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Home > About the Ministry > What we do > Authentication of documents

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Authentication of Documents

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. To check the requirements, contact the relevant authorities in the country concerned or their overseas representatives.

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

If your document is to be sent to a country that is not on the list of countries shown in this document, an Apostille certificate will need to be attached to the document. The Department of Internal Affairs can advise the procedures to be followed for this process.

The Authentication procedures and fees at each stage are set out below.

Please read these instructions carefully - they may save you costly delays.

If you have any queries, please contact either:

Authentications Unit
Department of Internal Affairs (DIA)
Phone: +64 4 470 2928
Fax: +64 4 470 2921

Authentications Officer
email:authentication@ministers.govt.nz
website: Document Authentication page on Department of Internal Affairs website - www.dia.govt.nz [external link]
(on the DIA website - you can use the search word authentication)

Step 1 Notarisation

If your document is:

A birth, marriage or death certificate issued in New Zealand: If it is an original document and bears the round seal of the Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages or Registrar-General in some older documents, then send the document directly to the Authentication Unit. If your document does not have a seal, or is a photocopy, it must be notarised first see point 3 below before being sent to the Authentication Unit, or you can apply for new original documents from Births Deaths and Marriage on 0800 22 52 52 or at www.dia.govt.nz Please note that some foreign diplomatic missions do not accept these documents if they are more than 10 years old.
A document bearing the seal and signature of an approved government agency such as a District Court, Animal Remedies Board etc: Send directly to the Authentication Unit. Computer generated documents will need to be notarised.
- Important note: documents downloaded from the internet e.g. Certificates of Incorporation/Police checks, including documents emailed to you by the Government Agency concerned, does not count as an original therefore must be notarised before being sent to the Authentication Unit.
Any other type of document: Documents such as contracts, references, powers of attorney, educational documents, Chamber of Commerce certificates etc will need to be notarised by a Notary Public in New Zealand before sent to the Authentication Unit. The Notary Public will sign the document and affix their seal. 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.

If you are uncertain whether your documents require notarisation, please check with the Department of Internal Affairs Authentication Unit [external link]

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Step 2 Authentication

The Authentication Unit at the Department of Internal Affairs authenticates the signature and seal of the approved Government Agency or Notary Public. This takes up to five working days. Please contact the Department of Internal Affairs if urgent processing is required. Once the Department of Internal Affairs has authenticated your document/s they will courier your documents to Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade for the next step in the authentication process.

Checklist:

Make sure you have enclosed:

The document/s to Authenticate. If there is 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 need to be authenticated separately.
Authenticated documents with different seals can be authenticated as one set. For example a birth certificate with the round seal of the Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages can be authenticated with a document that bears the signature and seal of a Notary Public.
Please indicate clearly which supporting papers belong together, and the order of each set, when you submit more than one set of documents. You can paper clip or staple each set together.

Fees

The fee for the Department of Internal Affairs is $40.00 incl. GST per document or set of documents. If you send two or more identical documents, the fees are $40.00 incl. GST for the first document and $15.00 incl. GST for each identical document or set of documents. You need to provide the additional documents and these must be original documents not photocopies, e.g. 2 birth certificates for the same person, both originals issued by Births, Deaths and Marriages or two identical notarised documents.
The fee for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade is $40.00 per document or set of documents and $15.00 for each identical document or set of documents. Please note the different fees and procedures required for documents to be sent to countries listed under ‘CATEGORY B’.
Payment for both Departments fees should be made by one payment to the Department of Internal Affairs by cheque, VISA / MASTERCARD, include number, name on card and expiry date, or money order.

Return postage

Within New Zealand
- include a stamped self-addressed envelope, OR
- include a self-addressed prepaid courier pack.
Outside New Zealand

A self-addressed prepaid international courier pack

Send your document/s and any letters of instruction to the Department of Internal Affairs at:

By Courier:
Authentication Unit
Department of Internal Affairs
Level 13, Prime Property Tower
86-90 Lambton Quay
Wellington

Standard Post:
Authentication Unit
C/- The Translation Service
Department of Internal Affairs
PO Box 805
Wellington

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Step 3

CATEGORY A - Countries that require the signature and seal of the Ministry Foreign Affairs and Trade on an Authenticated document. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade verifies the signature and seal of the Department of Internal Affairs and returns the documents to you by your stamped self-addressed envelope or pre-paid courier pack. The foreign diplomatic overseas mission verifies the signature and seal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and returns the authenticated documents to you by your self-addressed envelope or pre-paid courier pack. You will need to contact the foreign diplomatic mission and enquire about their fees, arrangement for payment and return of documents. You can use the contact details linked from the table below or consult with Telecom Directory Assistance. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade does not hold information on foreign diplomatic mission requirements or make enquiries on your behalf.
Algeria Jakarta	Kiribati Tarawa	Peru Wellington/Auckland
Bangladesh Canberra	Kuwait Canberra	Philippines Wellington / Auckland
Bolivia Tokyo	Laos Canberra	Qatar Jakarta
Brazil Wellington	Lebanon Canberra	Saudi Arabia Canberra
Cambodia Canberra	Malaysia Wellington	Singapore Wellington
Canada Wellington	Mali Jakarta	Solomon Islands Honiara
Chile Wellington / Auckland	Mongolia Beijing	Sri Lanka Wellington
China Wellington / Auckland	Morocco Jakarta	Taiwan Wellington
Costa Rica Sydney	Myanmar Canberra	Thailand Wellington
Egypt Canberra	Nauru Auckland	Tuvalu Auckland
Eritrea Canberra	Nepal Tokyo	United Arab Emirates Canberra
Ghana Tokyo	Nicaragua Tokyo	Uruguay Sydney
Guatemala Tokyo	Nigeria Canberra	Vanuatu Port Vila
Indonesia Wellington	Oman Auckland	Viet Nam Wellington
Iran Wellington	Pakistan Canberra	Yemen Sydney
Jordan Canberra	Papua New Guinea Wellington	Zambia Tokyo
Kenya Canberra	Paraguay Melbourne	Zimbabwe Canberra

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CATEGORY B - Countries that require the signature of a New Zealand Diplomatic Overseas Mission on an Authenticated document. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade verifies the signature and seal of the Department of Internal Affairs and forwards the documents to a New Zealand diplomatic overseas mission designated by the foreign country concerned. The New Zealand diplomatic overseas mission verifies the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s signature and seal and forwards the document to the foreign diplomatic overseas mission. The foreign diplomatic overseas mission verifies the New Zealand diplomatic overseas mission’s signature and seal and returns the authenticated documents to you by your self-addressed envelope or pre-paid international courier pack. Please note that the fees below are for one document or set of documents. Further fees will be required for additional copies of documents. Please contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Consular Division, for advice of these additional fees. You will need to contact the foreign diplomatic overseas mission and enquire about their fees, arrangement for payment and return of documents. The city underlined in the table below is your link for contact details for the foreign overseas mission which finally verifies your document. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade does not hold information on foreign diplomatic overseas mission requirements or make enquiries on your behalf.
Afghanistan Embassy Canberra $122	Benin Embassy Paris $134	Bhutan Embassy India $144
Burkina Faso Embassy Brussels $121	Burundi Brussels $121	Cameroon Consulate Sydney $122
Cape Verde Embassy The Hague $121	Central African Republic Embassy Paris $174	Chad Embassy Brussels $121
Congo Embassy London $174	Cuba Consulate Sydney $122	Dominican Republic email contact Sydney $122
Equatorial Guinea Embassy Paris $134	Ethiopia Consulate Melbourne $122	Gabon Consulate email contact Sydney $122
Gambia Embassy London $174	Guinea Embassy Paris $134	Guinea-Bissau Embassy Paris $134
Guyana High Commission London $174	Haiti Embassy Washington $141	Iraq Embassy Canberra $122
Ivory Coast Embassy London $174	Jamaica Consulate Sydney $122	Kyrgyzstan Embassy London $174
Libya Embassy Canberra $122	Madagascar Consulate Sydney $122	Mauritania Embassy Paris $134
Niger Embassy Paris $134	North Korea Indonesia Foreign Affairs $174	Rwanda Embassy London $174
Senegal Embassy London	Sierra Leone High Commission London $174	Sudan Embassy Jakarta $60
Syria Embassy Canberra $122	Tajikistan Email contact Tajikistan Embassy Moscow $132	Tanzania High Commission London $174
Togo Embassy Paris $134	Tunisia Consulate-General Sydney $122	Uganda High Commission London $174
Uzbekistan Embassy London $174

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Page last updated: Monday, 21 July 2008 15:35 NZST

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