Apostille or Legalisation for Greece From Australia

Australian public documents within the Apostille Convention use a DFAT apostille for Greece, not Greek consular legalisation. The Convention has operated for Greece since 18 May 1985. A power of attorney may instead be drawn up in person before the competent Greek consular authority. Confirm the document route and translation with the Greek receiving authority first.

Key takeaways

• A power of attorney (plirexousio) is often used for property, inheritance, tax or banking matters, but the Greek lawyer must specify its powers.
• Route 1: arrange the power of attorney in person at the competent Greek consular authority. This does not use the Australian notary-and-DFAT chain.
• Route 2: sign before an Australian notary, then a DFAT apostille, then an official Greek translation.
• Greek law defines who may provide an official translation. A NAATI translation is not automatically an official Greek translation.
• Names that differ between Greek and Australian records are the most common snag for Greek-Australian families. Raise it early.

Does Greece accept Australian apostilles?

The HCCH status table records Greece's ratification on 19 March 1985, with the Convention in force from 18 May 1985. Membership is a live fact, so confirm it on the table the day you start.

An apostille is a certificate from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) confirming the signature and seal on an Australian public document. It says nothing about the contents. Only DFAT issues apostilles in Australia; a notary cannot. For an apostilled document, the Greek embassy and consulates have no legalisation step to add. For the general picture, see the Hague Apostille Convention explained.

What are the two power-of-attorney routes?

How does the Greek consular route work?

The Greek Embassy's Australian power-of-attorney guidance requires the person granting authority to attend in person before the competent consular officer and prove identity and legal capacity. For a specific use, it asks for draft wording prepared by a Greek lawyer or notary. It also sets extra interpreter or witness requirements for people who do not know, read or write Greek. Contact the post responsible for your residence before booking. A power of attorney drawn up through this Greek consular process does not go through an Australian notary or DFAT.

How does the Australian notary route work?

1. Get the text from your Greek lawyer or notary.
2. Sign before an Australian notary, who checks your identity and capacity and witnesses your signature.
3. DFAT apostille on the notary's certificate.
4. Official Greek translation of the document, the notarial certificate and the apostille.

The consular route may suit a Greek document when the appropriate post can provide the service. The Australian route may suit an English or bilingual form, a person far from a post, or a receiving lawyer who requests it. These are not interchangeable by assumption: ask the Greek lawyer or receiving authority which form it will accept. See power of attorney and legal declarations for the notary's part.

Why should the wording come from Greece first?

Whichever route you choose, ask your Greek lawyer or notary for the text. A Greek power of attorney for property or inheritance needs specific powers, and one that is too general may be refused at the land registry, the tax office or the bank. Common uses include:

• obtaining a Greek tax number (AFM), which is often the first thing needed before anything else can happen;
• accepting or renouncing an inheritance;
• buying, selling or transferring property;
• dealing with the tax office and banks.

If you are signing a Greek document you cannot read, tell the Australian notary in advance. The notary must be satisfied about informed and voluntary signing, so a translation or interpreter may be needed. The Australian notarial service is separate from advice on the document's effect under Greek law; obtain that advice from the Greek lawyer who prepared or will use it.

Who can provide an official Greek translation?

Ask whether the receiving authority requires an official Greek translation. The Greek Government's certified-translator service provides access to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs register. It says a certified translator can officially translate a foreign public document from a Convention country after it carries an apostille. Greek Foreign Ministry guidance also identifies qualifying Greek lawyers and certain Ionian University graduates as possible official translators under Greek law. A NAATI translation remains a professional Australian translation, but it is not automatically an official Greek translation.

Ask the receiving body or your Greek lawyer:

• Who should make the translation?
• Should the apostille and the notarial certificate be translated too?
• Can the translation be made from a scan, or does the original need to reach Greece first?

Because the apostille is usually translated with the document, translation comes last. In practice many families send the apostilled original to their Greek lawyer, who arranges the translation there.

What if the names do not match?

A problem particular to Greek-Australian families: the same person's name often appears differently in Greek and Australian records. A Greek registry comparing an Australian death certificate with a Greek birth record may not accept that they refer to the same person.

Raise this with the Greek lawyer or receiving authority before legalisation. It may request a sworn statement, registry correction, supporting records or another remedy. If a sworn statement is chosen, an Australian notary can administer the oath or affirmation; the receiver decides whether it then needs an apostille and official translation. For a deceased relative, the person making any statement must have a proper factual basis. Name mismatches covers the general approach.

Which other documents may be needed?

Document	Typical use in Greece	Australian route
Death certificate	Inheritance of property in Greece	Original registry certificate to DFAT
Grant of probate or will	Estate of a relative who died in Australia	Court document to DFAT, or a notarised copy
Birth or marriage certificate	Registering events with a Greek municipality	Original to DFAT directly, not laminated
Degree or transcript	Recognition for study or work	University-verified original, or a notarised copy stating verification
Sworn statement on names	Linking Australian and Greek records	Sworn before a notary, then DFAT if required

Australian registry certificates and court documents usually go to DFAT directly. DFAT's page on documents it can legalise lists them as originals it accepts, and refuses laminated certificates and ceremonial marriage certificates. Wills are private documents, so DFAT deals with a will only once a notary has certified it. For inheritance, the Greek lawyer will usually tell you which set they need, and a solicitor in Australia should advise on the estate itself.

How are Australian births and marriages registered?

Greek-Australians may register an Australian birth or marriage through the competent Greek authority. The Australian evidence is commonly a registry certificate, which may go to DFAT directly when eligible. Use a standard certificate rather than a commemorative or ceremonial one. Ask the competent consular post or municipality for its current list, personal-attendance rule, issue-date window and translation requirement. These requirements vary by event and office. Citizenship consequences are matters of Greek law, so obtain current official or legal advice.

Does the original need to travel to Greece?

The Greek receiving authority decides whether it needs the original signed and apostilled document, a certified copy or an electronic submission. Do not assume a scan is sufficient for property, inheritance or banking. If an original must travel, use a method appropriate to its importance and keep a complete copy, including the apostille. Record the DFAT reference so the certificate can be checked later.

What commonly causes problems?

• A power of attorney witnessed only by a Justice of the Peace. DFAT cannot apostille a JP's signature. Use the Greek consular route or an Australian notarial act when the document requires an apostille.
• A general power of attorney when the Greek side needs specific powers. It may be refused at the registry or bank.
• Asking the Greek embassy to legalise an apostilled document. The consular route is an alternative way of signing, not an extra step.
• Translating in Australia before the apostille, when the Greek side wants the apostille translated too.

What might the process look like in practice?

A man in Melbourne inherits a share of his late mother's house in a village near Kalamata. His cousin's lawyer in Greece sends a Greek power of attorney covering the tax number, acceptance of the inheritance and the property transfer. He lives near a Greek consular post, so he books an appointment and signs there. The lawyer also notices that his mother appears as one surname form in the Greek records and another on her Australian death certificate, so he swears a statement before an Australian notary explaining the difference, which DFAT apostilles and the lawyer has translated in Greece.

How much does the Greece document process cost?

The total may include a Greek consular fee or Australian notarial work, DFAT's apostille fee, official translation, extra copies, and courier or travel charges. A longer power of attorney, interpreter, witnesses or multiple documents can change the cost. Request an itemised estimate after providing the document type, chosen route, destination authority, signer and copy numbers, location and deadline. Check current consular and DFAT fees rather than relying on old figures.

What should you remember?

Greece accepts Australian apostilles for documents within the Convention. A power of attorney may be drawn up through the competent Greek consular authority, or it may follow the Australian notary, DFAT and official-translation route when the Greek receiver accepts that form. Get the wording and acceptance requirements from Greece first. More on the Australian steps is at apostille and authentication.

Related questions

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• How are overseas documents apostilled for Australia?
• What if DFAT issued the wrong certificate?

Sending documents to Greece? Send us the document type, Greek authority's written instructions, chosen route, signer and copy numbers, location and deadline. We can explain the Australian notarial and DFAT steps before you book.