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Document Authentication
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Document Authentication
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Before certain New Zealand documents can be used overseas, document authentication may be necessary. It is required where overseas officials are not able to determine on sight the authenticity of New Zealand documents.
Click here for 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.
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 Court, a Police station, the NZQA, the NZFSA, IRD, etc:
Send the original to us.
Passports/Driver Licences
We cannot authenticate an original Passport or Driver Licence. You must provide a copy that has been certified by the issuing office or notarised by a Notary Public.
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 authenticate black and white letters. Please follow the instructions on their website (these apply for all 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 and authenticate them.
To order these documents please go to:
Ordering Incorporation or Extract
Ordering Good Standing
Syrian Visa applications
You must apply for a Letter Confirming the Details of your Passport from the Business Support team at the Passport Office. You should post or fax your request to: Passport Office, Business Support, PO Box 10526, Wellington 6143 or fax 04 382 3403. You must provide a photocopy of the biodata page of your passport, your full address and phone number, and a request for a Letter Confirming the Details of your Passport for use in obtaining a Syrian visa. You should request that the Letter be forwarded to The Authentication Unit. The authentication will cost $65. You can contact us directly to make the payment, advise credit card details on your request, or send your payment to the Passport Office for them to forward on to us with the Letter. We will send you the authenticated Letter so that you can send it with your visa application to the Syrian Embassy.
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.
We cannot authenticate documents certified by a solicitor or a JP.
*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.
Send us your documents for authentication:
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
Other contact details:
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
The Authentication Unit authenticates the signature and seal of the approved Government agency or Notary Public. This takes up to five working days. Please advise the Authentication Unit if urgent processing or a translation is required. Once we have authenticated your documents we will pass them on to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade for the next step in the authentication process.
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Make sure you have enclosed:
The document/s to authenticate. If you have more than one document to authenticate, you may need to check with the end-user whether the documents can be processed as a set or authenticated separately. Documents in a set will be joined together. Documents with different seals from different issuing authorities can be authenticated as one set.
Please indicate clearly which documents belong together, and the order of each set, when you submit more than one set of documents.
You should paper clip or staple each set together.
FEES:
Category A (see list of countries below)
$65 NZD (incl. GST) for one authentication certificate (we can attach any number of documents to one certificate)
$31 NZD for each additional authentication certificate submitted at the same time.
1 authentication certificate = $65
2 authentication certificates = $96
3 authentication certificates = $127
4 authentication certificates = $158
5 authentication certificates = $189
Category B – documents for any country listed on the Category B list on the MFAT website cost:
$195 NZD (incl. GST) for one authentication certificate (we can attach any number of documents to one certificate)
$61 NZD for each additional authentication certificate submitted at the same time.
1 authentication certificate = $195
2 authentication certificates = $256
3 authentication certificates = $317
All fees are paid to the Department of Internal Affairs.
The fee includes payment for both Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
HOW TO PAY:
One cheque or money order made out to the Department of Internal Affairs.
VISA, MasterCard or American Express (card number, name and expiry date).
If you visit our office you may also pay with cash or EFTPOS.
RETURN POSTAGE:
We will send your documents to you by standard post unless you 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.
We will forward your documents to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade verifies the signature and seal of the Department of Internal Affairs. The document(s) must then be forwarded to the diplomatic mission of the destination country for their verification.
There are two categories of countries:
- 'Category A' countries (listed in the table below) will verify the signature of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade on a document.
- 'Category B' countries (listed on Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade website ) require documents to be forwarded via a New Zealand overseas post
'Category A' countries:
Diplomatic mission contact details are available from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade website.
- Algeria
- Bangladesh
- Bolivia
- Brazil
- Cambodia
- Canada
- Chile
- China
- Costa Rica
- Cuba
- Egypt
- Eritrea
- Ghana
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- Guatemala
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Jordan
- Kenya
- Kiribati
- Kuwait
- Laos
- Lebanon
- Malaysia
- Mali
- Mongolia
- Morocco
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- Myanmar
- Nauru
- Nepal
- Nicaragua
- Nigeria
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Papua New Guinea
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Philippines
- Qatar
- Saudi Arabia
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- Singapore
- Solomon Islands
- Sri Lanka
- Sudan
- Taiwan
- Thailand
- Tuvalu
- United Arab Emirates
- Uruguay
- Vanuatu
- Viet Nam
- Yemen
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
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Verification by foreign diplomatic mission of a 'Category A' country:
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade will return the documents to you for you to forward to the foreign country’s diplomatic mission for further verification.
To arrange verification by the foreign country’s diplomatic mission, contact the foreign diplomatic mission to enquire about their processing requirements, including fees and return of the documents. Contact details are available from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade website.
Verification by foreign diplomatic mission of a 'Category B' country:
The Ministry will forward your documents to the foreign diplomatic mission for you via a NZ overseas post.
The process is as follows:
- The Authentication Unit authenticates the documents and sends them to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- The Ministry processes your documents.
- The Ministry forwards your documents to a New Zealand overseas mission where there is also a foreign mission of the country in which the document is to be used.
- The New Zealand overseas mission verifies the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade's signature and seal and forwards the documents to the foreign mission.
- The foreign mission verifies the New Zealand overseas mission's signature and seal and returns the authenticated documents to you.
Contact the foreign overseas mission to enquire about fees plus arrangements for payment and return of documents. For contact details refer to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade website.
Links to further information
If the country you are using your document in is not listed on this page, you may need an Apostille. Please check this link to see if your country is listed on the Apostille page. Apostille certificates are available for use in countries that have signed the Hague Convention abolishing the requirement of legislation for foreign public documents.
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