Apostille or Legalisation for Peru From Australia

Australian documents for Peru need a DFAT apostille, not embassy legalisation. As of our last check, the Apostille Convention has been in force for Peru since 30 September 2010, and Australia did not object to Peru joining. Check the HCCH status table on the day. What is specific to Peru is what happens after the apostille.

Key takeaways

• For Peru, a DFAT apostille replaces consular legalisation for documents within the Convention's scope.
• Peru has its own sworn public translators. Ask the receiving body whether it will take a NAATI translation made in Australia before you pay for one.
• An apostille on an Australian degree does not make it recognised in Peru. That is a separate step before Sunedu.
• A power of attorney can be signed as a public deed at the Peruvian consulate, which skips DFAT, or before an Australian notary with an apostille.
• Registry certificates such as birth and marriage certificates usually go to DFAT without a notary.

Is Peru a Hague Apostille country?

Yes, on our last check. The HCCH status table records Peru's accession on 13 January 2010, with the Convention in force for Peru from 30 September 2010. Membership is a live fact, so look at the table again the day you start.

When a country joins by accession, existing members can object. The Convention then does not operate between those two countries. Germany objected to Peru's accession in 2010 and withdrew the objection in December 2013. Australia is not listed as an objector, so between Australia and Peru the apostille route applies.

An apostille is a certificate issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). It confirms the signature and seal on an Australian public document. 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.

What is the usual chain for Peru?

1. Notarise in Australia, but only if the document is private. That covers a power of attorney, a declaration, an affidavit, or a copy of a document that is not itself a public record.
2. Obtain a DFAT apostille on the original public document, or on the notary's certificate.
3. Arrange a Spanish translation of the kind the receiving body accepts.

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

Many Australian public documents can go to DFAT directly, with no notary. DFAT's page on documents it can legalise lists them. They include registry birth, marriage and death certificates, court documents such as divorce orders, and national police checks. Confirm with DFAT before paying for a notarial certificate you may not need.

Who can translate documents for Peru?

Peru's Ministry of Foreign Affairs accredits Traductores Públicos Juramentados, or sworn public translators. Its guidance names two kinds of translator for a document carrying an apostille. One is a sworn public translator. The other is 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 may be presented instead. It must be signed by a properly identified translator. This follows Peru's administrative simplification rules.

That relaxation does not automatically reach every body. Courts, public registries, Peruvian notaries and private institutions such as banks may ask for more. A translation that is fine for one ministry may be refused by a registry.

A NAATI translation is a professional translation made in Australia. It is not a Peruvian official translation. If the receiving body says it will not take one, do not pay for it. If it will, see document translation.

Does the apostille or the notary's certificate need translating?

Often it does. A Peruvian office reading a document in Spanish may want the whole bundle in Spanish. That includes the notarial certificate and the apostille, not only the underlying document.

Ask this question with the others. Translating the document alone and then being asked for the apostille in Spanish is a common way to lose weeks. Where the translation is made in Peru after the apostille, the translator works from the apostilled original. Keep the pages together and do not remove staples or ribbons.

What happens with Australian degrees in Peru?

Peru's guidance on foreign academic documents is explicit. Studies completed abroad must be certified in the country where you studied. For an Australian degree, that means a DFAT apostille before the document reaches Peru.

DFAT has a rule of its own for university documents. It apostilles an original degree or transcript once the university has verified it. A notarised copy must also be verified, and the notary's certificate must state that the original was verified with the issuing institution. A plain "true copy" certificate is not enough for 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. Sunedu has its own criteria, which can include rankings and treaties. 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 two things. Does it need Sunedu recognition, or only the apostilled document? Does it need the transcript as well as the testamur? Only an Australian-issued qualification can go through DFAT. A degree from another country is dealt with in the country that issued it.

How do you sign a power of attorney for Peru?

People in Australia give powers of attorney to sell property, manage a bank account, or act in an inheritance or court matter in Peru. Peruvian practice is to use a power of attorney by public deed, a poder por escritura pública. There are two ways to produce one from Australia.

At the Peruvian consulate. When we last checked, the Consulate General of Peru in Sydney described this procedure:

• You email the text of the power in Word format in advance. The consulate reviews its formalities. It does not draft the document or give legal advice, and it suggests a lawyer's help.
• You sign in person before the consular officer. You bring a Peruvian national identity document, or a passport if you are a foreign national.
• You receive the deed and a consular report. They go to Peru to be legalised at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and registered with SUNARP, the public registry.

Because a Peruvian consular officer makes the deed, it is not an Australian document. It does not go through DFAT. Check the consulate's current procedure before you rely on these details.

Before an Australian notary. The alternative is to sign before an Australian notary, then obtain a DFAT apostille. The notary checks your identity, your understanding of the document and that you sign freely. The notary then attaches a notarial certificate. See powers of attorney and declarations.

Which power of attorney route should you use?

Which route works depends on what the power is for. It also depends on what the Peruvian notary, bank or registry will register. Ask them first, and have a Peruvian lawyer settle the wording either way. On whether the power is valid for the purpose, an Australian notary does not advise; that is a question for a lawyer in Peru.

If you are signing a Spanish document you do not read, the notary must be satisfied that you understand it. Expect to be asked for a translation, or for an interpreter. A notary may decline if you cannot show you know what you are signing.

Which documents commonly go to Peru?

Document	Typical use in Peru	Australian route
Birth or marriage certificate	RENIEC records, residence, marriage	Registry certificate to DFAT for an apostille
Degree and transcript	Employment, Sunedu recognition	University verification, then DFAT apostille
Power of attorney	Property, banking, inheritance	Consular public deed, or notary then DFAT apostille
National police check	Residence and work applications	DFAT apostille on the original
Company documents	Opening a branch, contracts	Notarised copy or extract, then DFAT apostille

For company records, an ASIC extract is a government document DFAT can deal with. Board resolutions and contracts are private and must be notarised first. A Peruvian registry may also want the company's authority to act shown in a particular way. Ask before the notary drafts the certificate.

What if you want to marry in Peru?

A Peruvian municipality usually wants proof that you are free to marry. When we last checked, the Australian Embassy in Lima listed a Certificate of No Impediment to Marriage among its notarial services. It also said its notarial services for Peru were provided at the embassy in Lima.

Ask the embassy whether its certificate is what the municipality needs before you arrange anything in Australia. An Australian notary in Australia cannot issue a certificate that you are free to marry. A statutory declaration you make here may or may not be accepted, and the municipality decides.

What does not work for Peru?

• Asking the Peruvian consulate to legalise an Australian document within the Convention's scope. The apostille replaces that step.
• Having an Australian document apostilled in Peru. Only DFAT can apostille an Australian public document or Australian notarial act.
• A Justice of the Peace copy. It is not accepted overseas and cannot be apostilled.
• Laminated certificates. DFAT refuses laminated, framed or altered documents. Order a fresh copy from the registry.
• Treating the apostille as recognition of a degree. Sunedu recognition is a separate procedure.

Coming the other way

A Peruvian document needed in Australia is apostilled in Peru, by Peru's own authorities. An Australian notary cannot vouch for what a Peruvian registry or university issued. For Australian immigration, a certified copy and a translation are often all Home Affairs needs. A translation made in Australia should be by a NAATI-credentialled translator. One made in Peru needs the translator's full name, address, telephone number and qualifications. If you are overseas and need an Australian document, see getting an Australian apostille from overseas.

Here is an illustration, not a real case

A Peruvian-born nurse in Melbourne is selling a flat in Arequipa and needs to give her brother power to sign. Her lawyer in Peru says the local notary prefers a consular public deed. She emails the Spanish text to the consulate in Sydney, attends in person with her DNI and signs. The deed and consular report go to Lima for legalisation and then SUNARP registration. No Australian notary or DFAT step is needed.

Her husband, an Australian engineer, needs his degree for a job in Lima. He asks the employer, who wants the apostilled degree now and Sunedu recognition later. His university verifies the degree, DFAT apostilles it, and a sworn translator in Peru translates it.

In short

Peru takes a DFAT apostille from Australia, on our last check, with no consulate step for Convention documents. Settle the translation question with the receiving body first. Treat Sunedu recognition as a separate task. For powers of attorney, choose between the consular deed and a notarised power according to what the Peruvian side will register. More on the Australian steps is at apostille and authentication.

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Sending documents to Peru? Send us what the Peruvian office asked for, and we will explain each step before you book.