Certified copies for a paper Carer visa application

Certified copies of every supporting document, except police certificates, go with a Carer visa application, because the Carer visa is lodged only on paper, by post or courier to the Department's processing centre in Perth. In Australia, Form 47OF says those copies must be certified by a Justice of the Peace, a Commissioner for Declarations or a person before whom a statutory declaration may be made, and the Department's web page adds that the certifier should be an Australian citizen who is not related to you.

Why does a Carer visa need certified copies?

A Carer visa needs certified copies because it is lodged only on paper, and the Department's certified copy page says: "When you apply on paper you must provide certified copies of your documents." Form 47OF goes by post or courier to the Child and Other Family Processing Centre in Perth, and the subclass 836 page says the application "can't be submitted in person".

The same page says: "Do not send original documents with your application, only send certified copies." It also warns: "If any of the above steps are incomplete, your application may be invalid." Once the paper file has been imported into ImmiAccount, later documents are uploaded as colour scans; the Department has not said whether those scans need certifying.

Which Carer visa documents are sent as certified copies?

Every Carer visa supporting document other than a police certificate is sent as a certified copy, including non-English documents and their English translations. That covers both sides of the application.

• The carer's documents: passport pages, birth certificate, the records that show how you are related to the person who needs care, marriage, divorce and name-change papers, military service records, and your dependants' documents. An 836 applicant also includes the passports used to enter Australia (Form 47OF, Part M).
• The relative's and sponsor's documents: the Bupa certificate or the Bupa letter confirming the assessment has begun, the written evidence that care is not reasonably available in Australia, and the sponsor's evidence of Australian citizenship, permanent residence or eligible New Zealand citizenship.

Send each document once, even if it proves more than one thing, as the 836 page asks.

Which Carer visa documents are sent as originals?

Police certificates are the only Carer visa supporting documents the Department wants as originals, and they must not be certified: "Do not certify police certificates. You need to send us the originals." The signed application forms, the 4 photos and the payment receipt are originals by nature.

A certified copy stands in for the original unless the Department asks to see the real thing. Form 47OF says: "You may be asked to provide the originals of your documents at a later stage. Do not provide originals unless you are asked."

Who can certify a copy for a Carer visa?

A copy for a Carer visa is certified by someone who meets Form 47OF's test, and the Department's certified copy page sets a second, narrower test. The two differ on citizenship and on relatives:

The people before whom a Commonwealth statutory declaration may be made are listed in Schedule 1 to the Statutory Declarations Regulations 2023. They include legal practitioners, licensed or registered health professionals such as doctors, nurses and pharmacists, Justices of the Peace, police officers, and bank and credit union officers with 5 or more years of service. The Department's own list of 39 occupations overlaps heavily. It includes a pharmacist (licensed or registered), a permanent Australia Post employee with 5 or more years of continuous service, and a registered migration agent whose registration is not suspended or subject to a caution.

Form 47OF governs the paper application, so its test is the one to meet.

A certifier who meets both tests removes any doubt: for example, a Justice of the Peace who is an Australian citizen and not related to you. On a Carer visa that rules out the sponsor and the relative who needs care, who are your relatives by definition, even if one of them is a Justice of the Peace or a nurse.

A certifier who has known you for at least 1 year can also complete an identity declaration and confirm that your photographs are genuine, according to the Department's certified copy page.

How do you certify a document for a Carer visa?

To certify a document for a Carer visa, take the original and a copy to an eligible certifier, who compares them and marks the copy with a set form of words and their details. The Department's certified copy page sets out the steps:

1. Make a copy of the original document.
2. Take the original and the copy to the certifier.
3. The certifier checks that the copy is the same as the original.
4. On a single page, the certifier writes or stamps "This is a certified true copy of the original as sighted by me".
5. On a document of more than 1 page, the certifier writes or stamps "I certify this and the following [number of pages] pages to be a true copy of the original as sighted by me" on the first page, and initials every other page.
6. The certifier adds their signature, full name, occupation, phone number and the date. Their address is optional.

What about documents certified overseas?

Documents certified overseas are accepted when the certifier meets Form 47OF's test, "a person or agency recognised by the law of your country". The Department's certified copy page adds that, if you do not know an Australian citizen there, the certifier should be a citizen of the country you are in, not related to you, and in one of the listed occupations.

An Australian consular or diplomatic officer also appears on the Department's list. The page tells applicants to check first whether their nearest Australian embassy or consulate offers the service. These rules matter most to a subclass 116 applicant, who prepares the whole bundle outside Australia.

When is a declaration needed instead of a certified copy?

A declaration is needed instead of a certified copy when there is no official document to copy. Form 47OF names 2 such situations:

1. A consent. If a child under 18 is in the application and the child's other parent is not migrating, or someone else has the legal right to decide where the child lives, you send "a Statutory Declaration from each of them giving permission for the child to migrate", or a certified copy of a court order.
2. A separation. If you are separated, Question 23 asks for "a statutory declaration that gives the name of your partner, date of marriage or date when de facto relationship commenced and date of separation".

The Department also asks for "written evidence" that the person who needs care cannot reasonably get care in Australia, and statements from other relatives are one common way to give it. The form, the witnesses and what each statement should cover are set out in the guide to statutory declarations for a visa application. A declaration then goes into the bundle as a certified copy, like any other document.

Once the Department acknowledges the paper file, later documents are uploaded through ImmiAccount for a Carer visa instead of posted. The order of forms, payment and postage is set out in the 8 steps to paper lodgement, and every other part of the application is covered in the Carer Visa Australia guide.

Read next

Statutory declarations for a visa application: the Commonwealth form and Carer visa usesThree Carer visa moments that call for a sworn written statement, and who signs. ImmiAccount for a Carer visa: paying first and importing a paper applicationPre-pay the charge before posting, then import the application once Perth replies. How to apply for a Carer visa: paper lodgement, step by stepEight steps, two checklists and one envelope to Perth: the whole paper lodgement.