Apostille Australia

• We have a solicitor and notary public available at our Head Office in Sydney during business hours for general advice on Apostilles and Legalisation processes
• We serve all of Sydney NSW & interstate regions
• We operate Australia and world wide and welcome instructions from VIC QLD ACT WA NT & overseas clients
• Our services are fast and confidential
• Birth, Death & Marriage Certificates, Powers of Attorney, & Notarised Affidavits and Contracts are our most popular certified documents
• We are your online source for all Australian Apostille, Authentication and Legalisation information and services
• We welcome enquiries from overseas clients requiring an Apostille on an Australian document

How is Formal Proof Provided?

An Australian public document must be "legalised" or formally proved valid and genuine, before it is accepted by overseas businesses, governments or courts.

An Apostille Certificate proves conclusively that an Australian public document is authentic and genuine.

A document legalised by an Apostille Certificate is restricted in its use to only those overseas countries which are signatories to The Hague Convention.

If not, full document legalisation by the foreign country's Embassy or Consulate in Australia is required.

Why An Apostille Certificate?

Prior to the introduction of Apostille Certificates, the burden on international governments and Courts to ascertain whether foreign public documents were authentic or not, was quite onerous.

The Hague Convention abolished the requirement of formal legalisation of foreign public documents to prevent these difficult appraisals having to be made.

The Convention reduced all of the formalities of legalisation to the simple delivery of a Certificate in a prescribed form, entitled "Apostille", to be issued by the appropriate government department of a country which ratified the Convention.

Whilst most countries have embraced the Convention, many have still to adopt it.

The Hague Convention's full title, which speaks for itself, is... The CONVENTION ABOLISHING THE REQUIREMENT OF LEGALISATION FOR FOREIGN PUBLIC DOCUMENTS, and was concluded on October 5, 1961.

Its full text (Articles 1-15) may be viewed online.

What Does An Apostille Look Like?

An Apostille (Certificate) is a square approximately 9cm long, stamped onto the reverse side of a single page public document.

It is formatted into numbered fields to allow certified data to be identified by the receiving country, regardless of the official language of the issuing country. It is also dated, numbered, registered and impressed with the seal of the government department which issues it.

The Certificate's official issue and registration may be verified without difficulty by means of a simple request for information addressed to the country's issuing government department from where it originated.

If the certified document consists of more than one page, all pages are bound together into a single bundle and tied firmly with green ribbon or tape with the Certificate attached on a separate sheet of paper. See an example.

How Effective Is An Apostille Certificate?

An Apostille Certificate dramatically simplifies the formalities associated with using public documents outside Australia.

If an Australian public document is affixed with an Apostille Certificate certifying its authenticity, it will be automatically accepted as genuine in countries participating in the Hague Convention.

An Apostille Certificate is inappropriate if the country where the public document is intended to be used is not a signatory to The Hague Convention.

For your public document to operate in a non-participating country, it must be "legalised" or authenticated by the foreign country's diplomatic representative in Australia, which is often complex and expensive.

It is the signature, seal or stamp of a public official (such as a judge, notary public, or registrar) appearing on the face of an Australian public document that is authenticated.

An Apostille Certificate legalises an Australian public document by certifying its essential features (signature, seal or stamp), are authentic and genuine, and that it has been lawfully issued; it does not however, certify or prove its contents.

Apostilled public documents are accepted in all countries participating in the Hague Convention. Public documents legalised by a country's Embassy or Consulate are restricted in their use to the particular country which undertook the legalisation process in respect of those documents.

How We Assist

Apostille Australia Certificate Service provides professional advice and services in respect of the legal processes associated with the legalisation of all public documents for use overseas.

It personally attends upon the relevant Australian Government Department to arrange for the issue of an Apostille Certificate or Authentication Certificate.

It accepts instructions to legalise Australian public documents required for use in countries not participating in The Hague Convention, and attends upon the relevant Embassy or Consulate in Australia for this purpose.

It also provides extensive Notary Public Services and document translation services.

It assists the legal profession, adoption agencies, insurance companies, immigration specialists and agencies, IT companies, financial institutions, universities and many other sectors.

It welcomes instructions from individual members of the public, overseas expatriates and foreign nationals.

Apostille Australia has the requisite skill and expertise to legalise all Australian public documents.

How We Operate

Apostille Australia Certificate Service has its offices in Sydney, NSW, Australia, close to all relevant government departments and overseas consular representatives.

It has agents in all capital cities of Australia.

It takes delivery from clients of original Australian public documents required for use overseas, including notarised affidavits or verified copies of original documents such as passports.

It thereupon attends upon the appropriate government office in Sydney or elsewhere to have certified such documents as being authentic and genuine, by the issue of Apostille or Authentication Certificates.

Likewise, it attends upon the relevant Embassy or Consulate of a foreign country in Sydney, Canberra or elsewhere, to arrange for full document legalisation of Australian public documents, when Apostille Certificates are inappropriate.

It then returns the duly apostilled, authenticated or legalised documents to their original source.

In providing these unique services, it makes clients' lives easier and saves them time, worry and energy.

Apostille Australia Certificate Service

FREE TELEPHONE CONSULTATION SERVICE: Complete this form if you reside or work within Australia and one of our solicitors will contact you shortly.

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