Notarising Immigration Documents for a New Zealand Visa Application from Australia

Last reviewed: 26 September 2026. Immigration New Zealand (INZ) changes its requirements by circular, sometimes several times a year. INZ's current guidance for your visa is the only reliable source.

Whether you need anything from a notary for New Zealand depends first on which passport or visa you hold in Australia. Australian citizens need no visa at all. Australian permanent residents get one on arrival. Everyone else applies to INZ like any other applicant, and even then INZ rarely asks for a notarised document. What it does care about is translations, police certificates and recency.

Australian citizens: nothing to prepare

INZ grants Australian citizens an Australian Resident Visa when they arrive in New Zealand. It is applied for on arrival, not in advance. Australian citizens do not need an electronic travel authority (NZeTA) either. There is no visa application, so there are no documents to certify.

Australian permanent residents: an NZeTA and the right visa

Holders of Australian permanent residence can also be granted a resident visa on arrival, but INZ sets two conditions:

• you must hold an NZeTA before you travel
• you must hold a current Australian permanent visa or resident return visa

Check that your Australian visa's travel facility has not expired before you book. INZ is looking at your Australian visa status, not at notarised documents.

Everyone else living in Australia

If you are in Australia on a temporary visa, or you are a permanent resident whose return visa has lapsed, you apply for a New Zealand visa in the usual way. The points below are about those applications.

Copies and certified copies

INZ's guidance on identity documents asks for an original or certified copy of a full birth certificate, meaning one that shows your full name, date and place of birth, and your parents' names. An Australian registry birth certificate meets that description; a commemorative certificate may not, because some versions leave out parents' details.

For online applications, INZ generally works from clear scans, and may ask for an original or a certified copy if it needs one. INZ's guidance has described an acceptable certifier as a person authorised by law to certify documents in your home country or in New Zealand, and has given examples including a Justice of the Peace, a notary public, a lawyer or a court official. So, unusually for an overseas authority, INZ may accept a copy certified by an Australian JP. Check INZ's current wording for your application before paying a notary for something a free JP can do.

Translations

This is where INZ is most specific:

• Residence visas: every document not in English needs a certified translation.
• Other visas: police certificates and medical certificates not in English always need a certified translation.
• Visitor visas: since May 2025, translations of supporting documents no longer need to be certified, but they must give the translator's full name, address, phone number and qualifications.

INZ does not accept translations by the applicant, a family member or an immigration adviser. A certified translation must be accompanied by the original document or a certified copy, unless legible copies are acceptable. INZ lists translation businesses and embassies among acceptable sources.

For an Australian resident, translation usually comes up only for documents from another country, such as a birth certificate from the country you were born in.

Police certificates

INZ asks applicants aged 17 and over for police certificates in a range of situations, including stays of 24 months or more. Each certificate must be less than six months old when you apply, and INZ may ask for a new one if it becomes a year old during processing.

For time spent in Australia, that means an Australian Federal Police certificate. INZ's guidance lets you look up the requirements for each country. Use it to confirm which AFP certificate INZ wants before ordering, and order it close to lodging so the six months does not run out.

No INZ page we reviewed asks for a police certificate to be notarised or apostilled.

Apostilles

New Zealand is a party to the Apostille Convention; confirm its status against the HCCH status table on the day. For INZ applications, though, an apostille is not part of the standard process. It matters more for New Zealand courts, property transactions and companies, which are covered on the separate page on what New Zealand requires.

Where an Australian notary might still fit

• A certified copy, where INZ asks for one and you prefer a notary, or where a certifier authorised in Australia is needed and no JP is available
• A statutory declaration or affidavit, if INZ asks for a sworn statement
• Witnessing a translator's declaration, if the translator is asked to swear to the translation

Frequently asked questions

I am an Australian citizen moving to New Zealand. What do I need notarised? Nothing for immigration. You receive a resident visa on arrival.

I am an Australian permanent resident. Do I need to apply for a visa? Not in advance, if you hold a current Australian permanent visa or resident return visa. You do need an NZeTA before travelling.

Will INZ accept copies certified by a Justice of the Peace? INZ's guidance has listed a JP among acceptable certifiers. Check the current wording for your application.

Does my AFP police certificate need an apostille for INZ? Not according to the INZ guidance we reviewed. It must be less than six months old when you apply.