Answers, without the jargon.

An apostille is a certificate that verifies the signature, seal or stamp on a public document so it can be recognised in another country that is party to the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention. In Australia, apostilles are issued only by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). An apostille does not verify the content of the document.

Both are issued by DFAT. An apostille is used for countries that are party to the Apostille Convention. An authentication certificate is used for countries that are not — and is usually followed by legalisation at that country's embassy or consulate. Our guided request checks your destination against the official Convention status list.

Start with what the receiving authority asked for, then check your destination. Our guided request does this for you and flags any mismatch — for example, if you were asked for an apostille but the destination isn't a Convention party. If in doubt, ask the receiving authority to confirm in writing; DFAT itself cannot tell you what an overseas authority will accept.

No. We are an independent, privately owned business that assists customers with preparing and lodging documents. DFAT issues apostilles and authentications; embassies legalise documents; notaries public notarise them. DFAT allows someone to attend a lodgement appointment on your behalf, which is part of what we do.

DFAT can legalise original Australian public documents — those issued by government agencies (for example birth, marriage and death certificates from a Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, or AFP National Police Checks) — where it holds the signatory's specimen signature. Other documents, and copies, must first be notarised by an Australian notary public.

No. A JP's signature is recognised within Australia, but JPs cannot certify documents for use overseas. A notary public must do that — we coordinate one for you.

Yes — DFAT applies the certificate directly to the document. If you don't want your original marked, we can arrange a notarised copy to be legalised instead, provided the receiving authority accepts notarised copies.

No. A notary public must sight the original document to certify a copy, and the certified copy is then legalised.

DFAT states that its processing times vary and can lengthen at peak periods such as the end of the school year and holidays. Embassy steps add time set by each embassy. We lodge promptly once your documents are received and checked, and we update your order status as each real step happens — but we never guarantee government or embassy processing times.

Once you approve your quote, we email your order reference and exactly where to send your documents. Use a tracked service (Express Post or registered post) and include your reference.

Use the Track page with your order reference and email address. Each status is set by our team when that step actually happens — for example when your documents arrive, when they are lodged with DFAT, and when they are dispatched. We do not show live government tracking.

Because they aren't ours. Government charges (such as DFAT's certificate fee) and embassy fees are set by those authorities and passed on at cost. Your quote shows them on separate lines so you can see exactly what our service costs.

Every service is quoted individually. Use the guided request or contact us with your document details, and we will email a written quote — our fee and any government or embassy charges shown on separate lines. Nothing is payable until you approve the quote.

We check every document before anything is lodged. If something prevents us proceeding, we contact you to discuss options, which may include notarisation, before any further work or charges.

Australia's DFAT can only legalise Australian documents. Foreign documents generally need an apostille or legalisation from the authorities of the country that issued them. Our international division assesses whether we can coordinate that for you, and quotes first.

We assess every overseas matter individually and only take on work where a reliable arrangement can be confirmed. We don't claim blanket coverage. Use the country selector to see the Convention status and start a quotation request.

We assist customers across Australia and overseas. Contact us by email and we will confirm the best way to get your documents to us.

Documents are handled by named staff, kept secured, and returned by tracked service. Card payments, where offered, are processed by Stripe. We collect only what we need to complete your order — see our Privacy Policy.