An apostille can be described as a legal verification. The word itself comes from an Italian dialect meaning to certify or authenticate. Thus, document apostille is a legal recognition, in which documents or certificates are legalized in a certain format which is acceptable by the nations of the Hague Convention of October 1961. Currently, The Hague Convention has more than 80 members which include most of the western countries.

India has been a part of the Hague Convention since 14th July 2005. As such Indian documents or certificates are exempted from the need to get legalized if the destination country is also a member of the Hague Convention. A simplistic MEA Document Apostille procedure is enough in such cases.

An Apostille contains the following:
• The individual to whom it is issued
• The home country or the country from where it was issued
• Name & designation of the person who signed the document
• Place & Date of the certification
• Number of certificates issued
• Signature & seal/stamp of the authority which signed the document

The document apostille procedure involves a square-shaped Apostille stamped which is electronically generated. This stamp is then attached to the backside of the relevant documents for easily verifying if it's a legal document. Any nation which is a part of The Hague Convention can verify Apostille stamped document online due to its unique identification number.

Apostille Attestation Fee:

Apostille attestation charges may vary depending on your requirements. Although there several companies offering apostille attestation of your documents and certificates by the MEA, we guarantee the lowest prices in the market. To get the complete on the price of getting MEA apostille attestation, contact us at services@embassydocuments.com.

Apostille Attestation Procedure:

An Apostille can only be issued by the Ministry of External Affairs or MEA. The MEA can also authenticate the documents intended for use in a foreign country.

Apostille Attestation involves the following steps:

Step 1: Document Authentication
The original documents which require Apostille Attestation is required to have prior authentication by a relevant State HRD or State HD or Chamber of Commerce before the MEA can issue the apostille.

Step 2: Document Legalization
Based on the signature or authentication of the relevant State Authority or Chamber of Commerce, the MEA then legalizes the required documents or certificates for Apostille Attestation. It should be noted that the MEA is not responsible for the contents of the documents.

Required Documents with Apostille:

MEA can attest 3 types of documents for Apostille:

1. Commercial Documents:
All commercial documents are required to be first authenticated by the relevant Chamber of Commerce so that MEA can issue the Apostille.

2. Educational Documents:
All educational documents are required to be first authenticated by the relevant State Human Resource Department so that MEA can issue the Apostille.

3. Non-Educational Documents:
All non-educational documents are required to be first authenticated by the State Home Department so that MEA can issue the Apostille.

Apostille Educational Documents
• Degree Certificate
• PG Degree Certificate
• Diploma Certificate
• BE Certificate
• Nursing Certificate
• SSC Certificate
• Inter Certificate
• HSC Certificate
• MBBS Certificate
• MD Certificate
• Dentists Certificate
• Transcript Certificate
• Pharmacy Certificate
• MS Certificate
• Mark Sheets
• Engineering Certificate

Apostille Non-Educational Documents
• Salary Certificate
• Equivalence Certificate
• Transfer Certificate (TC)
• Death Certificate
• Birth Certificate
• Experience/ Employment Certificate
• Marriage Certificate Attestation
• Divorce Certificate
• Medical Certificate
• Single Status Certificate

Apostille Commercial Documents
• Export Invoice
• Power of Attorney
• Packaging List
• Certificate of Origin
• Chemical Analysis Report
• Physical Analysis Report
• Certificate of Incorporation

What is the meaning of apostille?
An "apostille" is defined as a type of verification which is given to the documents for using it in the countries that take part in the Hague Convention of 1961. Generally, the state that issued the document is only entitled to authenticate and apostille but in some cases any other state can also put the Apostille stamp on that document.

Why apostille is required?
Similar as the Authentication Certificate also termed as the “red ribbon”, an Apostille only provides certification to the source of the public document to which it recounts: it gives certification to the originality and authenticity of the person’s or authority’s signature or seal that signed or sealed the public document and the capability in which this was carried out.

Who can issue apostille?
According to the Hague Apostille Convention, the apostille in every nation is given by the experienced authority in the individual nation. This will be done by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) or MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) of that country.

What is apostille stamp?
The Apostille is classified as a certificate which is given by the government and is added to documents so that they get acknowledged when offered in a different state. Classically the state from where the document has initiated issues the Apostille Certificate but, in few cases, different nation may give the Apostille to the document. The Apostille stamp or sticker of the Apostille may have different design, size or color in every country and they prove the authenticity of Educational, Birth, Marriage, Death, Divorce & Commercial documents.

What is affixed with apostille?
Generally, a Sticker with the respective Government’s emblem like in case of India, Indian Govt’s emblem having printed is pasted along with relevant signatures or the stamping of concerned officials with their signatures is affixed on the back of the document.

Is apostille the same as legalization?
Both are different although they have same, meant to authenticate any document. Legalization of a document is defined as issuing of the authentication for the use of legalizing of that document so that the document can be officially used in a different nation. Whereas, when a document receives the apostille, it means it is now legal to be used in an abroad country that is enlisted in the Hague Convention.

What is an apostille notary?
The apostille provides certification to the genuineness of a public document, signature or stamp. The procedure of this authentication is known as apostilization. The introduction of the apostille as a kind of notarial certification has impacted the global transport of credentials making it easier and quicker.

At Embassy Documents Attestation Services, you get to avail complete certificate attestation services regarding all your Commercial, Educational and Non-Educational documents attestation. The company has a team of attestation specialists who are well-acquainted with the process of all kind of attestation services. Apart from Apostille services, here you get to avail many other certified attestation services including MEA, MOFA, Embassy Attestation and much more. For any other information on Apostille services, feel free to contact us at services@embassydocuments.com