An Introduction to Apostille in India

Apostille in India: You might have come across the term 'Apostille' while seeking a visa for your long-term plans abroad. It could be for education, employment, business, or relocating with the family. The document attestation or legalization is a mandatory process in all such scenarios. Document Apostille is simply a form of verification of all the personal & professional documents before the final legalization.

What exactly is Apostille?

The word 'Apostille' literally means Certification, a formal step to prove the document's credibility.

Apostille in India (and in all Hague Convention countries) is synonymous with the legalization of the documents produced specifically for visa procurement. Apostille, in its simplest form, is a sticker or a stamp obtained from the authority. It incorporates a digitally generated unique identification code stamped at the backside of the document to maintain a record online and make it accessible for the associated authorities to cross-check the credibility.  

What is the Difference between Attestation & Apostille? 

Attestation is a multi-level document legalization process that is followed when one immigrates to another country for education, employment, or business purposes.

The types of attestation are:

State Attestation: This covers HRD Attestation, Notary Attestation and SDM Attestation at the state level.

MEA Attestation: Attestation done by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, India, after the documents are verified at the state level.

Embassy Attestation:  After MEA, the documents are attested by the Embassy you wish to immigrate to.

MOFA Attestation: Finally, the immigrant documents (to be) are reviewed and verified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) of the country one is immigrating to.

Apostille

An apostille is a form of legalization that is specific to 117 Hague Convention countries. After the Apostille, no other form of attestation is required. Apostille in India is performed by MEA (Ministry of External Affairs).

What is Hague Convention?

Hague Convention is also known as Apostille Convention signed on 5th of October, 1961 in the Luxembourg town and came into effect from 14th of January, 1965. The convention was established to remove the superfluous steps from the legalization process and reduce barriers from the international trading. There are about 117 Hague convention countries that require Apostille.

Apostille in India

As a developing country, India is ever advancing in the areas of trading, education, and employment, making the Apostille necessary for the country. India has been recognized as a member of the Hague Convention since 2005 and it is performed by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The Apostille in India is relatively a brief procedure involving regional and state government attestation before reaching MEA.

Where Can I get Apostille Services in India?

Apostille Services are available on the internet. However, the more informed way of getting it done is via a reliable Attestation Agency. Genuine Attestation Services offers top-ranked Apostille Services in India with excellent customer support spread across the nation.