Guide

Apostille, notary or translation: which one you need, and in what order

They are three different jobs done by three different people. An apostille confirms that a signature or seal on a document is genuine. A notary public witnesses signatures and certifies copies for use overseas. A translator puts the words into another language. Which ones you need, and in what order, depends on where the document is going.

Published 29 September 2026 · Official Translation

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The short answer: ask the office that will read it, then work in this order

Going overseas with an Australian document: ask the overseas office what it wants, then notary (only if needed), then an apostille from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), then the translation, and, only if the office asks for it, an apostille on the translation too.

Coming to Australia with a foreign document: ask the Australian office what it wants. If it wants an apostille, that comes from the country that issued the document, before you order the translation, so the apostille can be translated with everything else.

If your document is already in English and only needs an apostille, you do not need us. DFAT’s service is the one to use, and the steps are on its Smartraveller pages listed at the end of this guide.

We arrange translations. We do not notarise, we do not issue apostilles, and we do not arrange either step for you.

What an apostille is, and who issues one for an Australian document

An apostille is a certificate attached to a public document so it can be used in another country. DFAT describes what it checks: it will “certify that a signature, stamp or seal on an official Australian public document is genuine by checking it against a specimen held on file”. Its Smartraveller page puts it in one line: “Legalisation verifies that the signature, stamp or seal on it is genuine.”

For Australian documents there is one issuer: “The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is the Australian legalisation authority. No other authority in Australia can ‘legalise’ documents. However, others can ‘notarise’ them.” DFAT says it provides the service “by mail and in person at Australian Passport Offices”. A translator cannot issue one, and neither can we.

An apostille says nothing about what the document says. The Hague Conference’s Apostille Handbook is blunt about it: “An Apostille does not relate in any way to the content of the underlying public document.” So an apostille in English on a document written in another language does not put that document into English.

Apostilles come from the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention, which has applied to Australia since 16 March 1995, according to the Hague Conference’s status table. DFAT issues either an apostille or an authentication certificate, and on which one you need it says plainly: “We can’t advise which one you need. You must ask the receiving authority overseas what they want.”

If someone hands you an Australian apostille and you want to check it, Smartraveller says: “You can verify apostilles issued by the Australian Government after 14 December 2015, online.”

What a notary public does, and why a JP is not the same

The Supreme Court of Tasmania describes a notary public as “a public officer, usually a practicing solicitor, appointed for life by State/Territory Supreme Courts (except in Queensland where they are still appointed by an English Archbishop)”. It draws the line with a justice of the peace this way: “While Justices of the Peace can witness documents and administer oaths in Australia, notaries public have the exclusive right to do the same for international documents for use outside Australia.”

That difference matters for the apostille step. Smartraveller says: “DFAT can’t legalise documents certified by a JP.” A notary’s signature and seal, on the other hand, are something DFAT can legalise. Its list of documents it can legalise says: “We can legalise private documents, once they are notarised by an Australian Notary Public.” DFAT’s own examples include powers of attorney, wills and bank statements, and a notarised copy of a degree when you do not want a mark on the original.

Notarising is not always followed by an apostille. Smartraveller: “Australian Notary Publics can ‘notarise’ documents for use overseas. This is different from legalising.” It adds: “Many receiving authorities are satisfied with a notarised document.” Ask the overseas office whether it wants the extra step.

What people mean by a notarised translation. A notary does not vouch for the language work; the translator does. Where a translation itself has to carry a notary’s act, the Apostille Handbook describes one route: “the translator may swear an affidavit (or make a similar declaration) attesting to the accuracy of the translation before a notary”. The notary’s certificate is then the document that gets the apostille. Smartraveller also lists, among the notarised documents DFAT can legalise, “documents in a foreign language, if prepared by a Notary Public in Australia”.

We do not notarise, and it is not a step we arrange. If an office has asked for a notarised translation, ask it what the notary is meant to attest, and whether a translation by a NAATI-certified translator is what it has in mind instead. Then book the notary yourself if one is still needed.

Taking an Australian document overseas: the order of steps

A degree going to an employer in Spain, a birth certificate for a marriage in Italy, a police check for a visa elsewhere: steps 1 to 3 follow DFAT’s own pages, and steps 4 and 5 depend on what the overseas office asks for. Skip any step it has not asked for.

Ask the overseas office first. Smartraveller: “You must ask the receiving authority what documents they want, and which ones you must get legalised.” And: “Be aware that many overseas authorities don’t ask for legalised documents.” Ask, too, who it wants to do the translation.
Notary, if the document needs one. “In some cases, documents must be notarised before you can submit them for us to legalise.” Private documents, copies, and documents from private schools and colleges are among the cases DFAT’s page lists.
Apostille or authentication from DFAT, on the original or on the notarised copy.
The translation, if the overseas office wants one. Doing it after the apostille means the translation can include the apostille’s wording as well, if the office wants that. We can arrange a translation out of English for an Australian document you need to use overseas; with the NAATI certification option the job goes to a translator certified in that direction.
An apostille on the translation, only if the office asks for one. DFAT can legalise some translations, and it sets out what they must carry. That is the next section.

If DFAT is to put an apostille on the translation itself

DFAT’s Smartraveller page lists what a translation submitted for legalisation must include: “the translator’s name and signature”, “the official National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI) seal (stamp), including their practitioner ID” and “the date of translation”. It goes on: “You must also submit a copy of the original document, with a signature and/or seal from the translator. The above must be contained on every page.” And on who may translate: “We only accept translations completed by a NAATI certified or recognised translator.”

NAATI’s own page on DFAT’s requirements (which says it is “current as of January 2024”) covers the digital stamp too. Its list asks for “their signature (physical stamp) OR ‘Digitally Authenticated by NAATI’ (digital stamp)”, and says “The information above must be contained on EVERY translated page.”

Here is what our file carries under the NAATI certification option, so you can hold it up against both lists. The NAATI-certified translator’s name and practitioner number and their NAATI stamp, normally the digital one with a QR code and the words “Digitally Authenticated by NAATI”, on every translated page. Their certification statement. And a copy of your original, stamped by the translator, inside the same PDF. It does not carry a handwritten signature, and it arrives as a PDF by email, not on paper.

DFAT’s page mentions a signature; NAATI’s page names the digital alternative. If you plan to have the translation legalised, email DFAT’s legalisation team before you order, and ask whether a printed copy of a translation with a NAATI digital stamp is one it can legalise. DFAT gives the address on its pages: legalisations.australia@dfat.gov.au. PDF or hard copy? explains the digital stamp in more detail.

Bringing a foreign document to Australia: what Home Affairs asks for

Most people with a foreign document here need it for a visa or citizenship application. The Department of Home Affairs answers the translation question in four sentences: “All documents not in English must be translated into English.” “Translators in Australia must be accredited by the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters.” “You must submit both the original document (non-English) and the translated document.” “For translations outside of Australia, check the requirements in the ‘Gather your documents’ section of the relevant visa or citizenship page on our website.”

That answer does not mention an apostille or a notary. For a translation made outside Australia, Home Affairs points you to the visa or citizenship page for your application, so check that page too. Other Australian offices publish their own rules. If nothing you have been given mentions an apostille, ask the office before you spend money getting one.

If an apostille is wanted, it has to come from the country that issued the document. Smartraveller puts it simply: “The government in each country can only legalise documents issued in their country.” The Convention itself says the apostille is “issued by the competent authority of the State from which the document emanates”. DFAT cannot apostille your foreign birth certificate, and nor can anyone else in Australia.

Get the apostille first, then order the translation, and send us every side that carries text, a stamp or a seal, the apostille included. The apostille’s wording is translated along with the rest. Each side counts as a page; what a NAATI translation costs explains how pages are counted and priced.

What we do, and what we leave to DFAT and the notary

We take your order, arrange the translation of the whole document, and deliver it by email as a searchable PDF. One side of every job is English. Most of our work is into English; for an Australian document going overseas, we can also arrange a translation from English into another language.

Where an office names NAATI, choose the NAATI certification option. A NAATI-certified translator prepares the translation and adds their certification statement and NAATI stamp, with their name and practitioner number. The Standard option carries no statement or stamp. What a certified translation looks like shows the file page by page, and checking a NAATI stamp shows how anyone can look the translator up.

We do not issue apostilles, we do not notarise, and we do not book either step for you. If there is an error in the translation, contact us with your order number and we correct and re-issue it at no charge.

Not sure whether your document is one we can help with? Send a photo and a line about where it is going through the contact page before you order.

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