Apostille attestation definition: An Apostille is a type of attestation in which documents are legalized in a specific format. Apostille is performed on Non-Educational Certificates such as birth/death/marriage certificates, powers of attorney, affidavits, and so on, as well as educational documents such as diplomas, degrees, matriculation, and secondary-level certificates, among others. Accepted and recognized by 105 countries that signed the Hague Convention on October 5, 1961, the countries eliminated the requirement of legalization of foreign public documents and introduced the Apostille attestation.
An Apostille is a process that allows any document Apostilled in one member country to be accepted in all of the other 104 member countries of the Hague Convention. This is advantageous to the candidate because it eliminates the need to have the documents attested in each or each of the countries separately.
What exactly is the Apostille Attestation process?
Apostille Attestation Procedure: Students who intend to study abroad must have their documents apostilled. Continue reading to learn how to get your documents Apostilled:
- Applicants must go to e-Sanad, the electronic service for document verification and certificate attestation for Indian citizens launched by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India.
- Candidates must then upload their documents and pay the e-service provider’s standard fee.
- The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) and the General Administration Department (GAD) of the Government of India then digitally verify the documents (GOI).
- Finally, the applicant receives attested documents with Apostille stickers.
Please keep in mind that the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) does not accept documents directly from applicants/individuals; therefore, all documents for Attestation/Apostille by MEA must be submitted to and collected from designated outsourced agencies.
Step 1: Document Authentication: Applicants must have their documents authenticated by Regional Authentication Centers.
- The Home / General Administration Department of the State / Union Territory can authenticate personal documents.
- The education department of the relevant state or union territory can authenticate educational documents.
- The Chamber of Commerce, which is registered with the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), can authenticate commercial documents and issue a Certificate of Origin.
Step 2: Document Deposition with Authorized Service Provider
- Applicants are required to visit an outsource agency center near their place of residence to deposit the verified documents.
- Following that, the outsourcing agency submits documents to the Branch Secretariat / RPOs with jurisdiction over it.
Step 3: Obtaining Apostilled / Attested Documents from Outsourcing Agencies
- Branch Secretariat / RPO delivers legalized documents to outsourcing agency
- Following that, the applicants receive the legalized documents.
What is the cost of the Apostille Attestation?
The Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, charges Rs. 50 per document for Apostille. However, because the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) does not accept documents directly from applicants or individuals, all documents for Apostille by MEA must be submitted to and collected from designated outsourced agencies. Outsourced agencies will charge Rs. 90/- as a service fee and Rs. 3 per page as a scanning fee per document for collection and delivery for Apostille Attestation by MEA.
What documents are Apostilled?Using e-Sanad services, documents from personal, educational, or commercial groups can be authenticated/apostilled. The document must be available in the digital repository for attestation/apostille through the online e-Sanad services. If your document is not recognized by e-Sanad, the applicant must go to a Regional Authentication Centre (RAC) to upload it and then submit it to the nearest outsourced center to have it verified and Apostilled.
Apostille Attestation SampleThis is how your document will look after it has been Apostilled. The Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, applies an apostille stamp, which is a square-shaped computer-generated sticker stamp, to the back of a document. It is a one-of-a-kind computer-generated stamp with a unique identification number. Through this unique identification number, any member of The Hague Convention can check the authenticity of the Apostille stamp online.
What exactly is Apostille Attestation?
Apostille Certificates
The documents that can be attested are listed below. The list is not exhaustive and could include additional documents.
Documents for Education
- Certificates of completion of secondary school
- Certificates of graduation from college
- Label sheets
- Certificates of completion
- Postgraduate diplomas
- Diploma document
- Certificate of Transcript
- Engineering certificate Transfer certificate
- A nursing diploma
Personal Papers
- Certificate of Birth
- Certificate of Marriage
- Certificate of registration
- Certificate of Power of Attorney
- Certificate of Marriage Affidavit
- Certificate of Medical Fitness
- Genuine certification
Commercial Documents
- Origin certification
- Invoices
- Incorporation certificate
- Power of Attorney Memorandum of Association
Can a document that has been Apostilled be rejected?
Many candidates are left wondering whether or not their Apostilled document can be rejected. In most cases, the process is genuine and cannot be rejected. Apostilles, on the other hand, may be rejected only if and when the Apostilles origin cannot be verified.
The formal elements of the Model Certificate annexed to the Convention Apostille Attestation Validity?
Is the validity of your Apostille Attestation guaranteed? In most cases, an apostille should be accepted at any time after it is issued. However, there are some instances when a recent apostille on a document is required. A criminal record check is one example. A recent apostille on birth certificates and academic documents is frequently required of candidates. It could be argued that this isn’t necessary and that an older apostille should suffice because your date of birth and academic qualifications haven’t changed.
