Documents You Need Notarised When Claiming a Foreign Pension

People who worked in another country before settling in Australia often have a pension waiting there: a state pension, an occupational scheme from a former employer, or a survivor's pension after a spouse's death. Claiming it from here involves two quite different paperwork jobs — the claim itself, once, and proving you are still alive, every year for as long as it is paid.

Neither always needs a notary. Here is how to tell.

First question: 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, which passes it to the foreign agency. In that route the paperwork travels between two government agencies, and the foreign agency may accept documents Services Australia has seen, rather than anything notarised by you.

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, and it sets its own rules.

The claim: what the payer usually wants

Expect some combination of:

• 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

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.
• A list of acceptable certifiers — doctors, lawyers, police officers, bank officials — often means you can use someone on the list at no cost. 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. It is cheaper than guessing.

Documents from each country go different ways

Your Australian birth or marriage certificate, if the payer wants it authenticated, may be apostilled by DFAT directly without a notary; confirm with DFAT. A certified copy of your passport, or a declaration you sign, needs a notary first so that DFAT has an Australian official's signature to authenticate.

Documents issued in the paying country — your old employment record, a foreign marriage certificate — are that country's own documents. An Australian notary cannot vouch for them, and the payer does not usually need them authenticated at all.

Names across decades

A pension claim can reach back forty years. The name on your old contribution record may be a maiden name, a spelling from before you anglicised it, or a transliteration from another script. The payer will match records by name and date of birth, and a mismatch can hold a claim for months.

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 and can be done at the same appointment as your certified copies.

Every year after: the life certificate

This is the part people do not expect. Most foreign pension payers require a life certificate — sometimes called a certificate of existence or proof of life — at regular intervals, often once a year. 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 among them.
• 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, this is a short appointment: you attend with photo identification, sign or confirm the form in front of the notary, and the notary completes the witness section. It usually does not need an apostille, because the payer is simply confirming that a qualified person saw you alive — but check the form.

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

Tax, briefly

A foreign pension may be taxable in Australia, in the paying country, or both, and 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.

Frequently asked questions

My pension fund wants a "notarised copy" of my passport. Can the post office do it? Not if the payer means a notary. Australia Post and many other bodies can certify copies for Australian purposes, but that is not a notarial certificate. Ask the payer whether an Australian authorised certifier is acceptable.

Can my adult child sign the life certificate for me? No. It confirms that you personally were seen alive by the witness. If you cannot attend a witness, contact the payer about alternatives.

I have moved state. Does that change anything? Not for the payer. Update your address with it before the next life certificate is due.