You might have heard of the term called apostille while you were seeking a visa for planning for your long term stay, it could be higher education, employment or work, temporary or permanent residency. Or perhaps, you are planning for your business growth opportunities in a foreign country. The document legalization is a mandatory procedure to be followed for such scenarios. Certificate Apostille and document apostille are terms that simply mean legalization of your documents and certificates. Although, it has a characteristic that there are several levels of verification and validation before final legalization by the central government. In this guide, you will know everything about the process, cost and how much time does it take to get it done in India.
Apostille as a word has its origin in the French language. The apostille is a process of legalizing and authenticating personal, educational or commercial documents for international recognition in foreign countries that are members of the 1961 Hague Convention.
An apostille sticker or stamp is given to a legalized document when approved. It is an identification number generated by the computer. All records are maintained online and available for authorities if they need them. You receive the apostille attestation through apostille services. After you receive the apostille stamp, additional certification from the embassy is not required.
Apostille attestation is a streamlined document legalization process for countries that are part of the Hague Convention. It involves verifying a document's authenticity (attestation) followed by an apostille - a special certificate confirming the attestation. This allows the document to be used in other member countries without further legalization.
Apostille Attestation Valid Countries: As of March 2024, 117 countries accept the apostille attestation. (source: https://www.hcch.net/)
As some countries have special requirements for Apostille, it's always best to check with the attestation and apostille service agency if you are unsure whether or not an Apostille is required.
Since apostille seems complicated to the average person, only someone with knowledge of the apostille process can provide you with the proper information. To meet country-specific needs, they can offer you specific advice.
The Hague Convention Apostille simplifies the use of public documents abroad through an internationally recognized certification process. In essence, it is a way to authenticate documents so they can be used in countries that sign the Hague Apostille Convention.
Agreement:The Hague Convention eliminates the need for lengthy legalization procedures between member countries for public documents.
Legalization process:The process of legalizing a document for use abroad traditionally involved a series of certifications from various government agencies. It replaces this with a single apostille certificate issued by an authorized authority in the country where the document originated.
Benefits:Apostilles are cheaper, quicker, and more convenient than traditional legalization procedures.
The Hague Apostille Convention requires you to get an apostille if you intend to use public documents (birth certificates, diplomas, etc.) in countries that are parties to it.
An apostille in India is a way to get your Indian documents apostilled for use in other countries that are part of the Hague Apostille Convention
It's essentially a sticker attached to your document by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) that verifies it's legitimate.
Apostilles are needed if you want to use an Indian document in another country for business, study, or work (Most European countries).
An Apostilles are issued by India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
The Apostille Attestation process in India involves two steps. The first step is to have your document attested by the appropriate authority, such as a state government office or a federal government agency.
You can then get an Apostille stamp/sticker attached to the document through the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) or one of its outsourced service providers.
Be aware: It is important to keep in mind that the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is not accepting documents directly from applicants/individuals.
All documents for Attestation/Apostille by MEA must be submitted to and collected from apostille agencies. You can find more details on the official MEA, GOI website.
Personal document apostille is the legalization of documents that contain personal information. Apostille services provide apostille documents for the following personal documents:
The personal document apostille process consists of the following steps
The documents containing proof of your education are used for the apostille of educational certificates. Apostille documents and education certificates can be received with the help of apostille services. The most common educational documents of:
Depending on the origin or type of the document, the procedure for the attestation of educational certificates will vary. Following are given the different procedures that are specific to the place of issuance of the document and its kind.
Depending on the origin or type of the document, the procedure for the attestation of educational certificates will vary. Following are given the different procedures that are specific to the place of issuance of the document and its kind.
Commercial documents provide proof of the business’s financial and legal structure. When expanding your business internationally, having a commercial document apostille may be required to verify these documents in other countries. To streamline the process, consider using apostille services that specialize in obtaining attestations. These apostille documents include documents like
The commercial document apostille process includes the following steps:
To find the best apostille services in India, a variety of factors need to be taken into consideration, such as reliability, speed, cost, and customer support.
Apostille services available online can be accessed through the internet and other media. They higher accessibility compared to the offline ones and can be easy to inquire at. We at PEC are ranked among the best apostille services in India and provide quality services and excellent customer support. We also have 24*7 accessibility and are available online taking queries and supporting the customers in need. Our services are spread all across India including the following cities - Pune, Pimpri, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Delhi, Chandigarh, Gurugram, Kochi - Kerala, Lucknow, Bhopal, Panaji - Goa, Noida, Coimbatore, Vizag.
