you know since 2005,  India is a member of the Hague Convention of October 5, 1961. It is something that removed the need of the legalization of foreign public documents. Apostille is recognized in one hundred five member countries of the Convention.  Apostille gets done for personal documents such as birth, death, marriage certificates, Affidavits, then Power of Attorney, and so on. It also includes educational documents such as degree, matriculation, and secondary level certificates, diplomas, and so on.

Any document that has been Apostilled in one member country is acceptable in all the other one hundred four member-countries, a party to the referred convention of 1961 thus massively simplifying the process of attestation by making it unnecessary to get the documents attested in every or for each of the countries separately. And if you are wondering how this apostille attestation in india works, then this post might help.

What really is Apostil?

An Apostille is a kind of attestation in which documents get legalized in a specific format that is acceptable in all nations that belong to the convention of Hague. Fundamentally, an apostille is an international attestation that gets acceptable in about ninety-two countries, and a maximum of the western world acknowledges Apostille.

How does it look?

Well, an apostille stamp is a square-shaped type of computer-generated sticker stamp. It gets pasted on reverse of your document by the Ministry of External Affairs, the Government of India. Talking about the stamp, it is a distinct type of computer-generated stamp that possesses a unique identification number, through which any member nation of The Hague convention can evaluate its authenticity online. Under normal or general circumstances, once the document gets apostilled, it does not need to get attested further from the concerned embassy. Hence, everything gets streamlined.

Two Crucial Steps of Procedure

Authentication of your documents

All original documents or certificates requiring MEA to issue Apostille must be 1st attested by the elected authorities of the State or that of Union Territory from wherever the document gets issued. Indian Apostille is only be going to issue by MEA once the specific relevant state authority has authenticated a chosen document.

Attestation/Legalization of documents

Then next, The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) attests or that of legalizes the documents completely when these are genuine with the proper signature and seal or stamp of the selected authorities of the State Government or that of Union Territory or even Chambers of Commerce from wherever the documents have been issued. The MEA simply legalizes the certificate or that of documents on the evidence of the signature of the selected authorities; thence it does not really take responsibility for the contents of the documents.

 Professional Guidance

Then there are many of you who might be finding it really intimidating to get into the procedure and get your documents or papers or certificates apostilled. It is okay if you talk to experts because they would guide you and help you. They would also ensure that they get all the procedures done and you have your documents with you that are acknowledged. After all, it is about your documents and you would not want anything to do wrong right?

Conclusion

So,  you can check out apostille charges in India and ensure that all your documents are properly recognized in other countries.