Documents You Need Notarised When Working Overseas

When working overseas, the documents you need notarised depend on two separate gatekeepers. The work permit decides whether you may work in the country at all. Professional registration decides whether you may do your particular job there. They rarely want the same documents, and much of the registration evidence goes direct from the issuer, bypassing a notary altogether.

Key takeaways

• Get the complete document list from the employer, and ask whether your role needs registration with a professional body first.
• Regulators often want qualifications and good-standing evidence sent directly by the university or registration body. A notarised copy you send yourself will not do.
• A notarised copy and a notarised signature are different acts. For a reference, the second means your former manager must attend.
• Some countries want degrees taken through the whole chain: university verification, DFAT, then the destination's embassy.
• Order short-life documents last, such as police checks and bank evidence, because registration is often the slower step.

Why are there two gatekeepers?

Taking a job abroad usually involves two separate authorities. The immigration authority issues the work permit, which is about whether you may work in the country. A professional regulator decides whether you may practise a regulated occupation there. Nurses, doctors, teachers, engineers, lawyers and electricians are common examples.

For regulated professions, registration is usually the slower of the two, and it often decides the start date. Each authority is a separate receiving authority, with its own rules about who may certify what. A document that satisfies one may not satisfy the other.

Step one: where do you get the list?

If you have a job offer, the employer or its immigration adviser usually drives the work permit and knows what the authorities want. Ask for the complete document list for your permit type. Ask, too, whether your role requires registration with a professional body before you can start. Do both before ordering anything.

If you are applying for a working holiday or another visa on your own, the destination's immigration authority sets the list. Many accept uploaded scans without any authentication. See working holiday visa documents for how that works in Australia.

Step two: does professional registration need a notary?

Often not. If your profession is regulated in the destination, you apply to its regulator. What surprises people is how much of that evidence the regulator wants from institutions directly, not from you.

• Verification of your qualifications, sent directly by your Australian university or training provider, or checked through a verification service.
• Evidence of your current registration and good standing, sent directly by your Australian registration body. Many Australian regulators issue a certificate of registration status for this purpose, on request.
• Employment history, often on the regulator's own form, completed by former employers.

Where evidence must come directly from the issuer, a notarised copy you send yourself will not be accepted, however well sealed. Ask the regulator which items it wants direct and which it will take as certified copies from you. Only the second group involves a notary.

For the items you do supply, a notary can certify copies of your originals so that DFAT can authenticate them if required. University documents have their own DFAT rule. DFAT legalises an original once the university has verified it. A notarised copy must also be verified, and the notary's certificate must state that the original was verified with the issuing institution. See notarising an academic transcript and notarising an apprenticeship certificate.

Step three: how are references and statements of service handled?

Regulators and immigration authorities often want proof of experience: dates, hours and duties. A contract does not prove any of those. What they usually want is a reference or statement of service on the employer's letterhead. See notarising an employment contract for the difference.

Two different notarial acts apply here, and asking for the wrong one wastes an appointment.

• A notarised copy. You bring the original reference, and the notary certifies the copy.
• A notarised signature. The person who wrote the reference signs it in front of the notary, who checks their identity.

If the requirement is the second, your former manager has to attend. Arrange it before you ask them to write anything. In either case the notary never confirms that what the reference says is true. See reference letters for overseas use.

Step four: what does the work permit need?

Typical work permit documents include:

• Qualifications. Some countries want them authenticated for employment visas even where the regulator has already seen them. A few require degrees to go through the whole chain, notary or university verification, DFAT, then the destination's embassy, and then be attested again after you arrive. Allow for every step if it applies. See UAE visa documents for one example.
• A police check, of the exact kind requested: federal or state, name-based or fingerprint-based. DFAT lists national police checks among the original documents it can legalise, so a notary may not be needed. See criminal record checks for overseas use.
• Birth and marriage certificates for any family members coming with you. Registry certificates may be apostilled or authenticated by DFAT directly, without a notary. Confirm with DFAT.
• Medical examinations, usually by a doctor the destination approves. No notary.

Whether the destination is an apostille country must be checked on the HCCH status table on the day. If it is a member, DFAT's apostille is the last Australian step. If it is not, DFAT authenticates the document and the destination's embassy or consulate legalises it.

Document	Usually for	Usual route
Qualification verification	The regulator	Sent directly by the university or provider
Good standing certificate	The regulator	Sent directly by your Australian registration body
Reference or statement of service	Regulator or immigration	Notarised copy or notarised signature, as asked
Degree for the work permit	Immigration	University verification, then DFAT, then embassy if needed
National police check	Immigration	Often DFAT directly; confirm first
Family birth and marriage certificates	Immigration	DFAT directly from the registry original

When should you order short-life documents?

Police checks, bank evidence and some registration certificates are accepted only if recent. Registration is often the slow step, and a police check obtained at the start may have expired by the time the work permit is lodged. Get the list of recency limits from each body and obtain the short-life documents last.

A Justice of the Peace is no shortcut for any of this. A JP's certification is not recognised by foreign authorities and cannot be apostilled. For documents going to an overseas regulator or immigration authority, use the issuer, DFAT or a notary.

What about translation?

If the destination works in another language, it decides whose translation it accepts. Many want their own sworn translators, or a translation made in their own country. Ask before commissioning one in Australia. If an Australian translation is accepted, a NAATI-certified translator's declaration can be notarised and sent to DFAT. See NAATI translation with a notary.

What if the job is a permanent move?

If the job is the start of a permanent move, there are other Australian documents worth gathering before you leave, such as powers of attorney for property and finances here. See documents for moving overseas, and powers of attorney and declarations for how those are signed.

How should you prepare, in order?

1. Get both lists in writing: the work permit list from the employer, and the registration list from the regulator.
2. Ask the regulator which items must come directly from the issuer, and request those from your university and registration body first.
3. Decide how each reference is to be notarised, and arrange for any referee who must sign before a notary.
4. Start university verification for any degree the work permit needs taken through DFAT.
5. Order family certificates from the registry, and send them to DFAT directly if an apostille or authentication is wanted.
6. Order the police check last, of the exact type requested, timed to be current when you lodge.

What if you are already overseas when a document is requested?

It happens often. A regulator asks for one more certified copy after you have left. An Australian notary cannot act for you while you are abroad, because the notary must see you in person. You may be able to use a notary in the country you are in, or an Australian consular officer, depending on what the receiving authority accepts. See getting an Australian document signed from overseas. Gathering spare certified copies before you leave avoids most of this.

Here is an illustration, not a real case

A Newcastle nurse accepts a hospital job in Ireland. The Irish nursing regulator wants her qualification verified by her university and her good standing confirmed by her Australian registration body, both sent directly. She asks both to send them. Her former ward manager signs a statement of service before a notary, because the regulator wants the signature notarised. DFAT apostilles that notarial certificate. She orders her police check only once registration is under way.

In short

Working overseas usually means a work permit and, for regulated jobs, professional registration. Much of the registration evidence goes direct from universities and registration bodies. Notaries come in for references, copies you supply, and documents for DFAT. Ask each receiving authority for its list, start registration early, and order short-life documents last.

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Preparing to work overseas? Send us the lists your employer and regulator gave you, and we will explain each step before you book.