Apostille or Legalisation for Portugal From Australia

For Portugal, an Australian document that needs authenticating takes a DFAT apostille, not embassy legalisation: as of our last check, the Convention has been in force for Portugal since 4 February 1969. Check the HCCH status table on the day. The more useful point is that many consulate procedures need no apostille at all.

Key takeaways

• Portugal is an Apostille Convention country, so a DFAT apostille replaces embassy legalisation for documents within the Convention's scope.
• Start by asking where the document is going: the Portuguese consulate in Sydney, or an office in Portugal. The answer changes what you need.
• For some consulate procedures, when we last checked, an Australian certificate in English went in without an apostille.
• Portugal's registry authority, IRN, allows more ways to certify a translation than most countries, and some registry offices may waive translation of English documents.
• If nobody signing a power of attorney speaks Portuguese, the consulate's guidance pointed to an Australian notary, a DFAT apostille and a Portuguese translation.

Portugal and the Apostille Convention

The HCCH status table records Portugal's signature in 1965, ratification on 6 December 1968 and entry into force on 4 February 1969. Australia has been a party since 1995, so between the two countries a document within the Convention's scope needs one certificate from Australia and nothing from the Portuguese consulate. The table also records extensions and declarations for Portugal; these concern territories and administrative detail and do not change the route for an Australian document. Confirm the position on the table the day you start, because membership and declarations can change.

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 wider picture, see how the Hague Apostille Convention works.

Start by asking where the document is going

Most Australians dealing with Portugal fall into one of two groups, and the paperwork differs between them.

Through the Portuguese consulate in Sydney. When we last checked, the consulate's published requirements for registering an Australian marriage asked for certified copies of the marriage and birth certificates, and said that marriage certificates issued by countries other than Australia and New Zealand needed a Portuguese consular authentication or an apostille. It also said documents in Portuguese or English did not need translation. Read plainly, that meant an Australian certificate went in for that procedure without an apostille. For nationality through a Portuguese parent, the consulate asked for the original birth certificate, with an apostille or consular authentication only if it was issued outside Australia, and said the original would be kept on file. Order a certificate you can spare.

Directly to an office in Portugal. A registry office (conservatória), a court, a bank or a Portuguese lawyer will generally expect the full Convention chain: notarisation in Australia if the document is a private one, a DFAT apostille, and a translation unless the office accepts English. Consulate practice changes, so check its current page for your procedure before you rely on either description.

The chain for a document going to Portugal

1. Confirm the recipient's list. Ask the Portuguese office, lawyer or consulate exactly which documents it wants, and in what form.
2. Get the original. A current registry certificate, court document or police check, or the private document you will sign.
3. Notarise private documents. Powers of attorney, declarations and company documents are signed before an Australian notary, who attaches a notarial certificate.
4. DFAT apostille. On the public document itself, or on the notary's certificate.
5. Translation, if the office needs one. Arrange it in a form the office accepts; see the translation section below.
6. Send the original. A scan is rarely enough for a registry or court.

Australian public documents, such as birth, marriage and death certificates, court orders including divorce orders, and national police checks, usually skip step 3 and go to DFAT directly. DFAT's page on documents it can legalise lists what it accepts as originals. It refuses laminated documents and ceremonial or commemorative marriage certificates, so order the standard registry version.

Translation: more options than most countries

This is where Portugal differs most from its neighbours. The registry authority, the Instituto dos Registos e do Notariado (IRN), said when we last checked that foreign-language documents must, as a rule, come with a certified translation into Portuguese. Its guidance then made two points worth knowing.

English may be accepted as it is. For civil registry, land registry and certain commercial registry acts, translation of a document in English, French or Spanish could be waived if the official handling the matter knows the language. IRN published a list of registry offices with staff who do. If your matter is going to one of those offices, contact it first; it may save a translation entirely.

Several people can certify a translation. IRN listed, as a general rule, a Portuguese notary, a registrar, a lawyer or solicitor practising in Portugal, a recognised chamber of commerce, a suitable translator whose translation is then certified before one of those, the Portuguese consulate in the country where the document was issued, or that country's consulate in Portugal.

For an Australian document, the Portuguese consulate in Sydney is one of the bodies on that list. The consulate said it recognised the signatures of Portuguese–English translators and that documents could be sent by post. A route many people use is therefore a translation by a NAATI-credentialled translator whose signature the consulate recognises. Confirm with the receiving office in Portugal that this suits it before you pay for anything. Our document translation page covers the Australian side.

Marrying in Portugal

The consulate said, when we last checked, that the paperwork for a marriage in Portugal could be organised through it. Its list included birth certificates, identification, a certificate of matrimonial capacity, and a marriage declaration whose signature had to be recognised by "a Justice of Peace or Notary".

Two points follow. First, this is one of the rare cases where a Justice of the Peace is named. Most overseas bodies do not accept a JP, and a JP certification cannot be apostilled. For this consular form the consulate accepted either; for anything else, do not assume a JP will do. Second, the certificate of matrimonial capacity comes from the Australian side. The Australian Embassy in Lisbon listed Certificates of No Impediment to Marriage among its notarial services, and said it could not issue one as proof of a de facto relationship for visa or residency purposes in Portugal. The consulate's page also set a validity period for the marriage file and suggested planning well ahead; check the current figures on its page rather than a number repeated elsewhere.

Powers of attorney and property

A power of attorney is the document Australians most often send to Portugal, usually for an inherited house, a bank account or a tax matter. There are two ways to make one.

At the consulate, as a public instrument. When we last checked, the consulate could prepare a power of attorney in public form, signed in person at the consulate. It noted that a party who does not speak Portuguese needs an interpreter present.

Before an Australian notary. The consulate's guidance said that if none of the parties speaks Portuguese, the power of attorney should be made before an Australian notary, apostilled by DFAT and translated into Portuguese. The notary checks your identity, satisfies themselves that you understand the document and are signing freely, and attaches a notarial certificate. The notary witnesses your signature; they do not advise on whether the document works under Portuguese law.

Portuguese law may require a power of attorney for certain acts, such as selling property, to be in a particular form. Ask the Portuguese lawyer, notary or bank which form they need before anyone drafts it, and take legal advice in Portugal on validity. If the document also touches an Australian estate or property, see an Australian solicitor. Our power of attorney and declarations page explains the witnessing side.

Documents commonly needed for Portugal

Document	Typical use in Portugal	Australian route
Birth certificate	Nationality through a parent, marriage file	For the consulate, its own list; for an office in Portugal, original to DFAT
Marriage certificate	Registering the marriage on the Portuguese record	Certified copy for the consulate, when last checked; standard registry certificate to DFAT for other uses
Divorce order	Court review in Portugal	DFAT apostille, then a translation the court accepts
Power of attorney	Property, inheritance, banking	Consulate public instrument, or notary, DFAT apostille and translation
Police check	Residence and visa applications	Original to DFAT directly
ASIC certificate, board resolution	Company matters in Portugal	ASIC original to DFAT; resolution notarised, then apostilled

Divorce

An Australian divorce does not change a Portuguese record by itself. When we last checked, the consulate said it could not record a divorce: a foreign divorce had to be reviewed and confirmed by a Portuguese court, through a lawyer in Portugal, before it was noted on the Portuguese birth record. It said lawyers generally asked for the divorce certificate apostilled by DFAT and translated by an official translator, with the signature recognised by the consulate. The divorce order is a court document, so it goes to DFAT directly; no notary is needed for it. The Portuguese lawyer will tell you what else the court wants.

Common mistakes with Portuguese paperwork

• Apostilling everything by default. Some consulate procedures, when last checked, did not ask for an apostille on Australian certificates. Read the list first.
• Adding embassy legalisation after DFAT. For a document within the Convention's scope, the apostille ends the Australian chain.
• Sending your only original. The consulate may keep a birth certificate on file.
• Assuming a JP works everywhere. The marriage declaration is an exception, not a rule.
• A name that does not match your passport, common after marriage or in families with Portuguese naming customs. See name mismatches and apostilles.

Coming the other way

A Portuguese document for use in Australia is apostilled in Portugal, not by DFAT, and an Australian notary cannot vouch for what a Portuguese registry issued. The Australian Embassy in Lisbon said it could not attach an apostille to documents issued in Portugal. 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.

Here is an illustration, not a real case

A Perth man inherits a share of his late mother's house near Braga. The family's Portuguese lawyer asks for a power of attorney so a cousin can sign at the notary in Portugal. Neither he nor the cousin's lawyer expects him to travel to Sydney, and he does not speak Portuguese. The lawyer sends an English text. He signs it before a notary in Perth, who checks his passport and attaches a notarial certificate. DFAT apostilles it. A NAATI translator produces the Portuguese version, and the lawyer confirms that it meets the Portuguese notary's requirements before the original is couriered.

In short

Portugal takes an apostille, on our last check, so embassy legalisation is not needed for documents within the Convention's scope. The consulate in Sydney may need less than that for its own procedures, and IRN allows several ways to certify a translation. Ask the receiving body first. More on the Australian steps is at apostille and authentication.

People also search for

• Which documents can be apostilled in Australia?
• What do consulates in Australia legalise?
• What if I got the wrong certificate type?
• Can I get an apostille online in Australia?
• How do I apostille documents for the Netherlands?

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