Documents You Need Notarised When Adopting a Child Overseas

When adopting a child from overseas, you usually need a notary only for the dossier sent to the child's country. That comes after your state's central authority has approved you. Private documents in it, such as medical reports and employer letters, are notarised. Many public documents, such as registry certificates, can go to DFAT directly.

Key takeaways

• The early stages, from application to approval, are with your state or territory central authority. No notary is needed.
• The country of origin sets the dossier list. Start from the list your central authority gives you.
• Sort the dossier by who issued each document. Public documents may go to DFAT directly; private ones need a notary first.
• A notarised signature means the doctor, employer or referee attends the notary. Find out early which documents need that.
• The Hague Adoption Convention and the Hague Apostille Convention are different treaties. Check each separately.
• Legal questions about the adoption itself belong with your central authority and a lawyer, not a notary.

How does intercountry adoption from Australia work?

Intercountry adoption in Australia is arranged through the central authority in your state or territory. That authority works with the authorities in a partner country, under an approved country program. You cannot arrange an adoption privately with an overseas orphanage or agency and expect Australia to recognise it. Check your central authority's current guidance on which country programs are open.

The process is long, with a paperwork peak in the middle. For a long stretch, you deal only with Australian authorities, and nobody asks for a notary. Then you are approved and allocated to a country program. You are asked to assemble a dossier for a foreign government, and suddenly every page seems to need a seal. This page follows that sequence, so you can see where the notary fits and where it does not.

Why is there no notary before the dossier?

The early stages happen between you and an Australian government body. They include information sessions, the application, the assessment of your suitability, and approval. The documents you supply go to that authority.

It will tell you what it wants. Usually that means plain copies or copies certified by an authorised person, of the kind a Justice of the Peace can witness for free. Paying a notary at this stage buys nothing. Keep the originals safe, because many of the same documents return in the dossier.

What goes in the dossier?

Once you are approved and allocated to a country, you prepare the dossier sent to that country. Its contents are set by the country of origin, not by Australia, and they vary widely. A typical list includes:

• birth certificates for each applicant, and your marriage certificate;
• police checks;
• medical reports on each applicant;
• employment letters, bank statements or other financial evidence;
• personal references;
• statements you write yourselves, such as a letter of motivation;
• your assessment report and approval from the Australian authority.

Your central authority will usually give you the country's list, the order it wants, and which items must be authenticated. Start from that document, not from a general checklist like this one.

How do you sort the dossier to save cost?

Sort every item by who issued it. This decides most of the cost.

Documents from an Australian public body include registry certificates, national police checks and the central authority's approval. These may go to DFAT for an apostille or authentication without a notary, because DFAT can verify the issuing official's signature. DFAT's list of documents it can legalise names registry certificates and national police checks. Confirm with DFAT which of yours qualify, and whether the approval letter does.

Documents written by a private person include the doctor's report, the employer's letter, the references and your own statements. These cannot go straight to DFAT. A notary must act on them first, so there is an official signature DFAT can check.

Notarised copy or notarised signature?

For the private documents, the receiving country will want one of two notarial acts:

• A notarised copy. You bring the original letter, and the notary certifies a copy as a true copy.
• A notarised signature. The person who wrote the document signs it in front of the notary.

The second is much harder to arrange. It means your GP, your employer or a referee must attend a notary in person. Find out which act each document needs before you ask anyone to write anything. Then they can sign in front of the notary the first time, rather than being asked twice.

Your own statements are the easy part. You sign them at your appointment, so bring them unsigned. A notary witnesses your signature and administers any oath. The notary never confirms that what you wrote is true. See our document notarisation page for each act.

Which conventions matter, and why do people confuse them?

Two different Hague treaties are involved, and a country can belong to one and not the other.

The Hague Adoption Convention governs how intercountry adoptions are arranged and recognised between member countries. The Hague Apostille Convention governs how public documents are certified for use abroad. A "Hague country" in adoption terms is not necessarily an apostille country.

For the dossier, only the Apostille Convention matters. If the country of origin is a party, DFAT issues an apostille. If not, DFAT issues an authentication certificate, and that country's embassy or consulate then legalises each document. Check the HCCH Apostille status table on the day. Our apostille and authentication page explains the DFAT step.

Dossier item	Usual first step	Then
Birth or marriage certificate	DFAT directly, if eligible	Embassy, if not an apostille country
National police check	DFAT directly, if eligible	Embassy, if not an apostille country
Medical report	Notary; often the doctor attends	DFAT, then embassy if needed
Employer letter, references	Notary; copy or signature	DFAT, then embassy if needed
Your own statements	Notary; you sign there	DFAT, then embassy if needed

In what order should you work through the dossier?

The order saves both money and repeat visits:

1. Get the country's list from your central authority, with its required order and format.
2. Sort each item as public or private, and check the public ones against DFAT's list.
3. Ask which private items need a notarised signature, and brief the doctor, employer and referees.
4. Book the notary for your own statements and certified copies. Bring original photo identification for each applicant.
5. Lodge everything with DFAT together, then take it to the embassy if the country needs legalisation.
6. Arrange translations at the point the country requires.

Do the dossier documents need translating?

Usually, into the language of the country of origin. That country decides whose translation it accepts. Some want a translator on their own register. Others accept a translation done in Australia and certified here. Ask your central authority before commissioning anything, and ask whether the translation comes before or after the DFAT step. A translation done at the wrong point may have to be redone.

What happens while you wait for a match?

Dossiers can wait a long time before a match. Several items age while they wait. Medical reports, police checks and financial evidence are commonly accepted only if recent. If the wait runs past the country's limit, those documents must be obtained, notarised and authenticated again.

You cannot prevent this, but you can plan for it. Keep a list of what expires and when. Ask your central authority how the country handles updates. Our page on documents older than the receiving country allows covers what must be redone and what need not be.

What about documents after placement?

The adoption is usually finalised under the law of the child's country. The resulting documents are issued overseas. They include the adoption order, the child's new birth certificate and, for a Hague Adoption Convention adoption, a certificate that the adoption complied with it. They are authenticated in that country, if at all. An Australian notary cannot vouch for them, and does not need to.

In Australia, the child's visa or citizenship application goes to the Department of Home Affairs. It usually accepts copies certified by an authorised person rather than notarised ones. Translations for Home Affairs should be by a NAATI-credentialled translator. For using an Australian adoption record abroad later, see our pages on notarising adoption papers and apostilles for adoption papers.

Why do post-placement reports catch families out?

Many countries of origin require post-placement reports for a period after the adoption. Some want each report notarised or legalised when it is sent. If that applies to you, it is a recurring task, not a one-off. Ask your central authority at the start how many reports are expected and in what form. Then you can plan each one well before it is due.

Here is an illustration, not a real case

A couple in Perth are allocated to a country program after approval by their state's central authority. The dossier list includes medical reports signed before a notary. They ask their GP to write the report and sign it at a notary's office. Their birth certificates and police checks go to DFAT directly. The country is an apostille country, so DFAT issues apostilles. Their own motivation letter they sign before the same notary.

In short

No notary is needed until the dossier. Start from the country's list, sort each item as public or private, and send public documents to DFAT directly where DFAT agrees. Ask early which private documents need the author to sign before a notary. Check apostille membership separately from adoption membership. Plan for documents that expire and for post-placement reports.

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Preparing an adoption dossier? Send us the country's document list, and we will explain each step before you book.