Moss & Co Lawyers (Notaries)

Moss and Co Lawyers (Notaries) provide Notary Public services to individuals, large and small businesses, Lawyers, Patent Attorneys, Banks, Financiers, Brokers  and Statutory Authorities.

We offer a full range of notarial services (see below)  including taking declarations and affidavits, certification of original documents, verification of identity, corporate verification, obtaining of Authentications or Apostilles (see below) from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and obtaining legalisation of documents from Australian-based Embassies or Consulates.

Our aim is to provide you with an efficient, professional and convenient service and we look forward to being of assistance to you. Notary Services Australia is a long standing, highly regarded notarial service renowned for producing high quality, accurate documentation.

1. What is Apostille?

An Apostille Certificate is an official government Certificate printed or stamped onto the reverse side of a single page document or attached to multiple paged documents with ribbon. It authenticates the seal and or signature of the public official or authority such as a notary or registrar issuing the document.

An issued Apostille Certificate confirms that the person signing, sealing or stamping a public document has lawful authority to do so, and the apostilled document can be a legal document in countries which are members of the Hague Convention. It does not authenticate or confirm the contents of a document.

2. The legal validity of Apostille 

Prior to the introduction of Apostille Certificates, it was difficult for international governments, law courts, universities and other businesses to ascertain whether a document was authentic. In 1961, many countries joined together and created a simplified method of “legalising” documents for universal recognition, and enforced the Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents. Pursuant to this Convention,  Members of the Conference, referred to as the Hague Convention, adopted a document referred to as an Apostille that would be recognized by all member countries.

3. Members of the Hague Apostille Convention

As of mid  2022,there were 124 contracting states of the Hague Apostille Convention:

Albania, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cape Verde, Chile, People’s Republic of China, (Hong Kong & Macao Only), Colombia, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malawi, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niue, North Macedonia, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom of Great Britain, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela

The following countries listed below are not members of the Hague Apostille Convention and any document requested by these countries will receive a certification. Please note that some of the countries listed below may require additional legalization by a Consulate or Embassy office.

Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina, Faso, Burma Myanmar, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, China, Congo Republic, Congo, Democratic, Ivory Coast, Cuba, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Haiti, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Laos, Lebanon, Libya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Myanmar Burma, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Taiwan, Tanzania, Togo,
Thailand, Turkmenistan, UAE (United Arab Emirates), Uganda, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe

4. Documents that can be legalised through Apostille

• Notarising Signatures on International Documents
• Notarising Australian Passport
• Notarising Driver License
• Notarising Birth Certificate
• Notarising Marriage Certificate
• Notarising Divorce Certificate
• Notarising Life Certificate
• Notarising Change of Name Certificate
• Draw and Certify Powers of Attorney, Wills, Deeds, Contracts, and other Legal Documents, for use in Australia and Overseas Countries
• Same Person Statements
• Notary Certificate of Statutory Declarations;
• Notary Certificate of University Qualifications and Academic Transcripts
• Notary Certificate of Child International Travel Consent

For countries that are not a member of the Hague Apostille Convention, they may still need a the DFAT to certify that a signature, stamp or seal on an official Australian public document is genuine by checking it against a specimen held on file, printing and attaching a certificate in the for an ‘authentication’ stating certain facts. The authentication is signed by DFAT staff and sealed with a wet and a dry seal. One country that requires an Authentication is China.

Please contact our Office for any notarial inquiry: 02 80745763

We notarise any of the following:

• Notarising Signatures on International Documents
• Notarising Australian Passport
• Notarising Driver License
• Notarising Birth Certificate
• Notarising Marriage Certificate
• Notarising Divorce Certificate
• Notarising Life Certificate
• Notarising Change of Name Certificate
• Draw and Certify Powers of Attorney, Wills, Deeds, Contracts, and other Legal Documents, for use in Australia and Overseas Countries
• Same Person Statements
• Notary Certificate of Statutory Declarations
• Notary Certificate of University Qualifications and Academic Transcripts
• Notary Certificate of Child International Travel Consent
• Notarising Divorce Certificates
• Notarising Change of Name Certificates
• Draw and Certify Powers of Attorney, Wills, Deeds, Contracts, and other Legal Documents.
• Notarising Other Statements
• Notary Certificate for Statutory Declarations;
• Notary Certificate for University Qualifications and Academic Transcripts
• Notary Certificate for Child’s International Travel Consent

Companies are often required to have documents notarised for use overseas.

Moss and Co Lawyers  is here to assist legal firms, financial entities and public and private corporations in a variety of industries to conduct and maintain commercial interests internationally by notarising documents for international use and managing regulatory attestation requirements through

The types of documents that can assist will include:

• Certificates of Good Standing (particularly USA)
• Directors certificates
• Letters of Authorization
• Company Searches
• Registration certificates
• Notarising Signatures and Execution of Documents

Intellectual Property documents including Trademark Registrations, Patent Registrations or Design Registrations

Please contact our Office for any notarial inquiry: 02 80745763

Please contact our Office for any notarial inquiry: 02 80745763

Please contact our Office for any notarial inquiry: 02 80745763