Notarising Documents for a Visa Application

Whether you need a notary depends on the visa. Australian visa streams have their own instructions: many use uploads of originals, while some ask for certified copies. For another country's visa, you might need a notary because that country decides whether Australian documents must be notarised, apostilled or legalised.

Key takeaways

• For an Australian visa or citizenship application, follow the instructions for the particular stream or form. Do not certify a copy unless the instructions ask for one; when they do, a Justice of the Peace or another listed authorised person may be sufficient.
• For a foreign visa, the destination's checklist decides. Some want nothing beyond scans; others want the full chain of notary, DFAT and embassy.
• Many Australian public documents, such as police checks and registry certificates, can go straight to DFAT without a notary.
• If a receiving authority requires DFAT legalisation of a private document, such as a bank statement, employment reference or invitation letter, it generally needs notarisation first.
• An Australian notary may certify a copy of a foreign original if the receiver accepts that service. Authentication of the foreign issuer or official's signature is handled in the country that issued the document.

Which direction are you going?

Almost every confusion about "visa notary" requirements comes from mixing up two very different situations. An Australian visa is decided by the Department of Home Affairs, which sets its own document rules. A French, Chinese or Emirati visa is decided by that country, which sets rules of its own. The same birth certificate may need nothing for one and three separate certificates for the other.

Does an Australian visa need a notary?

Usually not, but the document instruction for the particular visa, citizenship process or form controls. Many online applications ask for clear colour scans of original documents; some processes ask for copies certified by a person from a stated occupation or office. If certified copies are required, a Justice of the Peace or another authorised person may be sufficient. Do not pay for notarisation unless the instructions or decision-maker require it. Check the current instructions on the Home Affairs immigration site for your application.

Where a notary can still matter for an Australian visa:

• Skills assessing authorities set their own document rules, and some are stricter than Home Affairs. Their published requirements apply to your assessment.
• Documents issued overseas are authenticated, where authentication is needed, in the country that issued them. An Australian notary may certify a copy if the receiver accepts it, but cannot authenticate the foreign issuer's signature.
• Powers of attorney that let someone collect documents for you in your home country are signed before a notary here and then apostilled or legalised for use there.
• Translations. Documents not in English need an English translation. Made in Australia, it should be by a NAATI-credentialled translator. Made overseas, it needs the translator's full name, address, telephone number and qualifications.

The detailed pages for common streams: student visa, partner visa, parent visa, skilled migration, working holiday and citizenship.

Invitation letters. For an Australian visitor visa, Home Affairs does not generally ask for an invitation letter from your Australian host to be notarised. If a foreign embassy asks an Australian resident for a notarised invitation or sponsorship letter for a visa to its country, that is the other direction, covered next.

Does a foreign visa need a notary?

Here the foreign authority decides, and the answers vary widely. Many Australians applying for a visitor visa to the UK or the United States need no notary, apostille or legalisation at all. Others, particularly for work permits, long-stay residence, study or family reunion, are asked for notarised or legalised Australian documents. See the pages for the UK, the United States, Germany, China and the UAE.

Document	Usual route to DFAT	Notary needed first?
Australian national police check	Original lodged with DFAT directly	Usually no
Birth, marriage or death certificate	Original registry certificate to DFAT directly; commemorative marriage certificates are not accepted	Usually no
Degree or transcript	Original, once the university has verified it; or a notarised copy stating the original was verified with the institution	Only for the copy route
Bank statement, employment reference, invitation or sponsorship letter	If DFAT legalisation is required: notarised, then DFAT	Yes, for that route
Passport copy	If the receiver requires DFAT legalisation: notarised copy, then DFAT	Yes, for that route

Two DFAT rules catch many applicants. Laminated or altered certificates are refused, so do not laminate a birth certificate you may need abroad. And DFAT never legalises foreign education documents, even if an Australian notary has copied them. Confirm the current list on Smartraveller before lodging.

Do you need an apostille or embassy legalisation?

After the notary, or directly for an eligible public document, the path depends on the destination and the receiver's instructions. For a country where the Hague Apostille Convention applies, DFAT may issue an apostille. For another destination, the route may be DFAT authentication followed by legalisation at its embassy or consulate. These certificates verify an eligible signature, seal or stamp, not the truth of the document's contents. Treaty relationships and embassy procedures change, so check the HCCH status table and the receiving authority's current checklist. Our apostille and authentication page explains the DFAT step.

How should visa documents be translated?

Translation rules also depend on who decides. For an Australian visa, a document not in English needs an English translation, and Home Affairs sets the standard: a NAATI-credentialled translator in Australia, or an overseas translator whose full details appear on the translation. A notary is not normally part of that.

For a foreign visa, the destination decides whether it wants a translation at all, into which language, by whom, and at what point in the chain. Some want the English original apostilled and then translated in their own country. Others want a translation made in Australia and attached before DFAT acts, in which case DFAT expects the NAATI translator's name, signature, seal, practitioner ID and date on every page. Getting the order wrong is one of the most common reasons a set of visa documents has to be done twice, so ask the embassy or the official checklist before you order a translation.

What about children and family members?

Where a visa covers a child, the foreign authority may want a consent from a parent who is not travelling, signed before a notary and then apostilled or legalised. That is a private document, so the notary step comes first. Each parent who signs must attend with their own ID. For an Australian visa, Home Affairs uses its own forms for parental consent, which have their own witnessing rules, so check the form rather than assuming a notary is needed.

Who can notarise a visa document in Australia?

Only a notary public. Notaries are appointed under state and territory arrangements: in most, by the Supreme Court; in Queensland, through the Court of Faculties in England. They are usually experienced solicitors.

There is no such office as a "migration notary". Registered migration agents are regulated separately and are not notaries. Nor are JPs, pharmacists, or solicitors who have not been appointed as notaries. Their certifications can be perfectly acceptable to Home Affairs, but they cannot be apostilled and are not accepted by foreign authorities that ask for a notary.

What do “attested” and “embassy notary” mean?

"Documents attested" can mean two things. In everyday use it means witnessed or certified. Some countries, and many visa agents, use "attestation" to mean the whole chain: notary, then DFAT, then the embassy. When a checklist says "attested", ask which it means.

"Embassy notary" usually refers to notarial services some embassies and consulates provide, mainly for their own citizens. For an Australian document, the embassy's role is normally legalisation, after DFAT, not notarisation. Australian consular officers overseas can also perform some notarial acts for Australians abroad.

How much does visa document notarisation cost?

The total depends on the notarial act, the number of documents and copies, the number of signers, and whether travel or urgent attendance is required. University verification, translation, courier, DFAT and embassy charges are separate. Ask for a written quote against the receiving authority's checklist before booking, so you do not pay for a step the visa process does not require.

How long does it take?

There is no single answer, and any page promising one should be treated with caution. The time depends on separate queues, each run by someone else: the notary's next appointment, any university verification, DFAT's processing, and, for non-Convention countries, the embassy's legalisation. Check DFAT's current guidance on Smartraveller and each embassy's own website. Work backwards from your visa appointment or lodgement date and start with the slowest step.

What order helps avoid rejections?

1. Get the destination's current checklist from the official source, not an agent's summary.
2. Ask for each document whether it needs notarising, an apostille or legalisation, and a translation, and in what order.
3. Check which documents can go straight to DFAT as originals.
4. Have the rest notarised, bringing the originals and current photo ID.
5. Lodge with DFAT, then with the embassy where required.
6. Translate at the point the receiver specified, not before.

How might the document chain work in practice?

Consider a hypothetical nurse in Adelaide applying for a foreign work visa. The official checklist says her degree, police check and a reference letter must be “attested”, and the receiving authority confirms that it means the full legalisation chain. Her police check may go straight to DFAT. Her university first verifies the degree for DFAT. Only the reference letter, a private document, needs a notary before DFAT. An embassy step follows only if the current destination rules require it. This illustration is not a substitute for the actual visa checklist.

In short

For an Australian visa, follow the exact upload or certification instructions for the application. For another country's visa, that country's checklist decides, and many eligible Australian public documents can go straight to DFAT. Private documents need a notary first only when DFAT legalisation is required. Check treaty status and the receiving authority's process on the day, and translate at the point the receiver specifies.

Related questions

• Should I use a notary or a Justice of the Peace?
• What documents does a Spanish visa need from Australia?
• Does a Singapore visa need notarised documents?
• What does a South Korean visa need from Australia?
• Do Swedish visa documents need an apostille?

Send us the official visa checklist with the destination authority, document types, your location and deadline. We can identify the notarial step and explain what remains for DFAT, an embassy or a translator before you book.