Apostille or Embassy Legalisation: What Peru 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 Peruvian body that will receive your document.

For Peru the authentication answer is an apostille. What is specific to Peru is what happens around it: Peru has its own system of sworn translators, Peruvian degree recognition has a step of its own, and for powers of attorney there is a route that avoids the Australian chain altogether: signing a public deed at the Peruvian consulate in Sydney.

Check the current position before acting on this or any other page. Convention membership is a live fact. Confirm Peru's status against the HCCH status table for the Apostille Convention on the day you start. At the time of writing Peru is listed as a party, and Australia is not among the states that objected to its accession, so an apostille is the expected route for documents within the Convention's scope.

The usual chain

1. Notarise in Australia, if the document is a private one (a power of attorney, a declaration, a copy of a document that is not itself a public record)
2. DFAT apostille
3. Spanish translation, of the kind the receiving body accepts

Some Australian public documents, such as registry-issued certificates, may be able to go to DFAT directly without a notary. Confirm with DFAT before paying for a notarial certificate you may not need.

You do not need the Peruvian embassy or a Peruvian consulate to legalise a Convention-covered Australian document. Peru's own government guidance says that documents from a Convention country need the apostille of that country, and that consular legalisation is for countries outside the Convention.

Translation: who Peru accepts

Peru's Ministry of Foreign Affairs accredits Traductores Públicos Juramentados (sworn public translators). Its guidance names two kinds of translator for a document that carries an apostille or legalisation: a sworn public translator, or a certified translator registered with the Colegio de Traductores del Perú.

There is an important qualification. The same guidance says that for most dealings with Peruvian public administration, a simple translation by a properly identified translator may be presented instead of an official one, as part of Peru's administrative simplification rules. That relaxation does not automatically reach every body. Courts, registries, notaries and private institutions such as banks may ask for more.

So ask the receiving body:

• Will you accept a simple translation, or must it be by a Peruvian sworn or certified translator?
• Will you accept a translation made in Australia by a NAATI-credentialled translator?
• Must the apostille and the notarial certificate be translated too?

A NAATI translation is a professional translation, but it is not a Peruvian official translation. If the answer to the second question is no, do not pay for one.

Degrees and transcripts

Peru's guidance for foreign academic documents is explicit: studies completed abroad must be certified in the country where you studied, before you arrive. For an Australian degree, that means an apostille from DFAT.

The apostille is not the end of it. Recognition of a university degree in Peru is a separate procedure before Sunedu, the national university regulator, and it has its own criteria, including whether the awarding institution appears in certain international rankings or is covered by a treaty. An apostille proves the signature on your testamur is genuine; it does not make the degree recognised.

Before you start, ask your employer or institution in Peru whether they need the Sunedu recognition or only the apostilled document, and whether they need the transcript as well as the testamur.

Powers of attorney: the consular route

If you are giving someone in Peru authority to sell property, manage a bank account or act in an inheritance or court matter, Peruvian practice is to use a power of attorney by public deed (poder por escritura pública). The Consulate General of Peru in Sydney offers this. Its published procedure is:

• You send the text of the power in Word format by email in advance. The consulate reviews its formalities but does not draft it or give legal advice, and it suggests a lawyer's help.
• Signing is in person, before the Consul General, with a Peruvian national identity document or, for a foreign national, a passport.
• You receive the deed and a consular report, which must be sent to Peru to be legalised at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and registered with the public registry (SUNARP).

Because the deed is made by a Peruvian consular officer, it does not go through DFAT. The alternative is an Australian notarised power of attorney with a DFAT apostille. Which one works depends on what the power is for and what the Peruvian notary, bank or registry will register. Ask them first, and have a Peruvian lawyer settle the wording either way.

If you are signing a Spanish document you do not read, the Australian notary will want to be satisfied you understand it and may ask for a translation.

Marrying in Peru

The Australian Embassy in Lima lists a Certificate of No Impediment to Marriage among its notarial services, and says notarial services for Peru and Bolivia can only be performed at the embassy in Lima, by appointment. If a Peruvian municipality asks you for proof you are free to marry, ask the embassy whether its certificate is what you need before arranging anything in Australia.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need the Peruvian embassy to legalise my Australian document? Not for a document within the Convention's scope. An apostille replaces that step.

Can I have my Australian document apostilled in Peru? No. An Australian public document or Australian notarial act can only be apostilled by DFAT in Australia.

Does the Peruvian consulate's power of attorney need an apostille? No, because it is not an Australian document. It needs the Peruvian steps the consulate describes: legalisation in Lima and registration.

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