How to Notarise a Marriage Certificate in Australia

People usually need an Australian marriage certificate accepted overseas for one of a handful of reasons: registering the marriage in a spouse's home country, applying for a spouse visa or residence abroad, renewing a foreign passport in a married name, or claiming a pension or estate entitlement as a husband or wife. In each case a foreign official is deciding whether to rely on a document issued by an Australian state registry.

This page covers which certificate you need, whether a notary is involved at all, how certified copies and apostilles work for this document, and what to budget.

First, make sure you have the right certificate

Most couples leave their wedding with a certificate signed by the celebrant, the couple and the witnesses. It looks official and it is a genuine record of the ceremony, but it is not the certificate an overseas authority wants.

The legal record is the marriage certificate issued by the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages in the state or territory where you married, after the celebrant lodges the paperwork. That is the document DFAT and foreign registries recognise, and it is the one a notary should be shown.

If you only have the ceremonial certificate, order the registry certificate before doing anything else. Some registries also sell decorative or commemorative versions; like the ceremonial certificate, these are not legal documents.

If you married overseas, no Australian registry holds your marriage. The foreign certificate is authenticated in the country that issued it. Our page on getting married overseas covers that case.

You may not need a notary at all

A registry-issued marriage certificate is a public document bearing the registrar's signature. In many cases DFAT can apostille or authenticate the original directly, with no notary involved. Confirm with DFAT before relying on this for your certificate.

So there are two routes:

• Original to DFAT. DFAT authenticates the registrar's signature and the original travels overseas.
• Certified copy by a notary. A notary certifies a copy, DFAT authenticates the notary's signature, and the copy travels while the original stays with you.

The first route is usually cheaper. The second makes sense when you need to keep the original, when several authorities each want their own set, or when the receiving authority has asked specifically for a notarised copy. Ask the authority which it accepts before you book anything. Often the simplest answer is to order a second original from the registry.

How to have it notarised

A notary does not certify that you are married. Only the registry can do that. What the notary can do with a marriage certificate is:

• certify a true copy, after sighting the registry-issued original; or
• witness your signature on a related document, most often a declaration linking your names or confirming the marriage still subsists.

That second point comes up more than people expect. A marriage certificate proves that a marriage took place on a date. It does not prove the marriage is still in existence, and some authorities, particularly for pensions and spouse visas, ask for a sworn statement that you have not since divorced or separated. That statement is signed before the notary, who administers the oath or affirmation.

At the appointment, bring the original certificate and current photo identification, ideally a passport. The notary sights the original, checks your identity, prepares the notarial certificate and binds it to the copy, and records the act in their register. Do not unbind it afterwards.

Names: the most common problem

An Australian marriage certificate records each person's name at the time of the marriage. Many people then use a married name in Australia simply by showing the certificate to each agency, without a formal change of name. That works domestically, but it can leave a foreign authority looking at a passport in one name, a birth certificate in another and a marriage certificate that links them only by inference.

If your names differ across your documents, or a transliteration from another script has been spelled differently on each, raise it with the notary. A notarised declaration explaining the link, prepared at the same appointment, is far cheaper than a rejection. Some countries also expect a name change to be recorded in their own civil register before they will issue a passport in the new name; ask whether yours does.

Getting it apostilled or legalised

Whichever route you take, the document needs authentication by DFAT before most foreign authorities accept it. Only DFAT issues apostilles in Australia; a notary cannot.

• If the destination is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, DFAT issues an apostille. Membership changes, so check the HCCH status table on the day.
• If it is not, DFAT authenticates the document and it then goes to that country's embassy or consulate in Australia for legalisation, each of which sets its own requirements.

The apostille confirms the signature and seal on the document, not the facts in it. It also does not oblige the receiving country to register a marriage its own law does not recognise. Same-sex marriages, and marriages where one party was previously married under a system the other country does not accept, are examples where recognition is decided abroad. Check before you pay for authentication.

Translation is a separate question. The receiving authority decides whose translation it accepts; some insist on their own sworn translators. Ask before commissioning one here.

What it costs

Notarial fees are not set by statute and vary between practitioners. As a market estimate only:

• certified copy of a marriage certificate: roughly $80–$150
• each additional copy at the same appointment: roughly $20–$50
• a declaration signed before the notary: usually a separate fee

On top of that come the registry's fee for a fresh certificate, DFAT's fee per document, any embassy legalisation fee, and translation. Check DFAT's and the registry's current fees directly.

Frequently asked questions

Can a Justice of the Peace certify my marriage certificate for use overseas? No. A JP certification is for use within Australia. It is not recognised abroad and cannot be apostilled.

Our certificate is several years old. Is it still acceptable? The marriage record does not expire, but some foreign authorities want a certificate issued recently. Ask. If they do, order a fresh one from the registry rather than notarising the old one.

Do both spouses need to attend? Not for a certified copy; one person can bring the original. If the authority wants a declaration from each spouse, each signs their own, and you need not attend together.

We are divorced. Why would I still need the marriage certificate? Foreign authorities sometimes want the full chain: the marriage, then its end. Our divorce decree page covers the second half.