If you submit an application:

• From overseas: you may need to get copies of your documents certified before you submit them to us.
• For a domestic certificate: you must submit certified copies of your proof of identity documents.
• For an international certificate: you must submit certified copies of all documents.

Certified copies can be obtained by presenting the original document together with a photocopy of that document to an authorised person for them to sight and certify. The authorised person will compare the copy to the original, then sign and date the copy to confirm that it is a true copy of the original.

Persons who are authorised to witness statutory declarations include:

• Bank officer with 5 or more continuous years of service
• Clerk of a court
• Commissioner for affidavits
• Commissioner for declarations
• Dentist
• Justice of the peace
• Legal practitioner
• Magistrate
• Medical practitioner
• Nurse
• Pharmacist
• Police officer
• Post office manager
• Sheriff or sheriff’s officer
• Teacher (full time)
• Veterinary surgeon

For a full list of persons authorised to witness statutory declarations under the Statutory Declarations Act (1959), see Statutory Declarations Regulations 2023 - Schedule 1.