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Apostille Certification

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Apostille Certification

Our fees changed on 1 January 2010 - please read about the new fees before sending your documents.


Before certain New Zealand documents can be used overseas, document legalisation may be necessary.

It is usually required where overseas officials are not able to determine on sight the authenticity of New Zealand documents. To check the requirements, contact the relevant authorities in the country concerned or their overseas representatives.

The process varies depending on the document type and country requirements.

How to obtain an Apostille Certificate

Apostille Certificates are available for use in countries that have signed the Hague Convention abolishing the requirement of legislation for foreign public documents.

You need an Apostille Certificate if your document is being used in any of the following countries:


  • Albania
  • American Samoa
  • Andorra
  • Anguilla
  • Antigua and Barbuda
  • Argentina
  • Armenia
  • Aruba
  • Australia
  • Austria
  • Azerbaijan
  • Bahamas
  • Barbados
  • Belarus
  • Belgium
  • Belize
  • Bermuda
  • Bosnia-Herzegovina
  • Botswana
  • British Antarctic Territory
  • British Guyana
  • British Virgin Islands
  • Brunei Darussalam
  • Bulgaria
  • Cayman Islands
  • Colombia
  • Comoros Islands
  • Cook Islands
  • Croatia
  • Cyprus
  • Czech Republic
  • Denmark
  • Dominica
  • Dominican Republic
  • Ecuador
  • El Salvador
  • Estonia
  • Falkland Islands
  • Fiji
  • Finland
  • France
  • French Polynesia
  • Georgia
  • Germany
  • Gibraltar
  • Grenada
  • Greece
  • Guam
  • Guernsey
  • Honduras
  • Hong Kong
  • Hungary
  • Iceland
  • India
  • Ireland
  • Isle of Man
  • Israel
  • Italy
  • Japan
  • Jersey
  • Kazakhstan
  • Korea (South)
  • Latvia
  • Lesotho
  • Liberia
  • Liechtenstein
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg
  • Macao
  • Macedonia
  • Malawi
  • Malta
  • Marshall Islands
  • Mauritius
  • Mexico
  • Moldova
  • Monaco
  • Mongolia
  • Montserrat
  • Namibia
  • Netherlands
  • Netherlands Antilles
  • New Caledonia
  • Niue
  • Northern Mariana Islands
  • Norway
  • Panama
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Puerto Rico
  • Romania
  • Russian Federation
  • St Georgia and South Sandwich Islands
  • St Helena
  • St Kitts and Nevis
  • St Lucia
  • St Pierre and Miquelon
  • St Vincent and the Grenadines
  • Samoa
  • Serbia and Montenegro
  • Seychelles
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • South Africa
  • Spain
  • Suriname
  • Swaziland
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
  • Tonga
  • Trinidad and Tobago
  • Turkey
  • Turks and Caicos Islands
  • Ukraine
  • United Kingdom
  • United States of America
  • Venezuela
  • Virgin Islands
  • Virgin Islands of the United States
  • Wallis and Futuna

If the document is to be used in any country not specified above, you need an Authentication Certificate. Click here for more information about Document Authentication.

Your documents need to meet certain requirements before you send them to us:

1. A birth, marriage*, death or change of name certificate issued in New Zealand:
Send the original document to us if it has the round seal of the Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages (or the Registrar-General). Some older documents do not have either seal and so new certificates need to be ordered from Births Deaths and Marriages. You can call them on 0800 22 52 52 (from overseas +64 4 474 8150) or download their application forms at www.bdm.govt.nz
*We cannot authenticate the marriage certificate that you signed on your wedding day (the Copy of Particulars of Marriage). We can only authenticate an official marriage certificate ordered after the wedding.

2. A document bearing the seal and/or signature of an approved government agency such as a District/High Court, a Police station, the NZQA, the NZFSA, IRD, etc:
Send the original to us.

Criminal Conviction Letters from the Ministry of Justice:
When ordering these please ask the Ministry of Justice to print the Criminal Conviction Letter on their blue logo paper with an ink signature. We cannot attach an Apostille to black and white letters. Please follow the instructions on their website (these apply for all Hague Convention countries) :
Ministry of Justice

Companies Office documents:
Certificates of Good Standing, Incorporation and Extracts are available electronically from the Companies Office website. You need to request these via email so that they contain a validation code. You can then email (or post) them to us and we can validate them and attach an Apostille. We can also provide an electronic Apostille (e-Apostille) so that the documents can continue electronically.
To order these documents please go to:
Ordering Incorporation or Extract
Ordering Good Standing


3. Documents that are not issued by the government:
Documents such as contracts, references, powers of attorney, academic documents*, Chamber of Commerce certificates and any other document not issued by the government needs to be notarised by a Notary Public in New Zealand before you send them to our office. The Notary Public will sign the document and affix his/her seal to it. You can find a list of Notaries Public for your area in the Yellow Pages of your telephone book. The Notary Public will charge a fee. You then need to send us only the notarised copy, not the original.
You cannot have your documents certified by a solicitor or a JP (Justice of the Peace).

*All documents issued by a school or university will need to be notarised before you send them to us. We cannot authenticate original documents issued by schools or universities. We can only authenticate original documents issued by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) and the Ministry of Education.


    Contact Details
    Send the document to us:
    by courier:
    Authentication Unit, Level 13, Prime Property Tower, 86-90 Lambton Quay, Wellington 6011

    or by post
    Authentication Unit, Department of Internal Affairs, PO Box 805, Wellington 6140

    email:
    authentication@egs.govt.nz
    Phone: (04) 470-2928 Freephone: 0800 872 675 Fax: (04) 470-2921
    Authentication Officers: Carlee Reid, Shannan Wong, Rita Foaese

    Click here for optional application form (.pdf) 55k*

    *This document is in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format. You need to have the Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer. You can download a free version from the Adobe site.
      Checklist
      Make sure you have enclosed:

      1. The document to which the Apostille is to be attached. If there is more than one document you may need to check with the end-user whether the documents can be processed as a set or whether they must be treated separately. Documents in a set will be joined together. If they have been issued by different agencies they must be processed separately.
      • A set is one or more documents issued by the same authority and with the same seal. For example, Birth and Marriage Certificates issued by the Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages can be issued as one set. However, if one of the documents has the seal of the Registrar-General, this will need to be Apostilled as a separate set. A Citizenship Certificate, which has a different issuing authority and seal, must also be issued with a separate Apostille.
        • Does the document require notarisation? See above and find a Notary Public via the Yellow Pages.
        2. Payment

        The fee is $32 NZD (incl. GST) for one Apostille certificate and
        $15 NZD for each additional Apostille certificate submitted at the same time.

        1 Apostille certificate = $32
        2 Apostille certificates = $47
        3 Apostille certificates = $62
        4 Apostille certificates = $77
        5 Apostille certificates = $92


        You can pay by:
        • Cheque or money order made out to The Department of Internal Affairs; or
        • VISA, Mastercard or American Express details (card number, expiry date and name of cardholder); or
        • If you visit our office you may also pay with cash or EFTpos.
        If you are not sure of the fee involved, please contact us first.

        3. Return of documents
        • We will send it to you by standard post unless you either provide a prepaid self addressed courier bag or buy a return courier bag from us.
        • Courier bags for delivery within NZ cost $5.
        • Please contact us to find out international courier fees.

        4. Then send everything to us The process will not take longer than five working days.
          Links to further information Before certain New Zealand documents can be used overseas, Document Authentication may be necessary. It is usually required where overseas officials are not able to determine on sight the authenticity of New Zealand documents.

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          Last updated: 26/01/2010