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. A notary matters more the other way, when you sign a Greek power of attorney here for property or an inheritance, usually with a DFAT apostille.

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.
• Greek names include a father's name, and a woman's surname is in a different grammatical form from a man's. Expect questions and link the versions.
• Greece and Australia are both Apostille Convention parties. Check the HCCH status table for the current position.
• A Greek power of attorney can be made at a Greek consulate or before an Australian notary with an apostille, and often needs an official Greek translation.

Do Greek documents need to be notarised in Australia?

Usually not. An Australian notary can certify that a copy matches a Greek document they have sighted, but 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 colour scans of the originals, English translations, and sometimes certified copies. A Justice of the Peace or another authorised person can usually certify those copies for free. Start with the Home Affairs document checklist for your visa stream, and our notary or JP guide explains who can certify what.

If an Australian body does want Greek authentication, an apostille from the Greek authorities is the normal form, since both countries are parties to the Hague Apostille Convention. That is rarely needed. Check the HCCH status table for the current position, and order one only when asked.

Registry office or municipal register: which Greek record do you need?

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 comes from here, 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, which lists the family members and their relationships.

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

Which Greek documents do people most often need?

Greek Australians and their families have used the same documents for generations. The table shows who issues each and where it is used.

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	Police certificate for visas
Divorce decision	The Greek court, recorded in the registry	Proving an earlier marriage ended

Why do Greek names cause mismatches?

Greek names follow rules that Australian forms do not expect. Greek documents usually record a father's name as well as a given name and surname, so a person may appear as Nikolaos, son of Georgios, Papadopoulos. And Greek surnames change form by gender: a woman's surname is normally in the genitive form of the family name, so the same 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, and ask your translator to render names consistently, with a note where the Greek form differs.

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. When the translation is made in Australia, use a NAATI-credentialled Greek translator. Home Affairs accepts translations made outside Australia only if they show the translator's full name, address and credentials. Our NAATI translation guide explains what a certified translation must include.

The reverse direction has its own rules. Australian documents going to Greece often need a Greek translation that Greek authorities accept, which may mean a translation made or certified in Greece, or by a lawyer or consulate recognised there. Ask the Greek office which translations it accepts before you order one.

What if your births and marriages happened in Australia?

Many Greek Australians hold Greek citizenship, or can claim it through a parent, and want their Australian births and marriages recorded in Greece. For Greek citizens, events that happen abroad are generally registered in Greece through the Greek consulate, which forwards them to a registry office in Greece that handles events abroad.

To register them, the Greek side usually asks for the Australian certificate with an apostille from DFAT and a Greek translation. Once registered, the event appears in Greek records and can be included in a family status certificate. Our guides to registering a birth overseas and sending Australian documents to Greece cover the Australian steps.

What about a Greek criminal record certificate?

When Home Affairs asks for police certificates, it usually wants one from each country where you have lived for a total of 12 months or more in the last ten years since turning 16. For Greece, that is a criminal record certificate from the Greek criminal records service. Depending on the current process, people living in Australia may apply online, through a Greek consulate, or through a representative in Greece. Check the Home Affairs instructions and the current Greek process before you apply.

The certificate needs an English translation. It does not need an Australian notary.

How do you prepare Greek documents for an Australian application?

1. Read the receiving body's checklist and note whether it wants originals, certified copies or colour scans.
2. Order the right record: the registry certificate for the event, and the family status certificate where family links matter.
3. List every version of your name, including the father's name and any gendered surname form.
4. Arrange a NAATI translation of every page, stamp and annotation.
5. Certify copies through a JP or other authorised person if copies are asked for, and keep the originals.

How do you sign a Greek power of attorney in Australia?

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 deal with the Greek tax office. 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: signing at a Greek consulate, which can perform notarial acts, or signing before an Australian notary.

If the document is prepared in both Greek and English, the translation step may be simpler, but ask first. Some Greek offices also want your Greek tax number and identity details written exactly as Greek records show them. Our guides to overseas inheritances and selling overseas property cover the common cases.

What does this look like in practice?

Here is an illustration, not a real case. Eleni lives in Melbourne and has inherited a share of her grandparents' house on a Greek island. Her cousin in Athens is handling the estate.

The Greek lawyer sends a power of attorney in Greek and English and asks for a recent family status certificate showing Eleni's line of descent. Eleni's cousin orders the certificate in Greece. Eleni signs the power of attorney before a notary in Melbourne, DFAT adds the apostille, and she sends it to the lawyer, who arranges the Greek translation of the notary's certificate and the apostille. Her surname appears as Papadopoulou in the Greek records and Papadopoulos in her passport, so the lawyer notes both.

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 Greek power of attorney can be made at a Greek consulate or before an Australian notary with a DFAT apostille and a Greek translation.

People also search for

• Which documents does dual citizenship need?
• How are marriage certificates notarised in Australia?
• How do you complete a proof of life certificate?
• When does a power of attorney need a notary?
• What documents are needed after a death overseas?
• What if the apostille details do not match your passport?

Not sure what your Greek paperwork needs? Send us the instructions you were given, and we will explain each step before you book. For translation with notarial certification, see our NAATI translation with notary certification service.