Originals, Copies and What a Notary Will Accept

A notarial certified copy says one thing: that the copy is a complete and accurate reproduction of a document the notary had in front of them. Everything about what a notary will and will not accept follows from that sentence. If the thing in front of the notary is not the original, the certificate cannot say what the receiving authority assumes it says.

This page sets out what counts as an original, where the grey areas are, and what a careful notary does with each.

What "original" means to a notary

For a notary, the original is the document as issued by the body that issued it. Not a photocopy, not a scan, not a fax, not a photograph on a phone, and not a copy certified by someone else.

Three things surprise people.

A reissued document is an original. A replacement birth certificate ordered from the registry last month is not a copy of the one you lost. It is a fresh original, issued under the registry's authority, and a notary will treat it as one.

A document called a "certified copy" by its issuer may be an original. Many registry and court documents are, in form, a certified extract or certified copy of an entry held on the issuer's record. The word "copy" on the face does not matter. What matters is that the issuer produced it and signed or sealed it. For the notary's purpose, that document is the original.

Your own signed document is an original once you have signed it. A contract, declaration or letter you executed is itself the original, and a notary can certify a copy of it. That is a different act from witnessing your signature, which requires you to sign in front of the notary — see the page on documents that are already signed.

Copies of copies

A notary will not certify a copy of a photocopy as if it were a copy of the original. The certificate would describe a comparison that never happened.

Practice differs on what a notary may do instead. Some will certify that a copy matches a document which was itself a copy — a photocopy certified by a Justice of the Peace, for example — and word the certificate to say exactly that. The act is honest, but it proves very little: it tells the reader that one photocopy matches another. Receiving authorities rarely accept it. Treat it as a last resort and ask the receiving body before paying for it.

The better course is almost always to get back to the original, or to obtain a fresh one from the issuer.

Documents issued electronically

A growing share of documents never exist on paper: police checks, academic transcripts, company extracts, bank statements, some government certificates. A PDF in your inbox is not an original in the sense the notarial copy was designed around. There are generally three ways through.

1. The receiving body verifies the digital document itself, through a link or the issuer's portal. No notary is needed. Ask this first — it is increasingly common and it costs nothing.
2. You obtain a paper version from the issuer, signed or sealed, and have that copied and certified in the ordinary way.
3. The notary views the document on the issuer's own system and certifies a printout, with a certificate that describes exactly what was sighted and how. Whether a receiving authority accepts that wording is its decision, not the notary's.

A notary will not describe a printout as though it were a signed paper original. If you are offered a certificate that does, it is overstating what happened.

Foreign documents in front of an Australian notary

An Australian notary can certify a copy of a document issued overseas — a foreign passport, a foreign degree — because certifying a copy is a comparison, and it does not depend on who issued the original or what language it is in.

What the notary cannot do is vouch for the foreign document. The certificate says the copy matches what was produced. It says nothing about whether the foreign registry or university really issued it. Where a receiving authority needs the foreign document itself authenticated, that generally happens in the issuing country, under that country's procedures.

What a notary checks on the original

• Completeness. Every page, and the reverse of every page. A grading key or an endorsement on the back is part of the document. A copy that omits it is not a complete copy.
• Alterations. Erasures, overwriting, correction fluid or handwritten additions. A notary will not ignore them, and may describe them on the certificate or decline.
• Security features. Security paper that prints "COPY" when photocopied is normal and expected. The notary may note it.
• Condition. A damaged, torn or partly illegible original can still be copied, but the copy will reproduce the damage, and the notary may record it.
• Binding and attachments. Where an original is bound or has attachments, the notary will want to know what belongs to it, so that the copy reproduces the whole.

Who makes the copy

Many notaries prefer to make or supervise the copy themselves. Where you bring copies, expect the notary to check them page by page against the original before certifying. That is not distrust; it is the act.

If only part of a document is needed, the notary can certify an extract, but the certificate should say it is an extract. A partial copy presented as a complete one is a misdescription.

Common questions

Can a notary certify a copy from an emailed scan? No. The notary must have the original in front of them.

My original is laminated. Is that a problem? Not for copying, but it rules out the original itself going to DFAT: DFAT's guidance says public documents that have been laminated, framed or altered are not acceptable for legalisation. A notarised copy of a laminated original is a different document, and whether that route is open for yours is worth confirming. Do not laminate anything you may need for overseas use.

Can someone else bring my original to the notary? For a certified copy, generally yes — the act is about the document, not the person who produced it. For witnessing a signature, no.

Do I need a notary at all? Sometimes not. Some receiving bodies verify digital documents directly, and some Australian public documents can be authenticated by DFAT without a notary. Check both before booking.

Will the notary keep my original? No. The original goes home with you. The certified copy is what proceeds to DFAT or overseas.