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 through Sri Lanka's Registrar General's Department, a NAATI-certified English translation, and sometimes an Australian certified copy. For a power of attorney you sign here, your citizenship decides whether a notary is involved at all.

Key takeaways

• A Sri Lankan birth, marriage or death "certificate" is a certified copy of the register entry, issued by the Registrar General's Department or a divisional registrar. A photocopy of an old one is not the same thing.
• Certificates in Sinhala or Tamil need an English translation from a NAATI translator credentialled in that language.
• Sri Lankan names often appear as initials plus a surname on one document and in full on another. Link them before you apply.
• DFAT cannot authenticate a Sri Lankan document, and never accepts foreign education documents. Sri Lanka was not in the Apostille Convention at our last check.
• Sri Lankan passport holders and dual citizens could, when we last checked, sign a power of attorney before a Sri Lankan consular officer, with no notary. Others go through a notary, DFAT and the mission.

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, English translations and sometimes certified copies. A Justice of the Peace or another authorised person can usually certify those copies, often for free. See our notary or JP guide for who can certify what.

DFAT's guidance says each government can legalise only documents issued in its own country, and its list of documents it can legalise excludes foreign education documents even if notarised here. A Sri Lankan document that needs authentication for a third country is authenticated in Sri Lanka.

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 entry, signed and sealed by the issuing officer.

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

Which Sri Lankan documents come up most?

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

Divorce. For a partner visa or a new marriage in Australia, you usually need to show that any earlier marriage has ended. That is normally the final divorce decree from the court that granted it, not an interim order. Marriages and divorces under Muslim personal law go through their own system, including Quazi courts, and the documents look different. If you are unsure whether a divorce is final, speak to a lawyer; see our international divorce documents guide.

Sinhala, Tamil or English?

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; some newer ones include English. Any part 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 translator credentialled by NAATI for the right language pair. A Sinhala translator cannot certify a Tamil certificate, and the reverse. Home Affairs accepts translations made outside Australia when they show the translator's full name, address, telephone number and qualifications. See NAATI translation with notary.

Why do Sri Lankan names cause mismatches?

Many Sri Lankan documents record a person by initials and a surname, while a passport or Australian form shows the full names. A birth certificate may give 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 a case officer seeing three versions will want them linked.

Before you apply, lay your documents side by side and note how each shows your name. Ask the translator to render names exactly as they appear, with a note where initials stand for full names. If the receiving body asks, a statutory declaration can explain the difference. See our guide to mismatched names.

Police clearance and education documents

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 Sri Lanka, that is a police clearance certificate from Sri Lanka Police. People in Australia usually apply through Sri Lanka Police's process for applicants abroad or through a Sri Lankan mission; check the current instructions. It does not need an Australian notary.

Education documents. Students and skilled migrants are often asked for G.C.E. Ordinary and Advanced Level results from the Department of Examinations, and university degrees and transcripts. Australian universities and assessors usually accept certified copies, with translations of any part not in English. If an assessor wants results confirmed by the issuing body, that happens in Sri Lanka. See student visa documents.

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 needs.
5. Certify copies through a JP or other authorised person if copies are asked for, and keep the originals.

A power of attorney for Sri Lanka

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. As of our last check, Sri Lanka does not appear on the HCCH status table, so no apostille is available; check the table on the day. The route depends on who is signing, as our Sri Lanka apostille page sets out from the High Commission's guidance.

Sri Lankan passport holders and dual citizens could, when last checked, sign a power of attorney or affidavit before a Sri Lankan consular officer, by appointment, with two witnesses, and with no notary or DFAT step. Other signatories, including Australian passport holders, sign before an Australian notary, DFAT authenticates the notary's certificate, and the Sri Lankan mission attests it. Sri Lanka has two missions in Australia, the High Commission in Canberra and the Consulate General in Melbourne, each covering particular states; check which covers you.

Get the final wording and the number of copies from your lawyer in Sri Lanka before you sign; each copy usually goes through every step. A power of attorney over land may also need registering in Sri Lanka before your attorney can act. For its legal effect, rely on the Sri Lankan lawyer. See powers of attorney and declarations.

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 a NAATI Sinhala translator notes that the initials on her school certificate stand for her full given names. For the house, she is now an Australian passport holder only, so she signs the power of attorney before a notary in Melbourne; DFAT authenticates it, and the Consulate General in Melbourne attests it before she couriers it to Kandy.

In short

Sri Lankan documents are proved in Sri Lanka, through certified copies from the Registrar General's Department and clearances from Sri Lanka Police. DFAT cannot authenticate them. In Australia you add a NAATI translation in the right language, link the versions of your name, and certify copies where asked. For a power of attorney, Sri Lankan and dual citizens may use a consular officer; others need a notary, DFAT and the mission. See document translation.

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