How to Notarise Greek Documents in Australia

Greek documents are proved in Greece, not by an Australian notary. For Australian use you usually need the Greek registry certificate or family status certificate, an English translation and sometimes a certified copy, which an authorised person can often make. A notary matters more when you sign a Greek power of attorney here for property or an inheritance.

Key takeaways

• Greece keeps two kinds of record: the registry office records births, marriages and deaths, and the municipal register records who belongs to each family.
• A family status certificate from the municipal register is often the easiest way to show family links in one document.
• Greek names include a father's name, and a woman's surname takes a different form from a man's. Expect questions and link the versions.
• DFAT will not apostille a Greek document. Any apostille on a Greek record is issued in Greece.
• Greek citizens in Australia can request some Greek certificates through the Greek consular posts.

Do Greek documents need a notary in Australia?

Usually not. An Australian notary can certify that a copy matches a Greek document they have sighted. They cannot vouch for what a Greek registry records. For Australian uses, what matters is the right Greek certificate and a proper English translation of it.

For a visa, the Department of Home Affairs generally asks for clear colour scans of the originals and English translations. It asks for certified copies only in some cases. When it does, a copy certified by an authorised person is usually enough. Check the document list for your visa on the Home Affairs immigration site, and see our notary or JP guide for who can certify what.

What DFAT cannot do with a Greek document

DFAT issues apostilles and authentication certificates only on Australian public documents and on the signatures of Australian officials, including notaries. It cannot apostille a Greek birth certificate or a Greek degree, even as a notarised copy. DFAT's page on documents it can legalise also says it does not deal with foreign education documents.

If a Greek document needs an apostille, it is issued in Greece. The Convention has been in force for Greece since 18 May 1985, as of our last check of the HCCH status table. Check the table on the day. Australian bodies rarely ask for an apostille on a Greek certificate. The receiving authority decides, so order one only when it asks.

Registry office or municipal register?

Greek civil records sit in two places, and each answers a different question.

• The registry office (lixiarcheio) records events: births, marriages, civil partnerships and deaths. A birth or marriage certificate is drawn from the registered act.
• The municipal register (dimotologio) records people as members of a family in a particular municipality. It produces the family status certificate, listing family members and their relationships.

To prove that a birth or marriage happened, the registry certificate is the direct evidence. To show your parents, spouse or children in a single document, the family status certificate is often simpler. Many Greek and overseas bodies ask for it. Greek registry records are now held electronically, which has made certificates easier to obtain, but check the current process for yours.

Which Greek documents come up most?

Greek document	Issued by	Common Australian use
Birth certificate	The registry office	Visas, citizenship, family claims
Marriage certificate	The registry office	Partner visas, name changes
Family status certificate	The municipality, from the municipal register	Showing family links, estates
Death certificate	The registry office	Estates, superannuation, insurance
Criminal record certificate	The Greek criminal records service	Character checks for visas
Divorce decision	The Greek court, recorded in the registry	Proving an earlier marriage ended

Getting Greek certificates from Australia

Greek citizens in Australia have more than one route. The Greek missions' service page, when we checked, listed services for Greek citizens by in-person appointment or through the MyConsulLive online portal. They included copies of municipal registration certificates, copies or extracts of registry acts, and certificates of residency. Greek citizens with Greek online government credentials may also be able to request some certificates online from Greece.

People who are not Greek citizens, or whose parents' records are needed, often ask a relative or a lawyer in Greece to request them. Whichever route you use, check that the certificate is recent enough for the receiving body. A family status certificate reflects the register on the day it is issued.

Why do Greek names cause mismatches?

Greek names follow rules Australian forms do not expect. Greek documents usually record a father's name as well as a given name and surname. And Greek surnames change form by gender: a woman's surname normally takes the genitive form of the family name. So one family may appear as Papadopoulos for a man and Papadopoulou for a woman.

Romanisation adds another layer. The same Greek name may be spelled differently in a passport, a school record and an old Australian document. None of this is wrong, but it needs linking. Use your passport spelling on every Australian form. Ask your translator to render names consistently, with a note where the Greek form differs. See our guide to mismatched names.

Do Greek documents need a translation?

Yes, when an Australian body relies on them. Everything in Greek needs an English translation, including stamps and annotations. A translation made in Australia should be by a NAATI-credentialled Greek translator. One made in Greece needs the translator's full name, address, telephone number and qualifications for Home Affairs. Our NAATI translation guide explains what a certified translation must show.

The reverse direction has its own rules. Australian documents going to Greece often need an official Greek translation, and Greek law limits who can make one. A NAATI translation is not, by itself, an official Greek translation. Ask the Greek office which translations it accepts before you order. Where a translation needs a notarial certificate here, see our NAATI translation with notary certification service.

Showing a Greek divorce

For a partner visa or a new marriage in Australia, you usually need to show that an earlier marriage ended. A Greek divorce may come from a court decision. In recent years Greek law has also allowed some divorces by consent to be completed through lawyers and a Greek notary instead. Either way, the divorce should be recorded against the marriage in the registry. A current marriage certificate showing that annotation, or the final decision itself, is usually the clearest proof. Give it with a full English translation. Whether an overseas divorce is recognised in Australia is a legal question, so ask a lawyer.

A Greek criminal record certificate

Home Affairs usually asks for a police certificate from each country where you have lived for a total of 12 months or more in the last ten years since turning 16. Check the current instructions for your visa. For Greece, that is a criminal record certificate from the Greek criminal records service.

Depending on the current process, people in Australia may apply online with Greek government credentials, through a Greek consular post, or through a representative in Greece. People without Greek online credentials usually use the consular or representative route. Check the current Greek process before you apply. The certificate needs an English translation. No Australian notary is involved.

Australian events for the Greek records

Many Greek Australians hold Greek citizenship, or can claim it through a parent, and want Australian births and marriages recorded in Greece. For Greek citizens, events abroad are generally registered through the Greek consular post, which passes them to the registry office in Greece that handles events abroad. The Greek side usually asks for the Australian certificate with a DFAT apostille and a Greek translation. Once registered, the event can appear on a family status certificate. See our guides to registering a birth overseas and apostilles for Greece.

Signing a Greek power of attorney here

A Greek power of attorney, or plirexousio, is how many Greek Australians let a relative or lawyer sell a family house, accept an inheritance or obtain a Greek tax number. Greek notaries and authorities are particular about its form and language, so get the wording from the Greek lawyer or notary first. There are usually two routes:

1. At a Greek consular post. The consular officer certifies your signature on a Greek act, in person, with identity documents.
2. Before an Australian notary. The notary checks your identity and that you understand the document. DFAT then adds an apostille, and an official Greek translation follows.

Ask your Greek lawyer which route suits the matter; some have a strong view. For validity questions, see a lawyer in Greece or a solicitor here. Our guides to overseas inheritances and selling overseas property cover the common cases, and our power of attorney page covers the notary's part.

Here is an illustration, not a real case

Eleni lives in Melbourne and is applying to sponsor her mother for a parent visa. The checklist asks for evidence of the relationship. Eleni is a Greek citizen, so she requests a family status certificate through the Greek consular post, and it lists her mother and her.

A NAATI Greek translator translates it, noting that her surname is Papadopoulou in the Greek record and Papadopoulos in her Australian passport. She adds her Australian birth certificate, which already shows her mother's name, and uploads colour scans. No notary is needed.

In short

Greek documents are proved in Greece: the registry office for births, marriages and deaths, the municipal register for family status certificates, and the criminal records service for police checks. In Australia you add a NAATI translation, link the Greek forms of your name and certify copies where asked. A notary matters mainly for a plirexousio signed here.

People also search for

• Which documents does dual citizenship need?
• How are marriage certificates notarised in Australia?
• How do I notarise Italian documents in Australia?
• When does a power of attorney need a notary?
• What documents are needed after a death overseas?
• Which documents does a parent visa need certified?

Not sure what your Greek paperwork needs? Send us the instructions you were given, and we will explain each step before you book.