Verification of Identity When Signing From Overseas

If you are selling, buying or mortgaging Australian property while living overseas, your conveyancer or lawyer must still verify your identity before the transaction, usually through a face-to-face check of your original identity documents. From overseas, that check is typically done by someone your conveyancer approves, often a notary or an Australian consular officer, following the conveyancer's instructions exactly.

Key takeaways

• Verification of identity is a mandatory step in Australian property transactions, designed to prevent title fraud.
• It usually involves a face-to-face interview, sighting original identity documents, and keeping copies and records.
• If you are overseas, your conveyancer usually appoints an agent to do it, such as a notary or an Australian consular officer.
• Follow your conveyancer's instructions and forms exactly. They set who may act and what must be recorded.
• Your lender may run its own identity check too, with its own requirements.

Why is identity verification required?

Land title fraud, where someone sells or mortgages a property by pretending to be its owner, is a serious risk in any property system. Australian conveyancing rules therefore require the lawyer or conveyancer acting for a party to take reasonable steps to verify that party's identity, and to keep evidence of it, before they sign documents or lodge transactions on the client's behalf. Most transactions are now completed through electronic conveyancing, and the rules for electronic conveyancing include a verification of identity standard that practitioners follow.

The obligation sits with your conveyancer, not with you, but you need to cooperate for it to be met. If your identity cannot be verified in the way the rules expect, your conveyancer may be unable to act, and settlement can be delayed. Starting early, particularly from overseas, avoids that.

What does verification of identity involve?

The usual approach is a face-to-face interview in which the person carrying out the check sights your original identity documents, such as your passport and, often, a second document like a driver licence, compares the photographs with you, and takes copies. They record the details, who did the check, when and where, and may also confirm your connection to the property, for example by checking you hold the title or mortgage documents. The exact list of acceptable documents and the steps are set by the rules and by your conveyancer's procedures.

A conveyancer in Australia would normally do this in their office. When you are overseas, the same steps must be carried out wherever you are, by someone acting for the conveyancer. Our guide to identity verification by a notary explains how identity checks are generally performed.

Who can verify your identity overseas?

Your conveyancer decides who may act as their agent for the identity check, within the rules and their own risk procedures. Commonly accepted people include a notary public in the country where you are, an Australian consular or diplomatic officer at an Australian embassy or consulate, and sometimes a lawyer in that country. Some conveyancers use specialist identity verification providers with agents in many countries.

Do not choose someone yourself and hope it will be accepted. Ask your conveyancer who they will accept, and whether they will arrange the agent or leave that to you. The agent will usually need to complete the conveyancer's own forms and may need to confirm their own identity and qualifications to the conveyancer. Our guide to finding a notary from overseas covers the practical side.

What documents should you bring?

Your conveyancer's instructions will list the acceptable documents. Typically, you need your current passport as the primary document, and a second document such as a driver licence or a national identity card, all originals. Some conveyancers also ask for evidence of your connection to the property, such as a rates notice, a mortgage statement or the certificate of title, or evidence linking your name if it has changed since you bought the property.

Document	Why it is asked for	Tip
Current passport	Primary photo identification	Must be current; check the expiry date
Second photo ID	Supports the passport	A driver licence or national ID card
Name change evidence	Links your current name to the title	Marriage certificate or change of name record
Property evidence	Shows your connection to the property	Rates notice, mortgage statement or title
Conveyancer's forms	Records the check	Bring them unsigned; the agent completes them
Agent's own details	So the conveyancer can check the agent	The agent may need to provide these

What about signing the transfer or other documents?

Identity verification is often done alongside signing documents, such as a client authorisation that lets your conveyancer sign and lodge the transfer electronically on your behalf, or, for paper transactions, the transfer itself. Each state's land registry sets rules for how documents signed outside Australia must be witnessed, and those rules can differ from the identity verification requirements. Your conveyancer will tell you what must be signed, before whom, and whether any document must be notarised or apostilled.

If you cannot attend in person, your conveyancer may suggest a power of attorney in favour of someone in Australia. That has its own formal requirements, which vary between states, and may need registration before the attorney can deal with land. Take advice before choosing that route. Our guide to powers of attorney explains the general picture.

What about your lender?

If you are refinancing or taking out a new mortgage, or discharging one, your lender or mortgage broker may run its own identity check, separate from your conveyancer's. Lenders set their own lists of acceptable identity documents and of who may certify copies or verify identity overseas, which may differ from the conveyancer's. Ask both early, and if possible arrange one appointment that satisfies both, so you do not have to find an agent twice.

Does it need an apostille?

Usually not. Identity verification for Australian conveyancing is an Australian process, and your conveyancer relies on the agent's completed forms and copies, not on an apostille. If a document signed overseas is to be lodged with an Australian land registry, the registry's own rules decide whether any authentication is needed, and your conveyancer will advise. An apostille is for Australian documents going overseas, not the other way round, in most conveyancing contexts. Our guide to Australian documents notarised overseas covers the exceptions.

Can identity be verified by video?

Some conveyancers and identity providers offer remote verification, using a video call together with electronic checks of identity documents, and the rules for electronic conveyancing allow for some alternatives to a traditional face-to-face meeting in certain circumstances. Whether remote verification is available to you depends on your conveyancer's procedures, the identity documents you hold, and the country you are in. Ask your conveyancer whether they offer it; do not assume a video call with a friend or a local official will satisfy the requirement.

What if you are buying rather than selling?

Buyers need their identity verified too, especially if they are taking out a mortgage, and foreign residents buying Australian property may have other requirements, such as approval under Australia's foreign investment rules in some cases. Those are separate from identity verification and are dealt with by your conveyancer or lawyer. The identity check itself works the same way: an approved agent meets you, sights your originals and completes the conveyancer's forms.

Why might a check be rejected?

A conveyancer may not accept a check if the agent was not one they approved, if the wrong forms were used, if copies are unclear or incomplete, if the identity documents had expired, or if names on the documents do not match the title without an explanation. Each of these usually means repeating the appointment. Reading the instructions carefully, and checking the forms with the agent before you leave, prevents most of them.

How do you prepare?

1. Tell your conveyancer early that you are overseas, and ask how identity verification will be done.
2. Confirm who may act as the agent, and whether the conveyancer arranges it.
3. Gather original identity documents and any name change or property evidence the conveyancer lists.
4. Attend the appointment in person with the conveyancer's forms, unsigned.
5. Make sure the evidence reaches your conveyancer well before settlement, by the method they specify.

What does this look like in practice?

Here is an illustration, not a real case. Claire moved to London and is selling her apartment in Melbourne. Her conveyancer explains that her identity must be verified before the sale can proceed.

The conveyancer sends forms and says a notary in London is acceptable. Claire takes her Australian passport, her UK driving licence and her marriage certificate, since she bought the apartment under her maiden name, to a London notary. The notary interviews her, sights and copies the originals, completes the conveyancer's forms and signs them. Claire also signs the client authorisation in front of the notary, and the documents are couriered to Melbourne two weeks before settlement.

In short

If you are dealing with Australian property from overseas, your conveyancer must still verify your identity, usually through a face-to-face check of original documents. Overseas, that is done by an agent your conveyancer approves, often a local notary or an Australian consular officer, on the conveyancer's forms. Tell your conveyancer early, follow their instructions exactly, and allow time before settlement.

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Dealing with Australian property from overseas? Send us your conveyancer's instructions, and we will explain each step.