ApostilleAttestation

An Apostille is a type of attestation in which documents are legalised in a particular format that is acceptable in all nations that belong to the Hague Convention. Essentially, Apostille is an international attestation that is acceptable in about 92 countries, and most of the western world recognises Apostille.

Apostille stamp is a square shaped computer generated sticker stamp, pasted on reverse of the document by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. This is a unique computer generated stamp having a unique identification number, through which any member country of The Hague convention can check its authenticity online. Under normal circumstances, once the document is apostilled, it does not require to be attested further from the concerned embassy.

Procedure of Apostille:

India became member of the Hague Convention in 2005 which abolished the requirement of legalization of public documents. In India, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) undertakes both, Apostille and general attestation of documents. Apostille from MEA can be done after attestation from relevant State Govt. authorities. Apostille Certificate Attestation procedure is needed when a person need legalization of his document to be used in a member country of Hague Convention. The process of Apostille of certificates from Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) of Government of India can be done on all Indian Certificates.The procedure is as follows-

(1)Authentication of documents

All original documents/certificates requiring MEA to issue Apostille must be first authenticated by the designated authorities of the State/Union Territory from where the document is issued. Apostille can only be issued by MEA when the respective relevant state authority has attested a particular document

(2)Legalization of documents

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) attests /legalizes the documents only after these have been authenticated with the signature and seal/stamp of the designated authorities of the State Government/Union Territory/Chambers of Commerce from where the documents have been issued. The MEA legalizes the certificate/documents on the basis of the signature of the designated authorities; hence it does not take responsibility of the contents of the documents.

Documents Require

Original document to be Apostilled

One clear photocopy of the document

One clear photocopy of the passport