Documents You Must Have Notarised for an Australian Tourist Visa

For most visitors to Australia, no document needs notarising. A tourist visa is usually lodged online from outside Australia with scanned or photographed documents, and Home Affairs says you do not need any documents certified unless it asks. When someone insists on a notary, the request usually comes from an airline, a relative, or the visitor's own government.

Key takeaways

• For the Visitor visa, the Department of Home Affairs asks for scans or photos of documents and says certification is not needed unless it asks.
• If Home Affairs does ask for a certified copy, a copy certified by an authorised person is usually enough. A notary is rarely needed.
• Four different bodies can ask a visitor for paperwork: Home Affairs, the visitor's own country, an airline, and a third party such as an employer. Each sets its own rules.
• A child visiting without a parent is where formal documents most often arise: a consent form or statutory declaration, and sometimes an undertaking from the host.
• A notary never certifies that a bank statement, invitation or employment letter is true. A notary witnesses signatures and certifies copies.

What does Home Affairs actually ask a tourist for?

The Visitor visa (subclass 600) has several streams. The tourist stream for people outside Australia is the one most visitors use. On its page, Home Affairs lists identity documents, evidence of enough money for the stay, and evidence of reasons to return home. It asks for these as scans or photographs of the original documents.

It also says, in plain terms, that you do not need to have any documents certified unless it asks you to. Read the current Visitor visa page for the stream you are applying under, because streams differ and requirements change.

If a case officer later asks for a certified copy, the range of people who may certify is broad. A copy certified by an authorised person is usually enough for Home Affairs. A notary can do it, but so can many others, and paying a notary for this is rarely necessary.

The electronic travel authority and eVisitor are simpler again. They are generally applied for online with a passport, without supporting documents. Check the current Home Affairs guidance for the product you are using rather than assuming the heaviest requirements apply.

Who else might be asking for a notarised document?

People search for this topic because someone told them a document must be notarised. It is worth finding out who, because the answer changes everything.

The visitor's own country

Some countries impose exit formalities on their own nationals. Examples include permission to travel, currency-control clearance, or a release from an employer or military service. These documents are issued in the visitor's country, notarised there, and given to an authority there.

They have nothing to do with Australia, and an Australian notary cannot handle them. If a visitor who is still overseas has been told a document must be notarised "for the visa", this is the most likely thing they mean.

An airline or a departure authority

An airline or the border authority of the departing country may want a parent's consent before a child boards. That requirement belongs to the carrier and the departure country, not to Home Affairs. It is covered below.

A third party

An employer granting leave, a school releasing a student, or a bank may want its own evidence before the trip. Each sets its own standard. If one of them wants a document from the Australian host notarised, that is an Australian document going overseas, with its own chain.

Does an invitation letter need a notary?

Usually not for the visa itself. An Australian resident inviting a family member usually writes a signed letter, and the visitor uploads it with the application. Home Affairs does not ask for it to be notarised, and notarising it adds nothing to the visa decision.

It sometimes does need to be notarised for someone else. The visitor's employer, bank or home-country authority may want a formal version. In that case it is an Australian document going overseas. It is signed before an Australian notary, then apostilled by DFAT if the destination is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention. If the destination is not a party, DFAT authenticates it and the destination's embassy or consulate legalises it. Check the country's status on the HCCH status table on the day.

Ask who wants it and why before paying. "My agent said to notarise it" is not an answer to that question.

What does a child visitor need?

This is where more formal documents come in, and where Home Affairs itself sets requirements. For a visitor under 18, its tourist stream page asks for a copy of the child's birth certificate showing both parents' names, or an accepted alternative.

Anyone with a legal right to decide where the child lives who is not travelling with the child must give consent. Home Affairs accepts either Form 1229 or a statutory declaration giving consent, with a document showing that person's signature and photo, such as a passport. If the child will not stay with a relative or legal guardian, the host also signs Form 1257, an undertaking declaration.

Follow the witnessing instructions on the form itself. Where the consenting parent lives overseas, the witness will usually be someone in their own country. A notary in Australia can witness a consent only for a parent who is physically in Australia.

What about the airline's consent rules?

Where a minor travels alone, with one parent, or with a grandparent, an airline or the departure country may expect a consent letter from the non-travelling parent. Notarisation is what makes that letter credible to someone who has never met the family. Some countries also want an apostille or legalisation on top.

Requirements vary by airline and by the country being departed. Confirm with both the carrier and the departure authority rather than assuming. Where the non-travelling parent is in Australia, the consent is an Australian document, notarised here and then authenticated for the destination. See travel consent letters for how that works.

Can a notary certify a visitor's bank statements or property papers?

Bank statements, property titles, business ownership records and employment letters are often provided to show ties to home. Where they are foreign documents, any authentication happens in the issuing country. An Australian notary cannot vouch for a foreign bank's or registry's document.

Where they are Australian documents supporting an overseas relative's application, such as the host's own bank statement, they are ordinary uploaded copies in most cases. A notary cannot attest that the contents of a bank statement are true. A notary attests identity, signature and the making of a declaration. That distinction is worth understanding before paying for a service that will not do what you want.

Document	Who usually wants it	Notary needed?
Passport, funds, reasons to return	Home Affairs	No; scans of originals
Invitation letter from the host	Home Affairs, as optional evidence	No
Consent for a child visitor	Home Affairs	Follow the form's witness rules
Consent letter for a child flying	Airline or departure authority	Often, if it asks
Exit or release documents	The visitor's own government	Yes, but done in that country
Host's letter for a foreign employer	A third party overseas	Possibly, with DFAT

What about translations?

Home Affairs asks for all non-English documents to be translated into English, with both the original and the translation provided. Translators in Australia must be NAATI accredited. Translators outside Australia do not need accreditation, but each translation must show their full name, address, telephone number, and qualifications and experience in the language.

A notary does not translate. A notary can witness a translator's declaration and bind the translation to its original, which foreign authorities often want. Home Affairs usually does not need that step. See document translation.

In what order should you do things?

For a consent letter or invitation that is going overseas, follow this sequence.

1. Ask the receiving authority, whether the airline, the departure authority or the third party, exactly what it requires, including whether an apostille is needed.
2. Sign before an Australian notary, bringing photo identification and the document unsigned.
3. Lodge with DFAT for an apostille, or for authentication followed by embassy legalisation.
4. Translate if the destination requires it, in the order it specifies.

Visitor travel is usually booked before the paperwork starts, which is the wrong order. If a consent letter needs an apostille, DFAT and possibly an embassy are involved, and neither works to your flight date. Start well before departure and check current timeframes with each body.

Here is an illustration, not a real case

A grandmother in Adelaide is bringing her eleven-year-old grandson from Manila for the school holidays. His mother is travelling with him, and his father is staying in the Philippines. For the visa, the father signs Form 1229 in Manila following the form's instructions, and the family uploads it with a copy of his passport. Nobody in Australia needs a notary. The grandmother then checks the departure side separately. Philippine exit rules for a minor are set in the Philippines, and the family handles them there.

In short

For most Australian tourist visas, nothing needs notarising. Home Affairs wants scans and certifies nothing unless it asks. When a notary is demanded, find out who is asking. A visitor's own government handles its documents at home. An airline sets its own consent rules. A third party overseas may need an Australian notary and DFAT. See document notarisation for the notary step when it is genuinely needed.

People also search for

• Does a transit visa need notarised documents?
• Which parent visa documents need certifying?
• Do partner visa documents need a notary?
• What does a student visa need certified?
• When do visa documents need a notary?

Told a visitor's document must be notarised? Send us who asked and what they said, and we will explain each step before you book.