By Ern Phang, Solicitor & Notary Public
Director of Phang Legal. Solicitor since 1998 and notary public since 2005.
Example: the situation
Bhavesh's passport shows his name as Bhavesh Patel, but his Indian drivers licence adds 'bhai' to his first name. In India no one would notice, but in NSW the two documents look like they belong to different people.
Naming conventions that are normal in India can stop your licence conversion in Australia. Let's go through the process.
VFS links and resources — Updated July 2026. Links in this article have been updated to the resources listed in our July 2026 VFS update and the VFS India website for Australia. Use the relevant VFS checklist for current requirements. This note concerns links and resources; the rest of this article has not been comprehensively reviewed.
If you have found this article because you are looking for ways to convert your Indian Drivers Licence to a NSW Drivers Licence, please visit the VFS website for their most up to date checklist for the Indian Drivers Licence Verification (IDLV).
The checklist provides you with clear instructions as to what you need to submit to VFS. Only VFS can verify your driving history in India for you to qualify for the equivalent drivers licence in NSW.
The checklist also provides you with guidance if your name on your Indian Passport and your Indian Drivers Licence are different. Variations such as missing names or replacing specific names with initials, suffixes like 'ben' and 'bhai', or 'son of/wife of/daughter of' and others maybe common place and widely accepted in India, but in Australia naming conventions are applied strictly meaning that if different names appear on different documents then those documents relate to different people. In Australia, as an Indian national your primary form of identification would be your Indian passport and so the name that would also appear on your drivers licence would be the same that appears on your passport. If that name is different to the name that appears on your Indian Drivers Licence, then the IDLV process around obtaining a notary certificate and an apostille is relevant to you.
As a leading provider of notary public services in Sydney, we receive many requests for assistance in providing the IDLV, however our role is largely limited to providing a notary certificate to verify that you are the one and the same person and to certify copies of your Indian Drivers Licence and your Indian Passport and helping you to arrange for the apostille.
If you are not familiar with the VFS checklist, then you will not be aware of or understand this requirement or the need for our notary public services. Accordingly, familiarise yourself with the checklist and the IDLV process before contacting our office - at least this way, when we discuss the process with you, you will have a better understanding of what is required and why it is required.
To obtain a quote on our notary public services for India, please visit Request a notary quote.Example: the solution
Bhavesh checked the VFS checklist first, then brought his passport and licence to our office. Our notary public confirmed he is the one and the same person and notarised the certificate for his IDLV application.
About Us
This blog is maintained by Phang Legal, a boutique law firm with offices in Parramatta and Rouse Hill. We help clients from across Sydney and beyond with personal, professional and timely Legal Services, Notary Services and Apostille Services.
As a leading provider of notary services in Sydney, we have 1k+ Google Reviews (4.9) (updated July 2026) with many clients happy to share their experience in using our services.
Phang Legal — Parramatta6/83 George Street
Level 3, 87 Marsden Street (from 1 March 2026)
Parramatta NSW 2150
Phang Legal — Rouse Hill
214/80 Main Street
Rouse Hill NSW 2155
Call 02 9687 8885 | WhatsApp | Request quote
About the author
Ern Phang — Solicitor & Notary Public
This article was written by Ern Phang, a director of Phang Legal, a solicitor since 1998 and a notary public since 2005.
Ern has been a member of the Society of Notaries of NSW since 2005, a Fellow of the Australian and New Zealand College of Notaries since 2013, and a member of the Law Society of New South Wales since 1998.
Ern regularly writes about his experiences as a notary public and the practical issues his clients face when sending documents from Australia to India and other countries all over the world.
Using information in this article
This article provides general information. Requirements, forms, fees and service arrangements may have changed since its original publication. Check the receiving organisation’s current requirements and obtain advice relevant to your circumstances.
