How to Notarise New Zealand Documents in Australia

New Zealand documents almost never need an Australian notary for Australian use. They are in English, most Australian bodies accept the original or a certified copy, and an Australian notary cannot vouch for a New Zealand register. A notary becomes useful when you sign New Zealand paperwork in Australia, such as a property, estate or company document.

Key takeaways

• New Zealand birth, marriage and death records come from New Zealand's Births, Deaths and Marriages office. It can also issue a printout showing more of the register entry.
• For Home Affairs and most Australian bodies, a copy certified by an Australian authorised person is usually enough.
• An apostille on a New Zealand document is issued in New Zealand, and is rarely needed for Australian use.
• New Zealand citizens moving to Australia deal with less paperwork than most migrants, but citizenship and some registrations still need documents.
• New Zealand documents signed in Australia follow the New Zealand body's witnessing rules. Ask before you sign.

Do New Zealand documents need to be notarised in Australia?

Usually not. Notarising a New Zealand certificate here would only show that an Australian notary saw it, and Australian bodies seldom ask for that. What they normally want is the original certificate, a colour scan of it, or a copy certified by someone who has sighted the original.

For Australian purposes, a Justice of the Peace or another authorised person can usually make that certified copy for free. Our guide to notaries and JPs explains the difference. A notary is the better choice only when the copy is going overseas, or when the receiving body names a notary.

New Zealand and Australia are both parties to the Hague Apostille Convention, so if a body does want a New Zealand document authenticated, an apostille issued in New Zealand is the normal form. That is rare for Australian uses. Check the HCCH status table for the current position, and order one only if you are asked.

Certificate or printout: which New Zealand record do you need?

New Zealand's Births, Deaths and Marriages office issues certificates, and it can also issue printouts of a register entry. A printout generally shows more of what was recorded than a certificate does. Which one you need depends on what the Australian body is trying to prove.

For most identity and age checks, a birth certificate is enough. Where a family link must be shown, as with a parent visa, a child's application or an estate, check that the record you hold names the people you need to link. If it does not, ask the body whether a printout is acceptable and order it from New Zealand. Older certificates remain valid; there is no need to replace one just because the format has changed.

Which New Zealand documents are used in Australia most often?

The same handful come up again and again: birth and marriage records for family and citizenship applications, a criminal record history for visas and some professional registrations, a dissolution order after a divorce, and degrees and transcripts for work and study. Each is issued by a different New Zealand body, so a mistake in one has to be corrected by that body.

New Zealand document	Issued by	Common Australian use
Birth certificate or printout	Births, Deaths and Marriages	Citizenship, family visas, passports for children
Marriage or civil union record	Births, Deaths and Marriages	Partner visas, name changes
Dissolution order	The New Zealand court that made it	Remarrying, partner visas, estates
Criminal record history	New Zealand's Ministry of Justice	Visas for family members, registrations
Degree and transcript	The university or institute	Employers, skills assessments, study
Death certificate	Births, Deaths and Marriages	Estates, superannuation, insurance

Do New Zealand documents need a translation?

Almost never. New Zealand records are issued in English, and where a document also carries te reo Māori, such as a bilingual heading or a name, the English text is normally enough for an Australian body. If a document, or an attachment to it, is entirely in another language, that part needs an English translation, and for Home Affairs a NAATI-credentialled translator is the safe choice when the translation is made in Australia.

A dissolution order deserves a note of its own. If you divorced in New Zealand and want to remarry in Australia, or need to show a partner visa case officer that an earlier marriage has ended, the dissolution order from the New Zealand court is the document that proves it. A certificate of marriage alone does not, and a statutory declaration is not a substitute where the order itself is asked for.

Do New Zealand citizens need documents to live in Australia?

For entry, very few. New Zealand citizens are generally granted a special category visa when they arrive with a New Zealand passport, without the document checklist other migrants face. Paperwork starts later, at points such as applying for Australian citizenship, sponsoring a partner who is not a New Zealander, or registering in a regulated occupation.

Since July 2023, many New Zealand citizens who have lived in Australia for several years can apply for Australian citizenship directly. The eligibility rules are set by Home Affairs and change from time to time, so read the current requirements on the Home Affairs website before you gather documents. Our citizenship documents guide explains how certified copies work for that application.

For regulated occupations, mutual recognition arrangements between the two countries often let a person registered in New Zealand register for the equivalent occupation in Australia. The registering body will tell you what evidence it wants, which is usually your New Zealand registration rather than a notarised document.

What about a New Zealand criminal record check?

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 New Zealand, that is a criminal record history requested from New Zealand's Ministry of Justice. You apply for it yourself from Australia. It does not need a notary, and an Australian notary cannot add anything to it.

If the New Zealand application asks you to sign a consent form or to prove your identity with certified copies, follow its instructions on who may certify. When the check runs the other way, and a New Zealand body wants your Australian police record, our criminal record check guide covers it.

What if you sign New Zealand documents in Australia?

This is where most people meet a notary. New Zealand lawyers, banks, trustees and companies regularly send documents to people living in Australia, and each one sets its own rules for who may witness a signature or certify identity documents.

• Property and conveyancing. New Zealand transactions are usually completed by a New Zealand lawyer, who will send you an authority form to sign and ask you to prove your identity. Their instructions say who may witness and certify.
• Estates. An executor or beneficiary living in Australia may be asked to sign affidavits or consents for a New Zealand estate. Court documents often need an authorised witness, which in Australia is commonly a notary.
• Enduring powers of attorney. New Zealand has its own forms and strict witnessing rules, and an Australian enduring power of attorney is a different document. Ask a New Zealand lawyer which to use before anything is signed.

Where a New Zealand body asks for a notary, the notary checks your identity and that you understand the document, then witnesses your signature. If an apostille is also requested, DFAT issues it after the notary has signed. Our guide to sending Australian documents to New Zealand covers that step, and selling overseas property covers the common property case.

How do you prepare New Zealand documents for an Australian application?

1. Read the receiving body's checklist and note whether it wants originals, certified copies or colour scans.
2. Check the record names everyone you need to link, and ask about a printout if it does not.
3. Order anything missing from New Zealand, such as a replacement certificate or a criminal record history.
4. Collect the name-change chain if your names differ, including marriage records and any change of name certificate.
5. Certify copies through a JP or other authorised person if copies are asked for, and keep the originals.

What are the common mistakes with New Zealand documents?

Most problems are not about notarising at all. They come from the wrong record, the wrong order of steps or a missing link between names.

What does this look like in practice?

Here is an illustration, not a real case. Aroha grew up in Christchurch and has lived in Perth for years. She is applying for Australian citizenship and, at the same time, acting as executor of her father's estate in New Zealand.

For citizenship she uploads her New Zealand birth certificate and passport as colour scans, as the checklist asks, and has a JP certify copies when she is asked for them. For the estate, the family's New Zealand lawyer sends an affidavit to sign in front of an authorised witness. She takes it to a notary with her passport, because the lawyer's instructions named a notary, and posts it back. No apostille is needed, because the lawyer did not request one.

In short

New Zealand documents are English-language records that Australian bodies usually accept as originals, scans or certified copies, so a notary is rarely needed for Australian use. A notary matters when you sign New Zealand paperwork here and the New Zealand body asks for one, with a DFAT apostille only where it is requested.

People also search for

• Which Australian documents does a New Zealand visa need?
• How do you handle an overseas inheritance from Australia?
• When does a power of attorney need a notary?
• How are marriage certificates notarised in Australia?
• Which documents does an international divorce need?
• Can you get several certified copies at once?

Not sure whether your New Zealand paperwork needs a notary, a JP or nothing at all? Send us the instructions you were given, and we will explain each step before you book.