General

The notary public must verify the signature on the underlying document before being notarised and require a notary certificate.

Due to the increased risk of fraud, all Australian university education documents must be verified by the central Student Administration office or the nominated representative of the issuing institution as a 'true and accurate record' before the document can be legalised by DFAT. Notarised true copies of Australian university documents must be verified by the [...]

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 [...]

Documents that have been signed by a relevant Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry can be accepted however we will need to verify the document by contacting the department.

Recently, ASIC began to issue extracts electronically without a signature or seal. These can be authenticated as a “document issued by ASIC” if we are satisfied the document was sent by ASIC (by siting the original email and attachment or printing for the client).

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.

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, [...]

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 [...]

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 Notaries Public, Justices of [...]