Apostille or Legalisation for Taiwan From Australia

An apostille is the wrong certificate for Taiwan. As of our last check, Taiwan is not a party to the Apostille Convention, so an Australian document is legalised by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO), usually after DFAT authentication. Check the HCCH status table on the day. For some documents, you can sign before a TECO officer instead.

Key takeaways

• Ask DFAT for an authentication, not an apostille, and tell it the document is for Taiwan.
• Taiwan is represented in Australia by representative offices rather than an embassy. TECO performs the document legalisation an embassy would elsewhere.
• Taiwan's legalisation rules let TECO authenticate a signature by comparing it with specimens it holds. Where it has no specimen, it may ask for DFAT's authentication first.
• For a private document, such as a power of attorney, the rules also let you sign in front of a TECO officer.
• A document legalised by TECO can be authenticated again in Taiwan if the receiving body wants that further step.

Taiwan and the Apostille Convention

Taiwan does not appear on the HCCH status table for the Apostille Convention as of our last check. So DFAT issues an authentication certificate rather than an apostille; it confirms the signature and seal on the Australian document, and the Taiwanese side then legalises it. Confirm on the table the day you start that Taiwan is still not listed, and ask TECO how it currently handles Australian documents. Its practice decides which of the routes below applies to you.

Taiwan has no embassy in Australia. Its interests are handled by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Australia, with offices in more than one city, which performs consular work including document legalisation. Ask TECO which of its offices handles documents from your state. For the difference between authentication and an apostille, see what DFAT authentication is.

The legal framework, briefly

Taiwan's Document Legalization Act, published in English by Taiwan's Bureau of Consular Affairs, sets out what an overseas mission such as TECO may authenticate. When we last checked, the list included documents notarised or attested by a notary public within the mission's consular jurisdiction; documents issued or authenticated by local government agencies within that jurisdiction; and private documents signed within that jurisdiction.

The Act also said a mission legalises only documents issued within its jurisdiction, except in special cases approved by Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. An Australian document therefore goes to TECO in Australia, not to a Taiwanese office elsewhere, and not to an office in Taiwan directly. If you are already in Taiwan with an unlegalised Australian document, ask the Bureau of Consular Affairs what it will do, but expect to be directed back to Australia.

Route 1: notary, DFAT, then TECO

The chain most people will follow is:

1. Notarise in Australia, if the document is a private one or a copy. The notary checks your identity, sights the original, witnesses your signature or certifies the copy, and attaches a notarial certificate.
2. DFAT authentication of the notary's certificate, or of the public document itself. Ask for an authentication, not an apostille.
3. Legalisation by TECO, which confirms DFAT's certificate.
4. Send the original to Taiwan. A scan is rarely enough for a household registration office, land office or bank.

The Act explains why DFAT may be needed even though TECO could in principle deal with an Australian notary directly. TECO authenticates by comparing a signature or seal against specimens it holds. Where it has no specimen to compare with, it may ask you to have the document authenticated first by the authority that supplied its specimens. For Australian documents that is likely to mean DFAT. Ask TECO before you start whether it will accept your notary's certificate directly or wants DFAT's authentication first.

Australian public documents, such as birth, marriage and death certificates, court orders and national police checks, usually skip step 1 and go to DFAT directly. DFAT's page on documents it can legalise lists what it accepts as originals. University documents need the university's verification first, and a notarised copy must state that the original was verified with the institution. See document notarisation.

Route 2: sign in front of a TECO officer

For a private document, such as a power of attorney or declaration, the Act lets an overseas mission verify a signature by having the applicant sign in person, or acknowledge the signature as their own, in front of a consular officer. It may alternatively ask for the document to be notarised or authenticated locally first.

For someone dealing with Taiwanese property, a bank or a family matter, this can be the most direct route: one appointment, no notary and no DFAT step. Ask TECO whether it offers signature authentication for your document, which identification it wants, and whether the document must be in Chinese. Bring the unsigned document; you sign in front of the officer. If the matter affects property or an estate, take advice from a lawyer in Taiwan on the form of the power of attorney, and from an Australian solicitor if Australian assets are involved. Our power of attorney and declarations page explains the witnessing side.

A further step in Taiwan

Taiwan's Bureau of Consular Affairs, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' branch offices, authenticate the signatures and seals of Taiwan's overseas missions. In other words, a document legalised by TECO in Australia can be authenticated again in Taiwan. When we last checked, the Bureau asked for the original verified document, a copy for its records, and identification from the applicant or an authorised agent.

Whether you need that second step depends on the body receiving the document. Ask it before you travel or post anything. If family in Taiwan will handle it, ask the Bureau what authorisation an agent needs.

One exception to ask about

The Act provided that where Taiwan has signed a written agreement with a country abolishing re-legalisation, documents legalised by that country's designated authority have the same effect as if legalised by the Taiwanese mission. We have not been able to confirm whether any such arrangement covers Australian documents. Ask TECO. If one does, it would change the chain above.

Translation

The Act and the Bureau's pages we reviewed did not set a general translation rule for foreign documents. Taiwanese bodies commonly expect documents in Traditional Chinese or accompanied by a translation. Ask the receiving body whether it needs a translation, who may make it, and whether it must be made or certified in Taiwan. If it accepts one made in Australia, a NAATI-credentialled translator is the usual choice, and TECO may be asked to legalise the translation as well; ask in advance.

If you are signing a document in Chinese that you cannot read, tell the Australian notary beforehand. A notary must be satisfied that you understand what you sign and may ask for a translation or a bilingual version. Our document translation page covers the Australian side.

Documents commonly needed for Taiwan

Document	Typical use in Taiwan	Australian route
Marriage certificate	Household registration	Registry original to DFAT, then TECO; standard certificate, not ceremonial
Birth certificate	Registering a child, residence	Registry original to DFAT, then TECO
Power of attorney	Property, banking, inheritance	Before a TECO officer, or notary, DFAT and TECO
Degree or transcript	Employment, work permits	University verification, DFAT, then TECO
National police check	Residence and work applications	Original to DFAT, then TECO
Company documents	Contracts, registrations	ASIC originals to DFAT; resolutions notarised first; then TECO

Before you lodge anything with TECO

A few mistakes come up again and again. The first is asking DFAT for an apostille because a website said "apostille" in its title: DFAT will issue what you ask for, and an apostille will not be legalised by TECO. The second is sending a laminated certificate or a ceremonial marriage certificate, both of which DFAT refuses. The third is signing a power of attorney before the TECO appointment when you meant to use the signing route; you sign in front of the officer, not beforehand. The fourth is a name that appears differently on Taiwanese and Australian records, for example in romanisation. If your names differ, see name mismatches and apostilles and ask the Taiwanese office what evidence of identity it wants.

Coming the other way

A Taiwanese document for use in Australia is authenticated in Taiwan, and an Australian notary cannot vouch for what a Taiwanese authority issued. For an Australian visa, Home Affairs usually wants a certified copy rather than any legalisation, with a translation of Chinese documents: 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 Taiwanese-born man in Brisbane needs to register his Australian marriage with his household registration office and give his mother a power of attorney over a bank account in Taichung. He sends the standard marriage certificate to DFAT for authentication and then to TECO. For the power of attorney, TECO confirms it can witness his signature, so he signs the Chinese text in front of a TECO officer. His mother takes both to the offices in Taiwan.

In short

Taiwan is outside the Apostille Convention on our last check, so ask DFAT for an authentication and have TECO legalise it. For a private document, ask TECO whether you can sign before its officer instead. Check with the receiving body whether a further step in Taiwan is needed. More on the Australian steps is at apostille and authentication.

People also search for

• What do consulates in Australia legalise?
• What if I got the wrong certificate type?
• How does the Hague Apostille Convention work?
• What if the embassy rejects my document?
• How do I apostille documents for the Philippines?

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