued by an institution accredited by an Australian accredited education authority. Foreign education documents must be referred to the Embassy/Consulate of the issuing country (even if they bear the ‘true copy’ certification of an Australian Notary Public. Clients may be required to send the document back to the country of origin to have it authenticated or issued with an apostille. TAFE/CIT or other Australian Public State Technical College Original school reports, certificates and general education documents from Australian Public State Technical College such as CIT and TAFE can be authenticated of apostilled if it bears the stamp of the issuing institution or the signature of an authorised public appointed officer with appropriate authority to issue the document. For example an original TAFE degree should be signed by an officer holding the position of Managing Director. The signature of an authorised officer from the student administration of the issuing administration does not qualify for legalisation purpose as this officer is not directly appointed by the State official. In this example of TAFE schools, Managing Directors are appointed by the relevant Minister in the State having direct responsibility of the education or skills portfolio. Private School/Religious School/Private College School reports, certificates and general education documents from Australian private institutions must be certified by an Australian Public Notary. It is the signature of the notary which converts these private documents to public documents, and allows authentication or apostille. In some Australian states and territories, the Department of Education will stamp these documents for clients.

You don't need to make an appointment with our Notary to have your document notarised and legalised. You simply need to complete the instructions form and upload your documents. Note that you will need to register with myequals if we are to notarise transc

The wording on the back of the photograph, or on the form, must state that the signatory “certifies the photograph to be a true likeness of (name of the individual)” Staff cannot attest or certify that the photograph is “a true photo of” (name of individual). An example is for photographs to be attached to an Australian Drivers Licence application form, or for an overseas citizen to be registered as an approved practitioner by an Australian organisation – like the Dental Association. The individual in the photograph must be physically present for a photograph to be certified.

Translated documents must bear the signature of a government translating service (recognised by a foreign government, with the signature of the Foreign Affairs department of that country) or the signature and seal of a translator that is accredited by NAATI (National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters).. The translation and a copy of the original document, both bearing the translator’s signature and NAATI issued translator stamp may be bound and authenticated or an Apostille applied as it is the translator’s signature which is being authenticated and not the underlying document. If the documents cannot be bound, i.e. because the birth certificate has been apostilled, then the translator should complete a Statutory Declaration giving the particulars of the document that was translated and state that the translation is true and correct. The translation provided by the translator should include a declaration or statement that the translation is a true and accurate translation of the original.

Electronic documents can pose problems for us, as they contain electronic signatures and seals and the original is not physically issued to the client by the issuing authority. In general, if the organisation does not issue public documents with live signatures and seals , we can accept electronic signatures and seals for authentication and apostille. You can also accept multiple print outs of the same document (for example, divorce documents from Australian courts with computer generated seals). We will request that the client log on to their phone and forward to us the link. We will then download their document from the official site or portal. This will help us to ensure its authenticity.

You should check with the local authorities requesting the document as to their requirements in order to ensure that the appropriate service is provided for your documents to be accepted. We cannot advise clients of foreign requirements. We can provide the following general information. Apostille As a general rule, countries that are party to the 1961 Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents require an apostille on documents that qualify as Australian public documents. A full list of countries that are party to this convention can be found at the Hague Conference on Private International Law website. Some countries will accept an apostille for certain types of documents, and many require an original government document to have been issued within 3 months of the apostille being affixed. You must check the local requirements. Online verification is available for apostilles issued by Australia on or after 14 December 2015. Authentication As a general rule, documents going to countries that are not party to the Hague Convention require an authentication. It is important to confirm the requirements with the foreign receiving authority as some countries impose specific requirements on how an authentication should be prepared. For example, you may not be allowed to have an Australian notary public certify your foreign document as a true copy for the purposes of having an authentication affixed. It may be required to be signed by their Embassy in Australia after DFAT has stamped it and their Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the capital city. Can I get both certifications? There may be occasions when you wish to use the same document in multiple countries, some of which may be signatories to the Hague Convention and other which are not. To ensure that your document is acceptable to the receiving country, it would be in your best interests to have two original documents legalised – one with an authentication and the other with an apostille. What documents can be legalised? Overseas, we can only authenticate Australian public documents or foreign documents intended for use in Australia that have already been authenticated by the local foreign affairs department or other approved agency. In the case of Australian public documents, in order to be accepted for authentication or apostille, you must present the original document issued by an Australian government department or agency with an official signature or seal. As a general guide the documents most commonly requiring an apostille are original birth, death, marriage, divorce or change of name certificates issued by a Registry Office in Australia, or an Australian Court and original AFP criminal history checks. Laminated or damaged documents will be refused for legalisation. Replacements will need to be obtained from the issuing authority. Education documents presented to DFAT for an authentication or apostille must have been issued by an Australian accredited education authority. See the Australian Qualifications Framework website for more information on who can issue education documents in Australia. If your education document was issued by an institution in a foreign country, it will need to be authenticated or apostilled by that country, not by DFAT. In the case of private documents, such as a power of attorney or an article of association for a company, it must first have been certified and or witnessed by an Australian notary public (in Australia) or an Australian diplomatic or consular officer in accordance with the Consular Fees Act 1955 ​for an authentication. Copies of documents made by consular and diplomatic officers cannot be issued with an apostille (except copies of Australian Passports). Where you want to use a copy of an Australian Public document to obtain an apostille, you will either need to post the documents to Australia and have a copy made by an us , or, if you are currently located in an Apostille Convention country, arrange to have a local Notary Public certify the document and then approach the local competent authority for an apostille (not the Australian high commission or embassy). For example, you are currently in India (Apostille Country) and you have an Australian (Apostille Country) document (eg a birth certificate) that you need to send to Italy (Apostille Country) in support of a visa application. A copy of your Australian document can be certified by a Notary Public in India, and then the competent authority in India would issue an apostille confirming the notary who made the copy is a true notary.

No element of a document can be edited after it has been notarized. Please make sure to review the document thoroughly prior to granting approval to the notary to notarize during the signing process.

Yes, the notary can notarise a document. Note that the notarial wording in the notarial certificate (the part that the notary signs) will need to be in English. The notary will attach a notarial certificate to your document which will be in English, assuming your document permits the use of such a certificate. In all cases, we recommend that you confirm with the intended recipient that the document is acceptable for its intended use.

Yes. In some cases, a translation will be required.