Apostille & Legalisation

An Apostille is a simplified document authentication procedure used between countries that are parties to the Hague Convention. Its purpose is not to re-examine the contents of a document, but rather for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to confirm that the notary’s signature, seal or relevant official signing on the document is genuine and valid.

For example, if you need to submit an Australian academic qualification, birth certificate, marriage certificate, company document, power of attorney or statutory declaration to an institution in China, Singapore, the United Kingdom, the United States or another country that is a party to the Hague Convention, that body may require the document to be apostilled. Once an Apostille has been obtained, the document can generally be recognised between the relevant member countries without any additional Legalisation by that country’s embassy or consulate in Australia.

It is important to note that many documents cannot be apostilled directly. Documents such as copies of passports, copies of academic documents, powers of attorney, statutory declarations, company documents and commercial contracts generally need to be notarised first by an international notary public before being submitted to the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for an Apostille.

Legalisation generally applies where a document is to be submitted to a country that is not a party to the Hague Convention. Compared with an Apostille, the Legalisation process is usually longer and depends more heavily on the specific requirements of the receiving country’s embassy or consulate.

Generally speaking, Legalisation may involve the following steps: first, an international notary public notarises the document, signature or copy; second, the notarised document is submitted to the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for authentication; and finally, the document is submitted to the receiving country’s embassy or consulate in Australia for Legalisation.

For example, if a country is not a party to the Hague Convention, the overseas institution may not accept an Apostille on its own and may instead require the document to be confirmed by that country’s embassy or consulate in Australia. Different embassies and consulates may have different requirements as to document type, translation, format, appointments, fees and processing times, so before commencing the process you should first confirm the specific requirements of the institution that will ultimately receive the document.

In the past, where an Australian document needed to be used in mainland China, the common process generally involved international notarisation, authentication by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Legalisation by the Chinese embassy or consulate in Australia. This process was relatively complex and time-consuming.

Since mainland China joined the Hague Convention, the process for many Australian documents used in mainland China has been greatly simplified. For most Australian documents required for use in mainland China — for example a power of attorney, an academic qualification, a certificate of single status, a birth certificate, a marriage certificate, a company document or a statutory declaration — the matter can generally be completed by way of “international notarisation + Apostille”, without any additional Legalisation by the Chinese embassy or consulate in Australia.

However, this does not mean that the same process automatically applies to every document. Some institutions may still have specific requirements as to document format, translation, the manner of signing or supplementary material. Accordingly, before proceeding, it is still advisable to confirm the specific requirements of the party receiving the document, particularly for documents involving property transactions, inheritance, company registration, litigation proceedings or banking procedures.

For the Chinese community in Australia, the most common situations include:

Australian documents that need to be used in China, for example:
In these situations, the relevant Chinese institutions are usually unable to verify directly the authenticity of the Australian document, and will therefore require the document to undergo international notarisation and the Apostille process.

Documents signed in Australia but needing to be used in China — this is also one of the most common situations at present — for example:
For example, if a client has been living in Sydney for a long time but owns a property in Shanghai and a domestic buyer has already been found, the client is often unable to return to China in person to attend to the transfer formalities. In such a case, the client generally needs to sign a power of attorney for the sale of the property, authorising a relative or lawyer in China to sign the contract, complete the transfer, pay the taxes and fees and attend to the related formalities on their behalf.

Because the signing takes place in Australia, the Chinese property authority cannot confirm whether the power of attorney was signed by the property owner in person, and will therefore generally require the power of attorney to be witnessed and signed before an Australian international notary public, and then apostilled, before it can be accepted.

Documents that commonly require authentication include personal documents, academic documents, company documents, legal documents and cross-border transaction documents. Personal documents generally include passports, driver’s licences, birth certificates, marriage certificates, police clearance certificates, certificates of single status and identity declarations. Academic documents generally include degree certificates, academic transcripts, certificates of current enrolment, graduation certificates and professional qualification certificates.

Company and commercial documents may include certificates of company registration, director details, certificates of good standing, board resolutions, shareholder resolutions, commercial contracts, investment documents, bank account opening documents and intellectual property documents. Legal documents commonly include powers of attorney, statutory declarations, affidavits, grant of probate documents, estate administration documents, declarations renouncing inheritance, overseas property sale documents and court documents.

Different documents are handled in different ways. Some original government documents may be submitted directly to the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for authentication; however, many private documents, copies, powers of attorney, statutory declarations and company documents generally need to be notarised first by an international notary public.

Based on the intended use of a client’s document and the requirements of the receiving country, NS Legal can help assess whether a document should be apostilled or legalised, and confirm whether the document needs to be notarised first by an international notary public. For powers of attorney, statutory declarations, company documents or other legal documents that need to be signed, we can assist with arranging witnessed signing, identity verification and the preparation of notarial certificates.

Once a document has been notarised, we can also, according to the client’s needs, assist with the subsequent steps of submitting it to the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for an Apostille or authentication. For documents that require further Legalisation, we can help clients work through the requirements of the relevant embassy or consulate, and alert them to issues that may arise concerning translation, appointments, format and scheduling.