Migrating from Mexico to Australia: documents, apostille & translation
General information about the Mexican documents and procedures that commonly come up in an Australian migration process — with links to the official sources.
This page gathers general information; it doesn't assess your case or replace the official sources. Every situation is different and the rules change — here's the overview and where to go to verify it.
Police certificate
Australia's character check (Department of Home Affairs) generally asks for a police certificate from each country where a person has lived 12 months or more (cumulatively) in the last 10 years, since the age of 16.
For Mexico, the national-scope certificate is the Constancia de Antecedentes Penales Federales (CNAP); state or local certificates don't serve this purpose. The CNAP is issued by the OADPRS and is generally requested online with a CURP; from abroad, it's usually handled through a relative or representative with a letter of authorisation.
The Australian Embassy in Mexico's page describes the suggested document and, where applicable, a supporting letter. That page may not load immediately: open it directly at the source for the current instructions.
Mexico is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention. The competent authority depends on the document type: federal documents are apostilled by the Ministry of the Interior (SEGOB) and state documents by each state's designated authority. Mexico also issues an electronic apostille.
Important: an apostille is not a requirement for lodging an Australian visa application. For the Department of Home Affairs, the usual requirement is a colour scan of the original document and its English translation (see below) — not an apostille. We include the apostille as general information on how Mexican documents are validated for official cross-border use.
The Department of Home Affairs asks for an English translation of any document that isn't in English. The rule depends on where the translation is done.
If the translation is done in Australia, a NAATI-accredited translator does it (the national accreditation authority for translators and interpreters). If it's done outside Australia, the translator doesn't need NAATI accreditation, but states their full name, address, phone, and qualifications or experience, in English.
The Australian Embassy in Mexico adds that, outside Australia, official documents (birth, marriage or divorce certificates, CURP, criminal-record certificates, custody documents and military-service certificates) are translated by a professional translator; other documents accept a faithful translation; internet or machine translations are not accepted.
The Australian Embassy in Mexico City handles the region's applications. Visa applications are lodged online via ImmiAccount, not at the embassy.
For those in Mexico, biometrics are currently collected in person, per the Australian Embassy in Mexico. The service provider has been in transition, so the centre and booking channel can change — check the official link for the current provider and location rather than relying on a fixed address.