Apostille or Embassy Legalisation: What Thailand Requires

Last reviewed: 26 September 2026. Thailand is part-way through joining the Apostille Convention, so this page will go out of date on a known date. Nothing on it replaces confirming the position with the Thai body that will receive your document.

Thailand is in between systems. It has joined the Apostille Convention, but the Convention does not yet apply to it. Until it does, Australian documents for Thailand still go through the older chain, and the Thai missions in Australia say plainly that they do not accept apostilles. Getting an apostille too early is the mistake this page is written to prevent.

Check the current position before acting on this or any other page. On the HCCH status table as we read it, Thailand deposited its instrument of accession on 30 June 2026, with entry into force for Thailand shown as 28 February 2027. Existing parties can object to an accession, and an objection stops the Convention applying between those two countries. Confirm the date, and check the table for any objection involving Australia, on the day you start.

Before the Convention applies: the legalisation chain

For a document to be used in Thailand before the Convention takes effect:

1. Notarise in Australia, if it is a private document such as a power of attorney, an affidavit or a copy of a degree
2. DFAT authentication, not an apostille
3. Legalisation at the Royal Thai Embassy in Canberra or the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Sydney
4. Thai translation, and in some cases authentication of the translation in Thailand

The Royal Thai Embassy's page states that documents issued by Australian government agencies must first be authenticated by DFAT, and that private documents must first be certified by a notary public and then authenticated by DFAT. It also says, in terms, that the embassy does not accept apostille. The Consulate-General in Sydney likewise asks for DFAT authentication first.

Registry certificates, court documents and similar public documents may go to DFAT directly, without a notary. Confirm with DFAT.

After the Convention applies

Once the Convention is in force between Australia and Thailand, the usual chain should become:

1. Notarise in Australia, for a private document
2. DFAT apostille
3. Thai translation, as the receiving body requires

Two questions are worth asking the Thai receiving body before committing money either way:

• If you need the document before the Convention applies, use the legalisation chain. An apostille issued now is not accepted by the Thai missions, and we have not found official guidance saying Thai authorities will treat it as valid later.
• If you legalise now and use the document after the change, ask whether a document legalised under the old chain will still be accepted. We have not found a Thai statement on this either. Do not assume.

Receiving offices, not the Convention, decide what they will take, and practice often lags the treaty date.

Marrying in Thailand: no Australian notary needed

This is where many Australians spend money they did not need to. Thai district offices (amphur) ask a foreign national for proof of freedom to marry. The Australian Embassy in Bangkok's instructions say:

• The certificate must be obtained in Thailand. Thai authorities only accept a Certificate of No Impediment to Marriage issued by the Australian Embassy in Bangkok or the Consulate-General in Phuket, and only for Australians who entered Thailand on their Australian passport.
• An Australian single status certificate is not enough. The embassy states that Thai authorities will not accept just a single status certificate from an Australian births, deaths and marriages registry.
• It has a short life. The embassy says Thai authorities accept the certificate up to three months after issue.
• After issue, the certificate is translated into Thai by a private translation agency, authenticated by the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Department of Consular Affairs, and taken to an amphur to register the marriage.

If either of you has been married before, take the original divorce certificate or former spouse's death certificate to the embassy appointment. None of this requires a notary in Australia. What it does require is the original documents in Thailand, so bring them rather than copies.

Already in Thailand?

The Australian Embassy in Bangkok can authenticate or apostille original Australian public documents, such as registry certificates, while you are in Thailand. Its notarial services are limited, though: it states that it provides them only for documents that are Australian in origin or intended for use in Australia, and lists things it will not do, including Thai visa matters and Thai bank account verification. A private document to be signed for use in Thailand is not something to bring to the embassy.

Translation

Expect Thai receiving bodies to want a Thai translation. For civil registration, the embassy's marriage instructions show the translation itself being authenticated by the Department of Consular Affairs in Thailand. Ask the receiving body:

• Will you accept a translation made in Australia, or must it be made in Thailand?
• Must the translation be authenticated by the Department of Consular Affairs?
• Must the notarial certificate and the DFAT certificate be translated too?

Frequently asked questions

Can I get an apostille for Thailand now? Not usefully, until the Convention applies. The Royal Thai Embassy says it does not accept apostilles. Ask DFAT for authentication and then legalise at a Thai mission.

Does a Justice of the Peace certification work for Thailand? No. A JP certification cannot be authenticated by DFAT for overseas use. Private documents need a notary.

How long does it take? It depends on DFAT, the Thai mission and, for translations, the office in Thailand. Do not plan to a figure quoted on a blog, including this one.