Apostille

Apostille and attestation aren’t very different aspects, yet, an apostille is required for a set of countries that are a part of the Hague Convention while attestation is done for the rest of the countries. As a proof of apostille, a sticker along with stamp is usually applied on the document; and after the attestation of documents, they are stamped by the central government and are applicable for embassy attestation as well.

The MEA is the authority issue apostille and decentralized its process into 16 cities. But MEA doesn’t accept the application from individuals. The process is lengthy and cannot be approached directly to the government. In order to apply for apostille of documents, you can reach out to professional services to ensure the proper delivery of the task. Certificate Attestations has been a service provider for a time span of about 6+ years and has rendered authentic facilities for the authentication of all kinds of documents. You just need to request an application online and wait for the call from the executive.

Apostille can be issued in the countries which are members of the Hague Convention of 1961. In many countries, It is generally issued by the secretariat of the state. In countries like India, MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) referred as MOFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs in some countries) is the syndicate of the central government that is authorized to issue an apostille for the document. Although, there are other levels of verifications and certifications that need to be taken care of before eventually acquiring sticker from the MEA. These include the notary and state authentication.

It depends on the type of document you need a document apostille for how long apostille procedure may take. It depends on the document issued state as well, as this process involves attestation from the state government. If you are going for the offline process, it will certainly take about 3-4 weeks, however, if you choose to involve the apostille services to get it done for you then it might actually take a lot lesser time like one or two weeks. Though, it can take much longer if attestation from HRD is involved.

Apostille doesn’t always need to be translated, but it depends on the language of document one posses and language of a foreign country. If the foreign country’s government legal language is different than the document’s language. e.g. Brazil is the country that necessitates translation of the documents. If your document is in any regional language, it needs to be translated in . But it’s not translated directly to Portuguese, first, it needs to be translated in English then to Portuguese. Alongside the apostille sticker on the document in English as well as the one in Portuguese.

You may need apostille if you are traveling to a country which is a member of the Hague convention. It could be for any reason, for instance, if you have plans to pursue education from abroad or carry out a business deal or attain permanent or short-term residency or perhaps just visit the country for tourism. Document apostille is obtained on your personal, educational or commercial documents depending on the purpose of travel.

No, a notary cannot perform the apostille of documents, only the central government, viz., MEA provides the apostille sticker on the document. However, the verification of the document from the notary is mandatory to obtain certification from the state and apostille from the MEA in the case of legalization of personal and educational documents. It is not necessary in case of commercial documents, though attestation from chambers of commerce is necessary for commercial documents.

There is not much difference in both of them. An apostille is a type of authentication for the countries which are members of the Hague convention. Generally, sticker with stamp is attached on the document in case of an apostille. Authentication is nothing but attestation, it’s required in the countries which are not part of such convention.

Legalization is the process of approving the documents from the legal authorities proving their reliability, and apostille is the legalization of the documents for various causes by providing a sticker and stamp. The certificate apostille is required which are part of the Hague convention. In other words, legalization is increasing the credibility of the documents and an apostille is a type of international level of legalization.

An apostille certificate is a certificate that has acquired the apostille sticker and a stamp from MEA. It is a sort of certificate legalization that is granted by the central government of the country where the document was issued. Based on your country of origin, There might be various levels of legalization is necessary before final authentication from the central government. It is also one of the mandatory aspects of obtaining an overseas visa and doing business abroad.

In India, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is responsible for apostille of documents, which is also the department of the central government. In 2019, It is decentralized to branch secretariats and the RPOs in 15 cities - Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Chennai, Chandigarh, Cochin, New Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Panaji, Raipur, and Thiruvananthapuram. However, before obtaining the same, there is a need for verification from the state government.

No, an embassy cannot issue the apostille and it is not even required to do so. The Embassy only plays a role for certification while dealing with attestation of documents and is generally irrelevant in this process. Obtaining apostille sticker and stamp from MEA is the final procedure when document legalization and is the only central government branch in charge for the same.