Apostille or Legalisation for Israel From Australia

An Australian document for Israel usually needs a DFAT apostille, not embassy legalisation: as of our last check, the Convention has been in force for Israel since 14 August 1978. Check the HCCH status table on the day. The harder questions are whether to sign before the Israeli consul or an Australian notary, and whether you can read the Hebrew.

Key takeaways

• Israel is an Apostille Convention country, so a DFAT apostille replaces embassy legalisation for documents within the Convention's scope.
• There are two ways to have your signature verified: before an Australian notary followed by a DFAT apostille, or before the Israeli consul at the embassy in Canberra.
• Whichever route you take, you must understand what you sign. A Hebrew document you cannot read needs a translation arranged before the appointment.
• Signing for a company needs proof of the company's existence and of your authority to bind it.
• Australian certificates for registering a marriage or divorce in Israel go to DFAT directly. No notary is needed.

Israel and the Apostille Convention

The HCCH status table records Israel's accession on 11 November 1977, with the Convention in force from 14 August 1978. Australia and Israel have both been parties for decades, so a document within the Convention's scope needs one certificate from Australia and nothing from the Israeli embassy. Membership and objections can change, so confirm the position 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, such as a registry certificate or a notary's certificate. It says nothing about whether the contents are true. Only DFAT issues apostilles in Australia; a notary cannot. For the background, see how the Hague Apostille Convention works.

Two ways to sign a document for Israel

Israel is unusual among Convention countries in that its embassy offers a signature verification service that many Australians use instead of a notary. When we last checked, the embassy's guidance described it as open to anyone who needs their signature confirmed on a document to be presented in Israel, whether Israeli or not, and to people signing for companies incorporated in Israel or elsewhere.

Before the Israeli consul. You attend in person with the original document and photo identification. The embassy's guidance, when last checked, said that for a real estate transaction only a valid passport or identity card would do, and asked applicants to email the documents in advance with the number of documents, signatories and copies, and to complete everything except the signatures before arriving. Appointment availability changes, so check the embassy's current page rather than relying on a figure you read elsewhere.

Before an Australian notary, then DFAT. This is the standard Convention route. The notary checks your identity, satisfies themselves that you understand the document and are signing freely, witnesses your signature and attaches a notarial certificate. DFAT then apostilles the notary's certificate. This route suits people who live far from Canberra, or who need several documents done at once alongside Australian ones. See document notarisation.

Neither route is better in the abstract. The Israeli lawyer, bank, land registry or court office receiving the document decides what it will accept, and some have a settled preference. Ask them before you book either.

The chain for the notary route

1. Get the text settled. The Israeli lawyer or office supplies the document, ideally bilingual if it is in Hebrew.
2. Arrange any translation you need to understand it, before the appointment.
3. Sign before an Australian notary, who attaches a notarial certificate. Do not sign beforehand.
4. DFAT apostille on the notary's certificate.
5. Send the original to Israel by courier. A scan is rarely enough for a land or court matter.

Australian public documents, such as birth, marriage and death certificates, court orders and national police checks, usually skip steps 1 to 3 and go to DFAT directly. DFAT's page on documents it can legalise lists what it accepts as originals. DFAT refuses laminated documents and ceremonial or commemorative marriage certificates.

The language rule

This is where Australians most often come unstuck with Israeli paperwork. Many documents for Israel are drafted in Hebrew by an Israeli lawyer: powers of attorney for property, inheritance papers, affidavits for Israeli courts. The embassy's guidance, when we last checked, said the signer must read and understand the document in Hebrew or English. If you could not, or the document was in another language, it would not verify your signature without a translation that had itself been properly certified: one by an authorised translator carrying an apostille, or one by a lawyer whose statement of accuracy was notarised and apostilled.

The same principle applies before an Australian notary. A notary must be satisfied that you understand what you are signing, and will decline if you plainly do not. The practical fix is simple: ask the Israeli lawyer for a bilingual Hebrew and English version, which many already use for clients abroad. If that is not possible, arrange a translation well before your appointment. Our document translation page covers the Australian side; ask the Israeli recipient first whether it wants that translation apostilled too.

Signing for a company

If you sign for a company, whether Australian, Israeli or from elsewhere, the person verifying your signature needs two things beyond your identity: evidence that the company exists, and evidence that you can bind it. The embassy's guidance, when last checked, asked for an apostilled certificate of incorporation or registration, and a current written confirmation from the company's lawyer or accountant that the signatory has authority.

For an Australian company, the certificate of registration comes from ASIC. DFAT lists ASIC documents among the government commercial documents it can legalise, so an apostilled original can be obtained before the appointment. A printout of a downloaded PDF is not the same thing; ask DFAT what it will accept for your document. If you are signing before an Australian notary instead, the notary will usually want a current company search and the board resolution or other document showing your authority, and will record in the notarial certificate the capacity in which you sign.

Registering an Australian marriage or divorce in Israel

Israeli citizens who marry or divorce in Australia update their personal status through the embassy. The embassy's page, when last checked, asked for both spouses' passports and the marriage or divorce certificate with an apostille. An Australian certificate is already in English, so it needs the apostille but no translation. A certificate in another language needed a translation carrying its own apostille from the country where it was translated; for Australia, that means a NAATI translation that DFAT then apostilles.

If one spouse is not Israeli, the embassy also asked for an apostilled document showing that spouse's previous personal status: single, divorced or widowed before the marriage. It said a marriage certificate recording previous status met the requirement. Australian registry marriage certificates generally record each party's status before the marriage, but check yours. If yours does not, ask the embassy what it will accept. Use the standard certificate from the state or territory registry, not the decorative one handed over at the ceremony, which DFAT will not apostille.

Documents commonly needed for Israel

Document	Typical use in Israel	Australian route
Power of attorney	Selling or managing property, inheritance, bank matters	Israeli lawyer's text, signed before the consul, or a notary then DFAT apostille
Affidavit or declaration	Israeli court or inheritance proceedings	Sworn before a notary, then DFAT apostille, unless the recipient wants the consul
Marriage or divorce certificate	Updating personal status	Registry certificate or court document to DFAT directly
Birth certificate, police check	Immigration and status matters	Original to DFAT directly
ASIC certificate, board resolution	Company signings and Israeli transactions	ASIC original to DFAT; resolution notarised, then apostilled

For a power of attorney, the Israeli lawyer usually drafts the text to suit Israeli requirements, including the land registry's where property is involved. An Australian notary witnesses your signature on that text but does not advise on whether it works under Israeli law. If the document affects property, an estate or a family matter in Australia as well, see an Australian solicitor too. Our power of attorney and declarations page explains the witnessing side.

Immigration to Israel

People applying to live in Israel are usually given a document list by the Israeli authority or the organisation handling the application. These lists commonly include birth and marriage certificates, and often a police certificate. The Australian versions are public documents that go to DFAT directly for an apostille, with no notary. Order a national police check close to when it will be lodged and ask how recent it must be. If a list asks for a notarised copy rather than an apostilled original, ask whether the copy must itself be apostilled, because a notarised copy without DFAT's certificate may not be enough on its own.

Coming the other way

An Israeli document for use in Australia is apostilled in Israel, not by DFAT, and an Australian notary cannot vouch for what an Israeli registry or court issued. For an Australian visa, Home Affairs usually wants a certified copy rather than an apostille, with a translation of anything not in English: made in Australia by a NAATI-credentialled translator, or made overseas with the translator's full name, address, telephone number and qualifications. See documents from overseas for use in Australia.

What does not work for Israel

• A Justice of the Peace. A JP certification is not accepted overseas and cannot be apostilled.
• Signing a Hebrew document you cannot read and expecting the consul or notary to proceed.
• Signing in advance and bringing the signed page to the appointment. You sign in front of the person verifying it.
• Adding embassy legalisation after DFAT. For a document within the Convention's scope, the apostille is the end of the Australian chain.
• A ceremonial or laminated marriage certificate. Order a standard registry copy.
• A name that does not match your passport without explanation. See name mismatches and apostilles.

Here is an illustration, not a real case

A Melbourne woman inherits a share of her late father's flat in Haifa. The family's Israeli lawyer emails a power of attorney in Hebrew. She does not read Hebrew, so she asks for a bilingual version, which the lawyer sends. She decides against travelling to Canberra and signs the bilingual power of attorney before a notary in Melbourne, who checks her passport against the name in the document and attaches a notarial certificate. DFAT apostilles it, and she couriers the original to Haifa. The lawyer had confirmed beforehand that the notary route was acceptable for the land registry.

In short

Israel takes an apostille, on our last check, so embassy legalisation after DFAT is not needed for documents within the Convention's scope. Choose between the consul and a notary by asking the Israeli recipient, and settle the Hebrew before anyone signs. Australian certificates go to DFAT directly. More on the Australian steps is at apostille and authentication.

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Sending documents to Israel? Send us what the Israeli lawyer or office asked for, and we will explain each step before you book.