Apostille or Embassy Legalisation: What Bangladesh Requires

Last reviewed: 26 September 2026. Country requirements change. This page is re-checked periodically, and nothing on it replaces confirming the position with the Bangladeshi body that will receive your document.

Bangladesh joined the Apostille Convention recently, and much of what is written about sending Australian documents there still describes the older route through the Bangladesh High Commission. For documents going from Australia, an apostille from DFAT is now the expected certificate. For some documents, though, powers of attorney over land in particular, the process does not finish when the document leaves Australia.

Bangladesh and the Apostille Convention

The HCCH status table records Bangladesh's accession on 29 July 2024, with the Convention in force for it from 30 March 2025. Twelve states objected to the accession, which means the Convention does not apply between Bangladesh and those states. Australia is not among them. Check the HCCH status table on the day you start, because objections can be lodged and withdrawn.

The chain

1. Notarise in Australia, if the document is a private one or you are sending a copy
2. DFAT apostille

Registry certificates and some other Australian public documents may go to DFAT directly, without a notary. Confirm with DFAT for your document.

The Convention removes the High Commission legalisation step between parties, but receiving bodies sometimes take time to adjust. If a Bangladeshi bank, court or land office tells you it still wants High Commission legalisation, ask it to confirm in writing and check the High Commission's current guidance before paying for a second route. An apostille and a DFAT authentication are different certificates, and one does not convert into the other.

Steps that can follow in Bangladesh

• Powers of attorney over property. Bangladesh has specific rules for powers of attorney executed abroad, particularly those dealing with land. In broad terms, such a document is expected to go through a step before a Bangladeshi authority after it arrives, and that step has a time limit. The required form, what must accompany the document, and the deadline are matters for your lawyer in Bangladesh. Ask them before you sign in Australia, not after.
• Any other in-country step. Ask the receiving body whether it needs anything done in Bangladesh once the apostilled document arrives.

These are the places people most often get caught: the document is correctly notarised and apostilled, and is then refused in Bangladesh because the in-country step was missed or left too late.

The power of attorney: get the form first

Diaspora families often need someone in Bangladesh to sell, buy, transfer or manage land, deal with a bank, or pursue an inheritance. For these uses:

• Ask your Bangladeshi lawyer for the exact wording, and use it. A general power of attorney written in Australia may lack powers the Bangladeshi side needs, or may not be in a form Bangladeshi law recognises for land.
• Ask what must be attached — photographs, copies of identity documents, details of the property — and whether any of it must be signed or certified at the same time.
• Ask about stamp duty and when and where it is paid.
• Ask what the deadline is after arrival, and plan courier time around it.

Language

English is widely used in Bangladeshi legal and official settings, and many bodies accept documents in English. Some may want a Bangla translation, or may want particular documents prepared in Bangla. Ask:

• Will you accept the document in English?
• If a translation is needed, whose translation do you accept — one made in Australia, or one made in Bangladesh?
• Should the translation be made before the Australian steps, so it can be notarised and legalised together with the original?

That last question matters. If the translation must itself be apostilled, it has to be done before DFAT; if it is done in Bangladesh, it comes last.

Documents commonly needed

• Property: powers of attorney, as above.
• Inheritance: death certificates, probate or letters of administration, and documents proving relationship to the deceased.
• Civil status: birth, marriage and divorce documents, for marriage in Bangladesh or for recording family events.
• Study and employment: degrees and transcripts.

Frequently asked questions

Do I still need the Bangladesh High Commission? Not for the legalisation step, now that the Convention applies between Australia and Bangladesh. If a receiving body in Bangladesh insists on it, ask for that in writing and check with the High Commission before lodging.

How long does it take? It depends on DFAT processing and any step in Bangladesh. Do not plan to a figure quoted on a blog, including this one.