How to Notarise a Passport Copy in Australia

To get a notarised copy of your passport in Australia, take the original passport to a notary in person, with the recipient's required wording and a list of the pages it wants. The notary copies the pages and certifies them as true copies, usually adding that you are the person in the photograph. DFAT can then apostille the certified copy.

Key takeaways

• Nobody notarises the passport itself. You get a notarised copy: copied pages with a notary's certificate attached.
• For Australian use, including most Home Affairs applications, a certified passport copy by an authorised person such as a JP is usually enough. A notary is for copies going overseas.
• You attend in person with the original. A notary cannot certify a copy from a scan, or confirm a likeness without seeing you.
• Ask the recipient which pages and what wording it wants before the appointment. Those two details cause most rejections.
• DFAT apostilles the notary's certificate on the copy. Never post your original passport to anyone for an apostille.

What a notarised passport copy is

A notarised passport copy is the identity document most often requested from abroad. Foreign banks, brokers, company registries, property lawyers, universities and employers ask for one when they cannot meet you. Strictly, nobody notarises a passport: the passport stays exactly as it is. What you receive is a photocopy of the relevant pages with a notary's certificate stating that the copy is a true copy of the original the notary sighted, and usually that the person who appeared is the person in the photograph.

When a form asks for a "notarised passport", a "notarized copy of passport", a "certified copy of passport" or "passport notarisation", this is what it means. The difference between a certified copy and a notarised one is who signs it. A certified copy can be signed by many kinds of authorised person; a notarised copy is signed and sealed by a notary public, which is what an overseas recipient can verify.

Do you need a notary for a certified passport copy?

Often not. Many requests for a certified passport copy in Australia can be handled free or cheaply.

Recipient	What usually satisfies it
Department of Home Affairs	Most applications take colour scans online. Where certified copies are wanted, a copy certified by an authorised person is usually enough. Check your visa's instructions.
Australian banks and agencies	They generally verify identity themselves, or accept the domestic certifiers they list, such as a Justice of the Peace.
A foreign consulate in Australia	Some publish their own list of acceptable certifiers for postal applications. If a JP is on it, you do not need a notary.
A bank, registry or lawyer overseas	Usually a notary, and sometimes a DFAT apostille on top.
A foreign court or government office	A notary, then DFAT, then an embassy if the country is outside the Hague Convention.

A Justice of the Peace is a free witness for documents used in Australia. A JP's certification is not recognised abroad and cannot be apostilled, so once the copy is going overseas and the recipient has asked for a notary, a JP will not do. See notary or JP.

How to get your passport notarised

A passport copy is requested for identity, so the recipient usually wants the notary to confirm two things: that the copy is a true copy of the passport, and that the person in front of the notary is the person in the photograph. The second is a statement about you, not about the document, and that shapes the whole process.

1. Ask the recipient what it wants: which pages, what certification wording, whether colour, whether an apostille, and how recent the certification must be.
2. Check the passport is current. A notary can certify a copy of an expired passport as a copy, but will not accept it as your identification, and many recipients reject expired passports outright. Some want a minimum period of validity left.
3. Send the notary the instructions in advance, including any form the recipient wants signed, so they can prepare the certificate.
4. Attend in person with the original. Nobody can take your passport to a notary on your behalf for this purpose, and a notary will not certify a copy from a scan or from someone else's photocopy.
5. The notary copies and certifies the pages, compares the photograph with you, signs and seals the certificate, and records the act in the notarial register.
6. Lodge with DFAT if the recipient wants an apostille or authentication.

Many institutions prescribe the wording, for example "true copy of the original, and the photograph is a true likeness of the holder", with the date and the certifier's name, capacity and contact details. Bring their exact words. A notary will use them if they are accurate, and may adjust wording that asks them to confirm something they cannot, such as that the passport is valid. Our document notarisation page describes the appointment.

Which pages to copy

This is where passport copies go wrong. Ask the recipient which pages it wants. The common answers are:

• the photo and personal details page only, which is enough for most identity checks;
• the photo page plus the page bearing your signature, if the recipient compares signatures;
• any page with an endorsement or observation, such as a name recorded differently;
• every page, including visas and entry stamps, where the recipient is assessing residence or travel history.

Each page may be certified individually, or the set bound together under one certificate. The recipient may care which, and it affects the notary's work and fee, so settle the pages before the appointment. Colour copies are usually accepted and often preferred; if the recipient specifies colour or black and white, follow it.

Foreign passports, two passports and name differences

An Australian notary can certify a copy of a foreign passport held by someone living here. The certificate says the copy matches the document the notary sighted, and usually that the holder appeared. It does not confirm that the issuing country considers the passport valid; no notary can check another country's records.

If the passport is not in English, ask the recipient whether it wants a translation. Most passport data pages include English, and many recipients need nothing more. Where a translation is needed, a NAATI-certified translation is the usual standard in Australia, but the receiving country decides whose translation it accepts.

If you hold two passports, send the one whose name matches the account, property or company record you are dealing with. Where your names differ between passports, or between your passport and other documents, raise it with the notary: a declaration explaining the link can be made at the same appointment. See name mismatches and apostilles. If the copy is for renewing a foreign passport, the issuing country's embassy rules come first; see foreign passport renewal documents.

One certified copy per recipient

Each recipient normally wants its own original certified copy, not a photocopy of yours. If you are opening a bank account, registering a company and buying property in the same country, ask each for its requirements and have all the copies certified at one appointment. Extra copies at the same visit are simpler than a return visit. Many banks and registries accept a certified copy only if it was certified recently, so do not certify far ahead of need. See ordering several certified copies.

Apostille or legalisation

If the recipient is overseas, it will often want the notary's signature authenticated. Only DFAT issues apostilles in Australia; a notary cannot. An apostille certifies the notary's signature and seal, not the passport or its contents.

• If the destination is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, DFAT apostilles the notarised copy. Membership changes, so check the HCCH status table on the day.
• If it is not, DFAT authenticates the notarised copy, and it then goes to the destination's embassy or consulate in Australia for legalisation.

DFAT's list of documents it can legalise includes copies notarised by Australian notaries. A JP's copy is not on it. Your passport itself is not what receives the apostille, and you should never post your original passport to anyone for this purpose. Some recipients, especially banks, do not want an apostille on an identity copy at all. Ask, because it is a separate charge and a delay. Our apostille and authentication page covers that step.

Where to get a passport notarised

From a notary public. Australian notaries are appointed under state or territory arrangements, in most by the Supreme Court and in Queensland through the Court of Faculties, and state notarial societies usually list their members. A Justice of the Peace, pharmacist or police officer can certify a passport copy for Australian purposes, but cannot produce a notarised copy for overseas use. Notaries set their own fees, often per copy or per set of pages, with DFAT and any embassy charging separately, so ask for a written quote once you know which pages you need.

Here is an illustration, not a real case

A software developer in Melbourne is opening a brokerage account overseas and registering as a director of a company in the same country. The broker wants the photo page only, in colour, with a likeness statement, and no apostille. The registry wants every page, bound under one certificate, apostilled. She sends both sets of instructions to a notary, attends once with her passport, and leaves with two different certified copies. Only the registry's goes to DFAT. Had she certified one generic copy, both would have come back.

In short

A notarised copy of a passport is a certified copy signed and sealed by a notary, usually with a statement that you are the person pictured. For Australian use, a JP or other authorised person is normally enough. For overseas use, attend a notary in person with the original, bring the recipient's page list and wording, get one copy per recipient, and add a DFAT apostille only if it is asked for.

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Send us the recipient's instructions and the pages it wants, and we will explain each step before you book.