Employer-Sponsored Visa Documents: What Needs a Notary

For an Australian employer-sponsored visa, very few documents need a notary. Home Affairs usually accepts clear copies, or copies certified by an authorised person. Notarisation comes in mainly for overseas company records, which are notarised where the company is registered, and for skills assessing authorities or regulators whose own rules are stricter than Home Affairs'.

Key takeaways

• An employer-sponsored application has two document streams: the sponsoring business's and the nominated worker's. The notarial questions differ on each side.
• Most Australian sponsor evidence needs no notary at all.
• Overseas company records are notarised and legalised in the country of incorporation. An Australian notary cannot vouch for a foreign registry.
• The body most likely to insist on notarised documents is a skills assessing authority or occupational regulator, not Home Affairs. Its rules bind you.
• Employment also creates outbound paperwork, such as documents for a family member's visa abroad, which is where an Australian notary and DFAT come in.

Two streams, two owners

An employer-sponsored application is really two sets of evidence assembled by different people, often in different countries. The sponsoring business proves that it is a lawful, operating business with a genuine position to fill. The nominated worker proves identity, qualifications, experience, character and, where relevant, English and skills. Sorting out which side a document belongs to, and in which country it was issued, answers most of the notarial question.

Before any of it, read what the Department of Home Affairs asks for. Its own guidance on certified copies explains who may certify a copy for a paper application, and online applications usually tell you in the form what to upload and whether certification is needed. For Home Affairs itself, a notary is rarely the requirement. Paying for notarisation that nobody asked for is the most common waste in this stream.

The employer's side

Most sponsor evidence is Australian and needs no notary. Business registration details, financial statements, payroll and tax records, the position description, the employment contract and evidence of lawful operation are generally provided as copies or, where certification is asked for, certified by an authorised person. Confirm the current standard against Home Affairs guidance and any instructions in the application itself rather than assuming.

Notarisation enters on the employer side in two situations.

• An overseas parent or associated entity. Where the relationship between an Australian entity and an offshore one has to be proved, the offshore corporate records, such as the certificate of incorporation, shareholder register, group structure or board resolutions, are commonly notarised and legalised in the country of incorporation. An Australian notary can certify that a copy matches an original shown to them, but cannot attest that a foreign registry issued it, and that is usually not what the decision-maker wants.
• An overseas business with no Australian presence yet. The same chain applies, and it is often on the critical path, because it cannot start until the offshore registry produces a current extract.

If an Australian company document is also needed abroad, for example by the overseas parent, that is the outbound case discussed below. Company records for a foreign registry covers it in more detail.

The worker's side

Identity and civil documents. Passports, birth certificates and marriage certificates are usually uploaded as clear colour copies of the originals, or certified by an authorised person for paper applications. Documents not in English need a translation.

Overseas qualifications and transcripts. Degrees, diplomas and trade certificates issued overseas are sometimes required in notarised and authenticated form, but by whom matters. A skills assessing authority often sets a stricter standard than Home Affairs, and some require documents sent directly by the issuing institution rather than by you. Read that body's published requirements first; they are the binding ones.

Overseas employment references and payslips. Where a former employer is offshore, a reference confirmed by declaration before a notary in that country may carry more weight than a letter on letterhead. Some assessing bodies specify this. Many do not, and paying for it unasked is waste. Reference letters and a notary explains what a notary can and cannot add to a reference.

Occupational registration or licensing. Regulated occupations, including many in health, engineering and the trades, have their own registration bodies with their own document rules. These are the bodies most likely to genuinely require notarisation, and they are not Home Affairs.

Overseas police certificates. These come through each country's own process. Some countries issue a certificate that already carries official authentication; others do not. Do not notarise one in Australia without being asked. An Australian police check, if required, is obtained from the Australian Federal Police and uploaded as issued.

Documents going the other way

The direction reverses more often in employer-sponsored work than in most visa streams, because employment generates outbound paperwork.

• An Australian employment letter or contract needed for a family member's visa, or a bank or tax matter, in another country.
• Australian company documents for an overseas branch, subsidiary, tender or bank account.
• A secondment from Australia that needs an Australian work history, a qualification copy or a police check for a foreign work permit.

These are notarised in Australia where they are private documents, then taken to DFAT. An apostille is the certificate DFAT issues for countries in the Hague Apostille Convention, confirming the notary's signature and seal. For other countries, DFAT issues an authentication certificate and the destination's embassy or consulate legalises it. Check the destination on the HCCH status table on the day. Document notarisation and apostille and authentication cover the two steps.

Translation

Documents not in English need an English translation. For Australian immigration purposes, a translation made in Australia should be by a NAATI-credentialled translator. A translation made overseas generally needs the translator's full name, address, telephone number and details of their qualifications and experience. Skills assessing authorities and regulators may set their own rules on top.

A notary does not translate. A notary can witness a translator's declaration and bind the translation to the original, which regulators and overseas authorities sometimes want and Home Affairs usually does not require. See NAATI translation with a notary.

The order to do things in

For an overseas qualification or reference that a skills body wants authenticated:

1. Confirm the receiving body's standard: the assessing authority or regulator, not only Home Affairs.
2. Obtain the original, or an institution-issued certified copy, or arrange for the institution to send it directly if that is required.
3. Notarise in the issuing country, if notarisation is asked for.
4. Authenticate or apostille in that country, if asked for.
5. Translate, checking whether the body wants the translation before or after authentication.

For an Australian document heading overseas, the order is: obtain the original, notarise it here if it is a private document, take it to DFAT, then to the embassy if needed, and translate if required. Plan backwards from the intended start date, and start the assessing authority's or regulator's step first, because it usually cannot begin until the documents are complete.

Document	Usually needs a notary?	Where
Australian sponsor records for Home Affairs	No	Copies, or authorised person certification
Overseas parent company records	Often	In the country of incorporation
Worker's overseas degree for a skills body	If the body asks	In the issuing country, or sent by the institution
Worker's passport and civil documents	Rarely	Clear copies, translations if needed
Australian documents for use abroad	Usually, if private documents	A notary in Australia, then DFAT

Common mistakes

• Notarising everything "to be safe". It costs money and time, and Home Affairs does not give a notarised copy more weight than the copy it asked for.
• Using an Australian notary for a foreign company's records. The decision-maker wants the chain from the country of incorporation, not a copy certified here.
• Following Home Affairs' rules for a skills body. The skills assessing authority's own instructions govern what it receives, and they are often stricter.
• Sending a JP copy overseas. A copy certified by a Justice of the Peace is fine for many Australian purposes but is not accepted abroad and cannot be apostilled.
• Leaving the regulator until last. Registration or assessment usually cannot start until the documents are complete, so it should be started first.

Here is an illustration, not a real case

An engineering firm in Newcastle sponsors a worker from overseas. The firm's own evidence goes to Home Affairs as copies; no notary is involved. Because the firm is a subsidiary of an overseas group, the group's registration documents are notarised and apostilled in the country where the parent is registered and sent to the firm's migration agent. The worker's skills assessment body wants her degree and transcript verified, and her university sends them directly. Her birth certificate is uploaded as a colour copy with a NAATI translation made in Australia. Separately, the firm's managing director needs a notarised copy of an ASIC extract for a tender abroad; that is the only document an Australian notary touches.

In short

For Home Affairs, notarisation is rarely required; clear copies or an authorised person's certification usually do. Overseas company records are notarised where the company is registered. The strictest rules usually come from skills assessing authorities and regulators, so read theirs first. An Australian notary is mostly needed for Australian documents going abroad. For the wider picture, see skilled migration visa documents.

People also search for

• What documents does a skilled migration visa need?
• Do I need a notary for a work visa?
• What documents does a partner visa need?
• How are company records prepared for a foreign registry?
• How are overseas documents notarised for Australia?
• When does immigration need a notary?

Not sure which of your sponsorship documents need a notary? Send us the document list you were given, and we will explain each step before you book.