Documents You Need Notarised When Claiming a Foreign Pension

Claiming a foreign pension from Australia does not always need a notary. It involves two paperwork jobs: the claim itself, done once, and proving you are alive, often every year. The payer's own wording decides whether a notary is needed for either. Where a social security agreement covers the pension, government agencies may handle much of it.

Key takeaways

• Check first whether Australia has a social security agreement with the paying country, and whether it covers your pension.
• Agreements usually cover state pensions. A former employer's scheme or a private fund normally sets its own rules.
• Read the certification sentence on the claim form. "Certified by a notary" means a notary; a list of certifiers may mean you do not need one.
• Your Australian birth or marriage certificate can usually go to DFAT directly if the payer wants an apostille.
• The life certificate recurs. Read the witness rules on each form, because payers change them.

Does Australia have an agreement with that country?

Australia has social security agreements with a number of countries. Where one covers the pension you are claiming, you may be able to lodge the claim through Services Australia. It passes the claim to the foreign agency. The paperwork then travels between two government agencies. The foreign agency may accept documents Services Australia has seen, rather than anything you have had notarised.

Check Services Australia's current list of agreement countries and ask whether your pension is covered. These agreements usually deal with state pensions. A pension from a former employer's fund, or a private scheme, is normally outside them, even when the country has an agreement.

If there is no agreement, or the pension is occupational or private, you deal with the payer directly. It sets its own rules, and those rules decide what you need.

What does the payer usually want with the claim?

Expect some combination of the following:

• the payer's own claim form, signed by you;
• proof of identity, usually a copy of your passport;
• your birth certificate;
• your marriage certificate and, for a survivor's pension, your spouse's death certificate;
• evidence of your address and your bank account;
• anything linking your current name to the name on old employment records.

How do you read the certification wording?

The payer's instructions will say how copies must be certified. Read that sentence closely, because it decides whether you need a notary.

• "Certified by a notary", or a requirement for an apostille, means a notary public.
• A list of acceptable certifiers, such as doctors, lawyers, police officers or bank officials, often means you can use someone on the list. A Justice of the Peace may or may not be on it. If the list does not include one, do not assume.
• "Certified by our embassy" means the payer's own consulate in Australia, not an Australian notary.

If the wording is vague, email the payer and ask. Name the document and the certifier you plan to use. A written answer is cheaper than guessing, and it helps if a later officer queries the file.

Where do Australian and foreign documents go?

Your Australian birth or marriage certificate may need authenticating if the payer asks. A registry certificate can usually be apostilled by DFAT directly, without a notary. DFAT's page on documents it can legalise lists them. Laminated certificates are refused, so order a fresh one if yours is laminated.

A certified copy of your passport, or a declaration you sign, is different. It needs a notary first. That gives DFAT an Australian official's signature to authenticate. If the paying country is a Hague member, DFAT issues an apostille; check the HCCH status table on the day. If it is not, DFAT authenticates and the country's embassy legalises.

Documents issued in the paying country, such as an old employment record or a foreign marriage certificate, are that country's own documents. An Australian notary cannot vouch for them. The payer does not usually need them authenticated, because it can check its own records.

What happens when your name has changed over the decades?

A pension claim can reach back a long way. The name on your old contribution record may be a maiden name. It may be a spelling from before you anglicised it, or a transliteration from another script. The payer matches records by name and date of birth, and a mismatch can hold up a claim.

Deal with it in the claim bundle. A marriage certificate or change-of-name certificate may be enough. Where it is not, a sworn declaration that both names refer to you is a notarial act. It can be done at the same appointment as your certified copies. See what to do about name mismatches.

If the declaration is in another language, the notary must be satisfied you understand what you sign. See notarising a foreign-language document.

What is the yearly life certificate?

This is the part people do not expect. Most foreign pension payers require a life certificate at regular intervals, often once a year. It is sometimes called a certificate of existence or proof of life. Miss it and payments are usually suspended until it arrives.

The payer sends the form, and the form says who may sign it as a witness. Read it every time rather than assuming, because payers change their rules:

• Many accept a range of local witnesses, and a notary is simply one option.
• Some specify a notary, or their own consulate.
• Some now offer verification by app or video, which removes the witness altogether.

If a notary is required, the appointment is usually short. You attend with original photo identification and sign or confirm the form in front of the notary. The notary completes the witness section. It usually does not need an apostille, but check the form. See proof of life certificates in Australia.

Who decides what the payer accepts?

The payer does. It is the receiving authority, applying its own country's pension law and its own fraud rules. Australian law does not decide whether a foreign fund accepts an Australian notary, a JP or a statutory declaration. That is why two people claiming from different funds in the same country can get different instructions.

When the instructions are unclear, ask the payer in writing. Name the document, the certifier you plan to use, and whether it wants the original or a copy. Keep the reply with your file. If a later officer queries your claim, the reply shows you followed what you were told.

If the payer sends a form in its own language, ask for an English version or explanation before you sign. A notary witnessing your signature must be satisfied you understand what you are signing, and may decline if you cannot.

How does a notary witness a life certificate?

1. Bring the payer's form, unsigned, with your reference number filled in.
2. Bring original photo identification, such as a passport or driver licence.
3. Sign in front of the notary, who checks your identity against the identification.
4. The notary completes the witness section and adds a seal if the form asks for one.
5. Return it by the payer's deadline, by the method it specifies, and keep a copy.

Diarise the next due date. If you will be travelling then, ask the payer whether it can be completed early, or wherever you will be.

Which documents might need a notary?

Document	Who usually deals with it	Notary needed?
Claim form	You, as the payer instructs	Only if it must be witnessed by a notary
Passport copy	A certifier the payer accepts	Only if the payer names a notary
Birth or marriage certificate	DFAT, if an apostille is asked	Usually not
Name declaration	A notary, when sworn	Yes, if the payer wants it sworn
Life certificate	A witness the form lists	Only if the form requires one

What about tax on a foreign pension?

A foreign pension may be taxable in Australia, in the paying country, or both. A tax treaty may decide which. The payer may ask for evidence that you are an Australian tax resident, to reduce the tax it withholds. That evidence comes from the Australian Taxation Office, not a notary. Speak to a tax adviser before you finalise the claim.

What if you cannot attend in person?

A life certificate confirms that you personally were seen by the witness. Nobody can sign it for you, including an adult child or an attorney. If illness or frailty stops you attending, contact the payer early. Some accept a doctor's statement or a video check instead.

Whether a notary can attend a hospital or aged care home depends on the notary. Ask directly, and do not assume it is available. Where someone holds a power of attorney for you, ask the payer whether it recognises an Australian power of attorney before relying on it. On whether that power is effective overseas, see a solicitor.

Here is an illustration, not a real case

A retired nurse in Hobart worked for twelve years in Germany before migrating. Her state pension claim goes through Services Australia under the agreement. The claim form arrives in her maiden name. She adds her Australian marriage certificate, and no notary is needed. Her former employer's occupational scheme is separate. It wants a certified passport copy and a yearly life certificate, both witnessed by a notary, with no apostille.

In short

Check the agreement route first, then read the payer's certification wording word by word. Australian registry certificates usually go to DFAT without a notary. Diarise the life certificate and read its witness rules each year. More on what a notary does is at document notarisation.

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Claiming a pension from overseas? Send us the payer's instructions, and we will explain each step before you book.