Apostille or Legalisation for Fiji From Australia

Australian documents for use in Fiji are apostilled by DFAT, not legalised at the Fiji High Commission: as of our last check, the Convention has applied to Fiji since independence on 10 October 1970. Check the HCCH status table on the day. The Fiji High Commission's own passport forms, though, call for a Justice of the Peace.

Key takeaways

• For a document going to a body inside Fiji, the chain is a notary (private documents and copies only), then a DFAT apostille. English is an official language, so translation rarely arises.
• For forms lodged with the Fiji High Commission in Canberra, such as passport and citizenship applications, the High Commission has asked for a JP to witness and certify. No notary or apostille is needed unless it says otherwise.
• To marry in Fiji, foreign nationals must produce a certificate of single status or of no legal impediment. For an Australian, that is the Certificate of No Impediment to Marriage, which the Australian Government issues. A notary cannot.
• A Fijian marriage certificate needed back in Australia is apostilled in Fiji, by Fiji's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Fiji and the Apostille Convention

The HCCH status table records Fiji as a party by succession, with the Convention in force from 10 October 1970, the day Fiji became independent. The Convention had applied to Fiji before then as a British territory, and Fiji confirmed its succession in 1971. Membership is a live fact, so confirm it on the table the day you start.

An apostille is a certificate issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) confirming the signature and seal on an Australian public document. It says nothing about the document's contents. Only DFAT issues apostilles in Australia; a notary cannot. Fiji's Ministry of Foreign Affairs describes Fiji as recognising the Convention and is the designated authority for apostilles on Fijian public documents, such as birth, marriage and death certificates. For an Australian document, the certificate Fiji expects is an Australian apostille.

First question: who is receiving the document?

People sending paperwork to Fiji are usually doing one of two quite different things, and the answer changes completely depending on which.

Dealing with the Fijian Government from Australia

Former Fijian citizens and dual citizens in Australia deal with Fiji mostly through the Fiji High Commission in Canberra. Its published answers and checklists are worth reading before you pay anyone:

• Passports and citizenship. The High Commission has asked for the passport application form to be witnessed by a Justice of the Peace, with the JP's signature and stamp, and for passport photographs to be certified by the same JP as a true likeness.
• Police clearance. It has asked for certified copies of the passport bio page, birth certificate and photo identification.

For these applications the High Commission is the receiving authority, and it has said what it accepts. A JP is a free volunteer witness, and for the High Commission's own forms that is what it asks for. You do not need a notary or an apostille unless the High Commission tells you otherwise for your case. Check its current checklist before you start, because forms change. Dual citizenship documents covers the wider picture.

The same JP certification is no use for a document going to a body inside Fiji that wants an apostille. DFAT does not apostille a JP's signature, so for those, the notary route applies.

The chain for a body inside Fiji

1. Notarise in Australia, if the document is private (a power of attorney, a declaration) or you are sending a copy rather than the original.
2. DFAT apostille, on the original public document or on the notary's certificate.
3. Send it to the Fijian lawyer, registry or bank that asked for it.

Australian registry certificates and court documents usually skip step 1. DFAT's page on documents it can legalise lists birth, marriage and death certificates, court documents including divorce certificates, and national police checks as originals it accepts. DFAT refuses laminated or altered certificates and ceremonial marriage certificates. See which documents can be apostilled.

Getting married in Fiji

Fiji is a common wedding destination for Australians, and most of the paperwork is not notarial. Fiji's Ministry of Foreign Affairs publishes the requirements. For foreign nationals they include:

The Ministry says the certificate of single status, certificate of search or certificate of no legal impediment is required of all foreign nationals, and of couples where one party is Fijian and the other is not. Former Fijian citizens who have lived abroad for two years or more also need one; those abroad for less than that provide a statutory declaration instead.

For an Australian, the certificate that fits is the Certificate of No Impediment to Marriage, issued by the Australian Government for Australians marrying overseas. It is not a notarial document, and a notary cannot issue it. Documents for marrying overseas explains where it comes from.

Timing matters too. The Ministry describes the standard route as a Notice of Intention to Marry, displayed for 21 consecutive days, with a Special Licence available to waive the waiting period, including for short-term visitors. Marriage licences are issued by the Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, with the Registrar General's office in Suva as the central authority. The Ministry has said you attend in person with the original documents to sign for the licence. Check the current rules with the registry or your wedding organiser, because procedures change.

What the Ministry's page does not say is whether the Certificate of No Impediment, or an Australian divorce order, must carry an apostille when it is produced to the registrar. Ask the registry, or have your wedding organiser ask, before you order anything. If an apostille is wanted, DFAT can apply it to the original certificate or court order, with no notary involved.

After a wedding in Fiji

Fiji's Ministry of Foreign Affairs apostilles Fijian marriage certificates for use abroad. If you need your Fijian marriage certificate in Australia, for a partner visa, a change of name or a bank, ask the receiving body whether it wants that apostille at all. For Home Affairs, a certified copy is usually enough; see partner visa documents. Any apostille is arranged in Fiji, not in Australia. An Australian notary cannot vouch for a Fijian registry's document, and DFAT cannot apostille it.

Powers of attorney and land

A power of attorney signed in Australia for use in Fiji, to manage land, deal with a bank or act in an estate, is a private document. The usual route is to sign before an Australian notary and have DFAT apostille the notarial certificate.

Land in Fiji is held under several different systems, including freehold, state land and iTaukei (native) land, and the Fijian body concerned decides the form of document it will accept. Before signing, ask the Fijian lawyer or body that will act on it for the exact wording, what must be attached, and whether anything must be done in Fiji once it arrives, such as registration or stamping. The Australian notary witnesses your signature and checks your identity and capacity, but does not advise on Fijian land law. See power of attorney and legal declarations.

Documents compared

Situation	Receiving body	What usually works
Fijian passport or citizenship form	Fiji High Commission	JP witnessing and certification, as it asks
Marrying in Fiji	Births, Deaths and Marriages registry	Certificate of No Impediment; ask about apostilles
Power of attorney for land or banking	Fijian lawyer, bank or land office	Australian notary, then DFAT apostille
Australian birth or divorce certificate	A registry or court in Fiji	Original to DFAT for an apostille
Fijian marriage certificate for Australia	Home Affairs, a bank, a registry	Ask first; any apostille comes from Fiji

What does not work for Fiji

• A JP copy for a body inside Fiji that wants an apostille. DFAT cannot apostille a JP's signature.
• Asking the High Commission to legalise an Australian document for use in Fiji. The apostille replaces that step.
• Asking a notary for a Certificate of No Impediment. Only the Australian Government issues it.
• A ceremonial or laminated certificate. DFAT refuses both; order a standard registry copy.
• Signing a power of attorney before you have the Fijian wording. A document without the powers the Fijian side needs will be refused however well it is apostilled.

Here is an illustration, not a real case

A couple from Perth plan a wedding at a resort near Nadi. Neither has been married before. The resort's organiser tells them the registry wants their passports and each partner's Certificate of No Impediment, so they apply to the Australian Government for those and ask whether an apostille is needed; the registry says it is not. Separately, the bride's father, a former Fijian citizen in Perth, renews his Fijian passport and has the form witnessed by a JP, as the High Commission's checklist asks. Nobody in the family needed a notary.

In short

Fiji takes an apostille, on our last check, so a document for a body inside Fiji goes to a notary if private, then to DFAT. The Fiji High Commission's own passport and citizenship forms need a JP, not a notary. For a wedding, the key document is the Certificate of No Impediment, which the Australian Government issues. More on the Australian steps is at apostille and authentication.

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