Notarial services are legal acts which allow a written record to be used for official or legal purposes. This includes using a document in a court of law.
Notarial Services available include:
- Certifying a copy of a document or part of a document
- Witnessing a signature or seal on a form or declaration or the execution of a Will
- Administering an oath or receiving a declaration or affirmation
- Preparing a document or a declaration
- Preparation and issue of an Apostille
- Authentication
- Certificate of No Impediment to Marriage
The Consular Services Section at the Australian High Commission provides Notarial Services by appointment only, Monday to Thursday between 9:00am and 4:00pm,or Friday between 9:00am and 12:00pm (subject to appointment availability and excluding High Commission public holidays).
You can also access the appointment system via www.ahcnairobi.setmore.com. Further information about booking appointments is available here.
Notarial Fees
Fees apply to notarial services under the Consular Fees Act of 1955. Consular staff have no discretion in applying these fees.
Fees are payable in KSH and USD – cash and direct debit and are adjusted monthly in line with the exchange rate. For current fee information please contact the Consular Services Section by email: [email protected]
Information about Notarial Services
Before requesting a Notarial Service from the High Commission, please make sure you know exactly what service you require. You should confirm this with the organisation that requires your documents. We are not able to provide advice on which Notarial Service you need. Further information on Notarial Services can be found on the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website.
Digital documents
Printed versions of digital documents (documents which are digital in origin) are not recognised as original documents. Therefore, we are also unable to issue certified copies for printed copies of digital documents, nor accept the printed copies as original supporting documents for other processes such as a CNI application.
Digital documents can include electronically issued translated documents, bank statements, bills, documents on court web portals, visa issuance letters etc.
We may be able to recognise a digital document as an original document and issue a certified copy if:
- The issuing authority sends an email directly to the Consular Section with the document attached (no password encryption).
- You produce the source email (email sent by the issuing authority) to a notarial officer and forward it to the Consular Section (no password encryption).
- You log in to your relevant web portal, download the digital document and email the document as an attachment to the Consular Section, in front of Consular staff at the counter. *Note: This option is only available for in-person appointments.
Australian High Commission Consular Section email address:
Australian Consulate- Kampala Uganda Consular Section email address: [email protected]
Certifying photographs
We can certify that your photograph is of you.
- The photograph must be for use in Australia. If it's for local use, you may need to find a local authority to certify it.
- When the consular official confirms you are the person in the picture and sights your valid photo identification, they'll certify it.
- We will state that the photograph is "a true likeness of [your name]". This is DFAT approved wording. We cannot alter it.
Information is also available on the Smartraveller website.
Authentications and apostilles
Overseas authorities will often request that you have your Australian document/s legalised either through an authentication or an apostille before a document can be accepted for local use. Consular Officers will certify that a signature or seal on an original official Australian public document is genuine by checking it against a specimen held on our database and applying an authentication certificate to the document.
Issuing authentications and apostilles are legal processes that we will only perform once we are satisfied the document is genuine and will not be used for a fraudulent purpose. We aim to issue authentications within two working days.
Which stamp do I need - authentication or an apostille?
You should check with the local authorities requesting the document as to their requirements in order to ensure that the appropriate service is provided for your documents to be accepted. Consular staff cannot advise clients of foreign requirements. We can provide the following general information
Australian affidavits, oaths and affirmations
Our role is to witness the affidavit and administer the oath or affirmation. We will affix stamps to the documents with our seal, name and position, address, date, and sign the document in black pen. We do not attest to the authenticity or truth of the content of the evidence or information.
Before attending your appointment, please check the following with the recipient or your legal representative and bring along clear instructions to your appointment:
- Do you and the witness need to sign or initial each page? Or do you only need to sign one page?
- Do you have any exhibits to the affidavits? Do the exhibits need to be signed or initialled?
- If an affidavit contains attachments or is multiple pages, we will bind the pages together as a general rule. Please confirm with your legal representative, or receiving authority, whether they require the affidavit to remain unbinded and provide us with the written confirmation.
The precise form that an affidavit is to take is dictated by the relevant Commonwealth, state or territory legislation under which the affidavit is made or the proceedings in which the evidence contained in it is to be relied on. An affidavit that has not been drawn up correctly may not be legally effective. It is up to you to check these requirements before bringing the documents to an Australian mission for witnessing.
Certificates of No Impediment to Marriage (CNI)
To get married in East Africa, please contact your State Legal office for information and advice on local requirements and necessary documentation. Before a foreign national may marry, East African authorities may require a certificate issued by the Australian Government stating that we do not know of any impediment to the marriage. This certificate is known as a Certificate of No Impediment (CNI). Certificates of No Impediment are not a requirement of Australian law.