What to Do When You Need Multiple Certified Copies

When you need several certified copies of one document, count receivers, not documents, and have every copy made at one appointment while you still hold the original. A photocopy of a certified copy is not certified. Each copy going overseas usually needs its own DFAT apostille, so a spare original is sometimes simpler.

Key takeaways

• Ask each receiver whether it keeps the copy or only sights it and hands it back. Only keepers need their own.
• Photocopying a certified copy gives you an uncertified photocopy. Go back to the original.
• DFAT issues an apostille per document. Five notarised copies for five countries means five apostilles.
• Australian receivers usually accept a copy certified by an authorised person. Pay for notarial copies only where they are needed.
• If the original is about to leave your hands, certify every foreseeable copy first, plus a spare.

Why is counting copies worth the effort?

Needing several certified copies of one document sounds like a counting problem. It becomes an expensive one when the count is wrong, the copies are the wrong kind, or the original is gone by the time you realise you needed one more.

Each certified copy is a separate comparison against the original, and often a separate notarial act. When the copies go overseas, each one usually needs its own apostille or authentication too. So the aim is to work out, before the appointment, exactly how many of each kind you need. Then have every one made while you still hold the original.

How do you count what you need?

1. List every receiver: each university, board, employer, bank, consulate or registry.
2. Mark each as Australian or overseas. That decides whether a notary is needed.
3. Ask whether it keeps or sights. A receiver that sights and returns does not need its own copy.
4. Ask whether a scan will do. One certified copy may then cover several online lodgements.
5. Ask whether it wants an apostille, and for which country.
6. Add one spare, then book a single appointment with the whole list.

That list is your order. Give it to the notary when you book, so the copies can be prepared in one visit.

What if several receivers each want to keep a copy?

A university, a registration board and an employer may each want a certified copy they can file. Count receivers, not documents, and add a spare. Have all the copies certified at one appointment against the same original.

Before you finalise the count, ask each receiver whether it keeps the copy or only sights it and hands it back. A receiver that sights and returns does not need its own. Many banks and some registries work this way.

Can you photocopy a certified copy instead?

No. This is the most common mistake. A photocopy of a certified copy is an uncertified photocopy. Some certifiers will certify a copy of a certified copy, with wording that says exactly what they compared. Receivers rarely accept it, and DFAT will not treat it as a notarised copy of the original.

Go back to the original. If you no longer have it, order a fresh one from the issuer. See originals and copies, and, for when the original cannot be produced, what to do when the original is unavailable.

Does every copy need its own apostille?

Usually, yes. DFAT issues an apostille or authentication per document. Five notarised copies for five overseas receivers means five apostilles, each with its own DFAT fee.

First confirm with each receiver that it needs its own authenticated copy, rather than sight of one. Then consider two alternatives:

• Extra originals. Registries, universities and some other issuers will issue additional originals. Many Australian public documents can be authenticated by DFAT directly, without a notary. Where that applies, several fresh originals can be simpler than several notarised copies. Check DFAT's page of documents it can legalise.
• Binding several documents as one. A notary can sometimes bind a set of documents into a single instrument under one certificate. Ask the notary, and DFAT, whether that set will be treated as one document for authentication. This helps only when one receiver takes the whole set. Bound documents cannot be separated, so it is the wrong approach when each document goes somewhere different.

An apostille confirms the notary's signature and seal, not the document's contents. Each one is fixed to the copy it is attached to. See apostille and authentication.

What if some receivers are in Australia and some overseas?

Split the order. Australian receivers usually accept a copy certified by an authorised person. For the Department of Home Affairs, for example, a copy certified by an authorised person is usually enough, and a Justice of the Peace does it free. Pay for notarial copies only for the receivers that need them.

A notarial copy works for an Australian receiver too, but you do not need to buy one for each. A JP copy, on the other hand, will not work overseas. It is not recognised abroad, and DFAT cannot apostille it. See certified true copies by a notary.

What if the original is about to leave your hands?

You may have to lodge the original with an authority, return it to its issuer, or send it overseas. Once it goes, nobody can certify a copy from it.

Before it leaves, have every copy you can foresee needing certified, plus a spare. Keep a certified copy for your own records. This is the one situation where over-ordering is clearly cheaper than under-ordering.

What about long documents?

A thirty-page transcript or a contract with schedules is one document. The receiver will expect the certified copy to be complete. Ask for each document to be certified as a complete copy rather than page by page. A notary usually binds the pages with the certificate. Domestic certifiers commonly initial or number each page.

Do not separate the pages afterwards. A bound notarial copy that has been taken apart is spoiled. If a receiver wants only some pages, ask for an extract certified as an extract, so nobody later mistakes it for the whole.

Will a scan do?

A scan of a certified copy is only a scan. Some receivers, especially for Australian online applications, accept scans of originals or of certified copies anyway. Others require the paper copy by post.

Ask each receiver whether a scan will do. If it will, one certified copy may cover several online submissions. If a receiver wants an electronically certified copy, ask exactly what form it accepts before commissioning one. See online certified copies.

What if you need another copy months later?

If you still hold the original, book another certification. Nothing has been lost but a second appointment. If the receiver imposes an age limit on certifications, or on the underlying document, check it before reusing an older spare. Some overseas receivers want copies certified recently.

What does the notary need at the appointment?

Bring the original, your list of receivers, and original photo identification. Tell the notary which copies are for which country, because the certificate wording and the DFAT step can differ. If a receiving authority has asked for particular wording, such as a statement that the copy is complete, bring its instructions in writing.

The notary compares each copy with the original, prepares a certificate for each, and records every act in the notarial register. Preparing ten copies of one document at one sitting is routine. Returning ten times is not.

What if the document also needs translating?

A translation multiplies the count. If three overseas receivers each keep a certified copy and each needs a translation, you may need three certified translations as well as three certified copies. Ask each receiver whether it wants the translation bound to the copy, and whether the apostille must be translated too.

A NAATI-certified translator can usually supply several signed originals of the same translation. That is simpler than certifying copies of one translation. The receiver decides whose translation it accepts. See NAATI translation with a notary.

Which situation calls for what?

Situation	What to do
Several receivers keep copies	One copy per keeping receiver, plus a spare, at one appointment
Planned to photocopy a certified copy	Back to the original; photocopies are uncertified
Every copy needs an apostille	Confirm the need per receiver; consider extra originals
One receiver takes a set	Ask the notary about binding them as one instrument
Mixed Australian and overseas receivers	Authorised person copies at home, notarial only for overseas
Original about to be surrendered	Certify every foreseeable copy first
Long document	Certify it complete and bound; never unbind
Scans acceptable	One certified copy may serve several online lodgements

Here is an illustration, not a real case

A physiotherapist in Brisbane is moving to Ireland. Her degree must go to the Irish regulator, an employer and a university for further study. The employer only sights it; the other two keep copies. She also needs one for her Australian registration file. She orders two notarised copies, one spare, and one JP copy for the Australian file, all in one week.

In short

Count receivers, not documents. Strike out those that only sight a copy. Certify every copy from the original, at one appointment, plus a spare. Use authorised person copies for Australian receivers and notarial copies only for overseas ones. Before an original leaves you, certify everything you can foresee. More on the notary's role is at document notarisation.

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Need several copies for different receivers? Send us your list of receivers, and we will explain each step before you book.