Before a public document can be used in a foreign country, the origin and authenticity of the original document must be confirmed. This is called legalization and is the process of certifying an official document by an appropriate public authority so a foreign country’s legal system will recognize it as valid and with full legal effect. There are two ways of legalising documents: Apostille and Authentication.
Parties to the Hague Convention of 5th October 1961 enjoy the mutual recognition of public documents. In Australia, which is a signatory to the Hague Convention, an Apostille stamp is placed on the document by the Notarial Unit of the Department of Foreign Affairs to confirm that a document, such as birth or marriage record or a notarised document is an authentic document.
For states that have not signed the Convention, documents must be certified by a notary public, submitted to the Department of Foreign Affairs and finally, certified by the Consulate of the destination country before having a legal effect in the receiving country.
Polaron provides the legalisation service, including the translation and certification of documents for use in the jurisdiction required, as follows:
- Analysing the documents to be legalized
- Ascertaining who should authenticate the documents in view of the originating and destination countries
- NAATI certified translation
- Notarial certification
- Apostille
- Consular authentication
This version is correct as of April 2019
| Country | Type of legalisation required |
| Afghanistan | Consular authentication |
| Albania | Apostille |
| Algeria | Consular authentication |
| Andorra | Apostille |
| Angola | Consular authentication |
| Antigua and Barbuda | Apostille |
| Argentina | Apostille |
| Armenia | Apostille |
| Australia | Apostille |
| Austria | Apostille |
| Azerbeijan | Apostille |
| The Bahamas | Apostille |
| Bahrain | Apostille |
| Bangladesh | Consular authentication |
| Barbados | Apostille |
| Belarus | Apostille |
| Belgium | Apostille |
| Belize | Apostille |
| Benin | Consular authentication |
| Bhutan | Consular authentication |
| Bioko | Consular authentication |
| Bolivia | Apostille |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | Apostille |
| Botswana | Apostille |
| Brazil | Apostille |
| Brunei Darussalam | Apostille |
| Bulgaria | Apostille |
| Burkina FasoBulgaria | Consular authentication |
| Burundi | Apostille |
| Cambodia | Consular authentication |
| Cameroon | Consular authentication |
| Canada | Consular authentication |
| Canary Islands | Apostille |
| Cape Verde | Apostille |
| Central African Republic | Consular authentication |
| Chile | Apostille |
| China | Apostille |
| Cook Islands | Apostille |
| Colombia | Apostille |
| Comoros | Consular authentication |
| Congo | Consular authentication |
| Costa Rica | Apostille |
| Croatia | Apostille |
| Cuba | Consular authentication |
| Cyprus | Apostille |
| Czech Republic | Apostille |
| Denmark | Apostille |
| Djibouti | Consular authentication |
| Dominica | Apostille |
| Dominican republic | Apostille |
| East Timor | Consular authentication |
| Ecuador | Apostille |
| Egypt | Consular authentication |
| El Salvador | Apostille |
| Equatorial Guinea | Consular authentication |
| Eritrea | Consular authentication |
| Estonia | Apostille |
| Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) | Apostille |
| Ethiopia | Consular authentication |
| Falklands (United Kingdom) | Apostille |
| Fiji | Apostille |
| Finland | Apostille |
| France | Apostille |
| French-Guyana (France) | Apostille |
| Gabon | Consular authentication |
| Gambia | Consular authentication |
| Georgia | Apostille |
| Germany | Apostille |
| Ghana | Consular authentication |
| Gibraltar (United Kingdom) | Apostille |
| Greece | Apostille |
| Grenada | Apostille |
| Guatemala | Apostille |
| Guinea Bissau | Consular authentication |
| Guinea Republic | Consular authentication |
| Guyana | Apostille |
| Haiti | Consular authentication |
| Holy see | Consular authentication |
| Honduras | Apostille |
| Hong Kong | Apostille |
| Hungary | Apostille |
| Iceland | Apostille |
| India | Apostille |
| Indonesia | Consular authentication |
| Iran | Consular authentication |
| Iraq | Consular authentication |
| Ireland | Apostille |
| Israel | Apostille |
| Italy | Apostille |
| Ivory Coast | Consular authentication |
| Jamaica | Consular authentication |
| Japan | Apostille |
| Jordan | Consular authentication |
| Kazakhstan | Apostille |
| Kenya | Consular authentication |
| Kiribati | Consular authentication |
| Korea | Apostille |
| Kosovo | Apostille |
| Kuwait | Consular authentication |
| Kyrgyzstan | Apostille |
| Laos | Consular authentication |
| Latvia | Apostille |
| Lebanon | Consular authentication |
| Lesotho | Apostille |
| Liberia | Apostille |
| Libya | Consular authentication |
| Liechtenstein | Apostille |
| Lithuania | Apostille |
| Luxembourg | Apostille |
| Macedonia (FYR) | Apostille |
| Madagascar | Consular authentication |
| Malawi | Apostille |
| Malaysia | Consular authentication |
| Maldive | Consular authentication |
| Mali Rep. | Consular authentication |
| Malta | Apostille |
| Marshall Islands | Apostille |
| Mauritania | Consular authentication |
| Mauritius | Apostille |
| Mayotte (France) | Apostille |
| Mexico | Apostille |
| Micronesia | Consular authentication |
| Moldova | Apostille |
| Monaco | Apostille |
| Mongolia | Apostille |
| Montenegro | Apostille |
| Morocco | Consular authentication |
| Mozambique | Consular authentication |
| Myanmar | Apostille |
| Namibia | Apostille |
| Nauru | Consular authentication |
| Nepal | Consular authentication |
| Netherlands | Apostille |
| New Zealand | Apostille |
| Ngwane (United Kingdom) | Apostille |
| Nicaragua | Apostille |
| Niger Rep. | Consular authentication |
| Nigeria | Consular authentication |
| Niue | Apostille |
| Norway | Apostille |
| Oman | Apostille |
| Pakistan | Consular authentication |
| Palau | Consular authentication |
| Palestinian Territories | Consular authentication |
| Panama | Apostille |
| Papua New Guinea | Consular authentication |
| Paraguay | Consular authentication |
| Peru | Apostille |
| Philippines | Apostille |
| Poland | Apostille |
| Portugal | Apostille |
| Qatar | Consular authentication |
| Reunion (France) | Apostille |
| Romania | Apostille |
| Russia | Apostille |
| Rwanda | Consular authentication |
| Saint Helena (United Kingdom) | Apostille |
| Saints Kitts and Nevis | Apostille |
| Saint Lucia | Apostille |
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Apostille |
| Samoa | Apostille |
| San Marino | Apostille |
| São Tomé and Príncipe | Apostille |
| Saudi Arabia | Consular authentication |
| Senegal | Consular authentication |
| Serbia | Apostille |
| Seychelles | Apostille |
| Sierra Leone | Consular authentication |
| Singapore | Consular authentication |
| Slovakia | Apostille |
| Slovenia | Apostille |
| Solomon Islands | Consular authentication |
| Somalia | Consular authentication |
| South Africa | Apostille |
| Spain | Apostille |
| Sri Lanka | Consular authentication |
| Sudan | Consular authentication |
| Suriname | Apostille |
| Sweden | Apostille |
| Switzerland | Apostille |
| Syria | Consular authentication |
| Tajikistan | Apostille |
| Taiwan | Consular authentication |
| Tanzania | Consular authentication |
| Thailand | Consular authentication |
| Tonga | Apostille |
| Trinidad and Tobago | Apostille |
| Tunisia | Consular authentication |
| Turkey | Apostille |
| Turkmenistan | Consular authentication |
| Tuvalu | Consular authentication |
| Uganda | Consular authentication |
| Ukraine | Apostille |
| United Arab Emirates | Consular authentication |
| Uruguay | Consular authentication |
| United kingdom (Great Britain) | Apostille |
| United States of America | Apostille |
| Uzbekistan | Apostille |
| Vanuatu | Apostille |
| Venezuela | Apostille |
| Vietnam | Consular authentication |
| Western Sahara | Consular authentication |
| Yemen | Consular authentication |
| Zambia | Consular authentication |
| Zimbabwe | Consular authentication |
Want to know more? Please contact us at
citizenship@polaron.com.au
