Who can witness Australian statutory declarations in Italy

Hi Kirsty2, welcome on Expat-blog!

I hope you get replies soon.

Good luck
Christine

Thanks!

Hi Kirsty2!
Im new to the forum, in fact just joined today! in regards to your question about witnessing signatures, im in thesame situation as you! from what ive been able to find out, I believe thesame people that can certify documents in Australia (JP, Doctor, Solicitor, Bank manager, etc) can also witness signatures overseas provided they are Australian citizen or permanent resident. Yes, a bit hard to find in Italy as im discovering, i live in Casamassima (Bari) and finding someone that even speaks english is rare! If you know any Australian with an occupation as listed in the Statutory declarations Act 1993 (If you search on google it will give you the full list)they could do it for you.
Other than that, a Magistrate of a court overseas, or someone employed by the Commonwealth of Australia, or a Notary Public (Notaio). though i found one 'Notaio' who wouldnt certify or witness signatures cause they dont speak english. i did find one who spoke english and quoted me 100 to 150 euro per signature! The last option is to go to your local comune, they are legally able to certify documents in italy, but again i dont know if they would if they dont speak english. its looking like my only option is to make the long trip to the embassy in rome, alot less costly than the Notaio. if i find anything out I will keep you up to date, Im waiting to hear back from the Embassy to see if they can advise me of another way without having to go to Rome.
please let me know as well if you find out anything else!
Good luck, hope this helps you out a bit!

Thanks Stephola!  In the end we had our declarations signed by the justices of the peace in Bologna.  I am still waiting for the response from the embassy to know if they will accept them.
good luck to you too, and let me know what you find out!
Kirsty