How to Notarise Sri Lankan Documents in Australia

Sri Lankan documents are proved in Sri Lanka, not by an Australian notary. Australian bodies usually want a certified copy issued by Sri Lanka's Registrar General's Department, a NAATI-certified English translation, and sometimes an Australian certified copy. Sri Lanka is not an Apostille Convention member, so documents signed here for Sri Lanka need authentication and legalisation.

Key takeaways

• Birth, marriage and death records are proved with a certified copy from the Registrar General's Department or the relevant divisional registrar.
• Certificates in Sinhala or Tamil need an English translation. In Australia, use a NAATI-credentialled translator.
• Sri Lankan names often appear as initials plus a surname on one document and in full on another. Link them before you apply.
• Sri Lanka was not in the HCCH status table when we last checked, so there is no apostille. Check the table on the day.
• A power of attorney signed in Australia for Sri Lanka is usually notarised, authenticated by DFAT and legalised by the Sri Lanka High Commission.

Do Sri Lankan documents need to be notarised in Australia?

Usually not. An Australian notary can certify that a copy matches a Sri Lankan document they have sighted, but cannot vouch for what a Sri Lankan register records. For Australian uses, the work is holding a current Sri Lankan certified copy and a translation that joins up the names.

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.

What is a Sri Lankan certified copy?

In Sri Lanka, a birth, marriage or death is entered in a register kept by the local registrar, and the Registrar General's Department holds the records. What people call a birth certificate is normally a certified copy of that register entry, issued by the department or a divisional registrar and signed and sealed by the issuing officer.

Two things follow. First, the certified copy is itself the official document, so a photocopy of an old certificate is not the same thing, however clear it is. Second, you can usually order a fresh certified copy if yours is old, damaged or hard to read, and some bodies prefer a recently issued one. Ask the receiving body whether it sets an age limit before you order.

Sri Lankan document	Issued by	Common Australian use
Birth certificate (certified copy)	Registrar General's Department or divisional registrar	Visas, citizenship, children's passports
Marriage certificate (certified copy)	Registrar General's Department or divisional registrar	Partner visas, name changes
Divorce decree	The Sri Lankan court, or a Quazi court for some Muslim divorces	Proving an earlier marriage ended
Police clearance certificate	Sri Lanka Police	Police certificate for visas
O/L and A/L certificates	Department of Examinations	Student visas, skills assessments
Degree and transcript	The university that awarded it	Employers, skills assessments, study

Which language is your Sri Lankan certificate in?

Sri Lankan certificates may be issued in Sinhala, Tamil or English, depending on where and when the event was registered. Older certificates are often in Sinhala or Tamil only, and some newer certificates include English alongside. Any part that is not in English needs an English translation if an Australian body relies on it, including stamps, seals and handwritten entries.

When the translation is made in Australia, use a NAATI-credentialled translator for the right language pair; a Sinhala translator cannot certify a Tamil certificate, and the reverse. Home Affairs accepts translations made outside Australia only when they show the translator's full name, address and credentials. Our NAATI translation guide explains what a certified translation must include.

Why do Sri Lankan names cause mismatches?

Many Sri Lankan documents record a person by initials and a surname, while a passport or an Australian form shows the full names. A birth certificate may show a long family or ancestral name in full, a school certificate may use initials, and a marriage certificate may use yet another arrangement. None of these is wrong, but an Australian case officer seeing three versions will want them linked.

Before you apply, lay your documents side by side and write down how each shows your name. Ask your translator to render names exactly as they appear, with a note where initials stand for full names, and use a statutory declaration to explain the difference if the receiving body asks for one. Our guide to mismatched names shows how to connect documents that disagree.

What if a previous marriage has ended?

For a partner visa or a new marriage in Australia, you usually need to show that any earlier marriage has ended. In Sri Lanka that is normally a divorce decree from the court that granted it. Marriages and divorces under Muslim personal law are handled through their own system, including Quazi courts, and the documents look different.

Whichever system applies, provide the final decree or certificate, not only an interim order, together with an English translation where needed. If you are not sure whether a divorce is final or recognised, speak to a lawyer. Our international divorce documents guide covers the paperwork side.

What about a Sri Lanka Police clearance 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 Sri Lanka, that is a police clearance certificate from Sri Lanka Police. People living in Australia usually apply through the Sri Lanka High Commission or a consulate, or through Sri Lanka Police's own process for applicants abroad. Check the current instructions before you apply.

The certificate does not need an Australian notary. If the application asks for certified copies of your passport or other identity documents, follow its instructions on who may certify them.

What about O/L, A/L and university documents?

Students and skilled migrants are often asked for their G.C.E. Ordinary Level and Advanced Level results, which are issued by Sri Lanka's Department of Examinations, as well as university degree certificates and transcripts. Australian universities, education agents and skills assessors usually accept certified copies of these, with English translations of any part not in English.

Some assessors also want results or degrees confirmed directly by the issuing body. That confirmation comes from the Department of Examinations or the university in Sri Lanka, not from Australia: DFAT does not legalise foreign education documents, and an Australian notary can only certify that a copy matches what they saw. Our student visa documents guide covers what is usually asked for.

How do you prepare Sri Lankan 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 fresh certified copies from Sri Lanka if yours are old, damaged or hard to read.
3. List how each document shows your name, including initials, and plan how to link them.
4. Arrange a NAATI translation from a translator credentialled in Sinhala or Tamil, as the certificate requires.
5. Certify copies through a JP or other authorised person if copies are asked for, and keep the originals.

How do you sign a power of attorney for Sri Lanka in Australia?

Many Sri Lankans in Australia give a relative a power of attorney to sell or manage land, deal with a bank or handle an estate at home. Because Sri Lanka is not an Apostille Convention member, a document signed here cannot simply be apostilled. It usually follows a longer route.

Some Sri Lankan offices also accept, or prefer, a document signed before a Sri Lankan consular officer in Australia, and a power of attorney used for land may need to be registered in Sri Lanka before your attorney can act on it. Ask the Sri Lankan lawyer or bank which route and wording they need before you sign anything. Our guides to sending Australian documents to Sri Lanka, DFAT authentication and international powers of attorney cover the Australian steps.

What does this look like in practice?

Here is an illustration, not a real case. Tharushi lives in Melbourne and is applying for Australian citizenship. Her mother in Kandy is selling a house that is partly in Tharushi's name.

For citizenship, she orders a fresh certified copy of her birth certificate, which is in Sinhala, and has it translated by a NAATI-credentialled Sinhala translator, who notes that the initials on her school certificate stand for her full given names. For the house, the family's lawyer in Kandy sends the power of attorney wording. Tharushi signs it before a notary in Melbourne, DFAT authenticates it and the Sri Lanka High Commission legalises it before she couriers it home.

In short

Sri Lankan documents are proved in Sri Lanka, through certified copies from the Registrar General's Department and police clearances from Sri Lanka Police. In Australia you add a NAATI translation in the right language, link the different versions of your name, and certify copies where asked. A power of attorney for Sri Lanka needs a notary, DFAT authentication and legalisation, as no apostille is available.

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Not sure what your Sri Lankan 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.