How to Notarise South African Documents in Australia

South African documents are proved in South Africa, not by an Australian notary. For Australian use you usually need the unabridged certificate, sometimes a certified copy, and a translation only if part of it is in Afrikaans. A notary matters most the other way: when you sign South African paperwork here, such as a power of attorney to pass transfer.

Key takeaways

• South Africa's Department of Home Affairs issues abridged and unabridged birth and marriage certificates, and vault copies of the original record. Australian family and citizenship uses usually need the unabridged one.
• For Home Affairs in Australia and most Australian bodies, a scan or a copy certified by an authorised person is usually enough. A notary is often not needed.
• DFAT cannot legalise a South African document. South African apostilles are issued in South Africa, and DFAT never accepts foreign education documents.
• Older certificates, court orders and endorsements may be in Afrikaans. Any part an Australian body relies on needs an English translation.
• Documents you sign in Australia for South Africa are usually notarised here and apostilled by DFAT. The conveyancer, fund or attorney who sent them decides.

Do South African documents need to be notarised in Australia?

Usually not. An Australian notary can certify that a copy matches a South African original they have sighted, but cannot vouch for what South Africa's Department of Home Affairs records. For Australian uses, the real question is whether you hold the right version of the certificate.

For a visa, the Australian Department of Home Affairs generally asks for colour scans and sometimes certified copies. A Justice of the Peace or another authorised person can usually certify those, often for free; see our notary or JP guide. The two countries' Home Affairs departments share a name, which causes real confusion on forms. Where this page says "Home Affairs" alone, it means Australia's.

As of our last check, the HCCH status table showed the Apostille Convention in force for South Africa since 30 April 1995 and for Australia since 16 March 1995. If an Australian body wants a South African document authenticated, the apostille comes from South Africa. Check the table on the day, and order one only when the receiving body asks.

Abridged, unabridged or vault copy?

This is the single most important thing to get right. The same birth can be shown on three quite different pieces of paper.

• Abridged certificate. A short, computer-printed certificate showing your name, identity number, and date and place of birth. It usually does not show your parents.
• Unabridged certificate. A fuller certificate that includes your parents' details. It is the version most overseas bodies expect, and the one Australian family, citizenship and partner applications usually need.
• Vault copy. A copy of the original registration record held by the Department of Home Affairs. It is asked for where the exact original entry matters, such as some citizenship-by-descent claims in third countries.

Many people who were born before South Africa began issuing unabridged certificates routinely hold only an abridged one. If that is you, apply for the unabridged version early. Marriage certificates follow the same pattern, and an unabridged marriage certificate is the safer choice for a partner visa or a name change.

Which South African documents do people most often need?

South African document	Issued by	Common Australian use
Unabridged birth certificate	Department of Home Affairs (South Africa)	Visas, citizenship, children's passports
Unabridged marriage certificate	Department of Home Affairs (South Africa)	Partner visas, name changes
Divorce order	The South African court that granted it	Proving an earlier marriage ended
Police clearance certificate	South African Police Service	Police certificate for visas
Death certificate	Department of Home Affairs (South Africa)	Estates, superannuation, insurance
Degree, diploma or matric certificate	The institution or examining body	Skills assessments, employers, study

Each comes from a different body, and a mistake in one is corrected by the body that issued it. Nobody in Australia can amend a South African register entry.

Do South African documents need a translation?

Most do not. Current South African certificates are issued in English. Older certificates, court documents and some school records may be partly or wholly in Afrikaans, and any part in Afrikaans or another language needs an English translation if the Australian body relies on it. Check stamps and endorsements as well as the main text: an English certificate with an Afrikaans endorsement still needs that endorsement translated. For Home Affairs, a NAATI-credentialled translator is the safe choice when the translation is done in Australia; see document translation.

What about a South African police clearance?

When we last checked, Home Affairs' general rule was a police certificate from each country where you spent 12 months or more in total in the last ten years since turning 16. Check the current rule for your visa. For South Africa, that is a police clearance certificate from the South African Police Service.

From Australia, the application is normally made with a set of fingerprints taken on the official form and sent with proof of identity. The South African instructions may say who must take the fingerprints and ask for certified copies of your identity documents. Follow them exactly and use the current form. The certificate itself does not need an Australian notary. For an Australian police check going to South Africa, see our criminal record check guide.

Degrees and matric certificates

Australian employers, universities and skills assessors usually accept a certified copy of a South African degree, diploma or matric certificate. Some go further and ask for the qualification to be verified, with the awarding institution or through South Africa's national qualifications authority. Ask which the receiving body wants before ordering anything, because a certified copy will not stand in for a verification it requires.

Two points surprise people. DFAT's list of documents it can legalise excludes all foreign education documents, even when an Australian notary has certified them, so any apostille on a South African qualification has to come from South Africa. And a lost certificate is replaced by the institution or examining body, never by a notary.

Apostilles on South African documents

A South African document that needs an apostille is apostilled in South Africa. As we understand it, apostilles there are issued by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation and, for some documents such as court and notarial documents, by designated High Court officials; confirm the current arrangement with the South African authorities. For most Australian uses none is needed. It comes up when a South African document is going to a third country, or occasionally to an Australian court.

Signing South African documents in Australia

This is where most South Africans in Australia need a notary. Selling or transferring property in South Africa, dealing with a retirement fund or an estate, or giving a relative authority over an account usually means signing a document here for use there.

South African deeds offices, courts and conveyancers have long-standing rules for documents signed outside the country, and they commonly ask for the document to be signed before a notary and then authenticated with an apostille. The conveyancer, fund or attorney who sent the document will say exactly what they need, and their instructions come first. For the legal effect of the transaction, and any South African tax question, rely on the South African attorney.

1. Get the final wording from the conveyancer or attorney and print every page, single-sided unless told otherwise.
2. Do not sign before the appointment. The notary must watch you sign.
3. Sign before an Australian notary, who checks your identity and that you understand and sign freely, then attaches a notarial certificate.
4. DFAT adds the apostille to the notary's certificate.
5. Courier the original, since deeds offices usually need it, and keep a full scan.

Our guides to apostilles for South Africa from Australia, selling overseas property and foreign pension documents cover the common cases, and powers of attorney and declarations explains the notary's part.

What are the common mistakes?

Most delays come from the wrong version of a certificate or from signing too early, not from anything a notary could fix.

Here is an illustration, not a real case

Pieter lives in Perth and is sponsoring his wife, Anele, for a partner visa. He is also selling a flat in Durban. For the visa they order an unabridged marriage certificate, because the abridged one does not show enough, and Pieter's older divorce order, which is partly in Afrikaans, is translated by a NAATI-credentialled translator. For the flat, the conveyancer emails a power of attorney to pass transfer. Pieter prints every page, signs it in front of a notary in Perth, DFAT adds the apostille, and he couriers the original to Durban.

In short

South African documents are proved in South Africa: the unabridged certificate for most Australian uses, a vault copy only where the exact entry is needed, a SAPS police clearance, and a South African apostille only if asked. DFAT cannot legalise them. In Australia you add a certified copy where asked and a translation of any Afrikaans. A notary and a DFAT apostille are needed mainly for documents you sign here for South Africa. See document notarisation.

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Not sure whether your South African 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.