How to Apostille Indian Documents While Living Abroad
You do not need to fly to India. Here is how the process works when your documents travel by courier instead of you.
Read the guide
Document guide
Birth Certificate Apostille & Attestation
One of the faster documents — usually done inside a week for Hague countries.
Birth certificates are needed for dependant visas, school admission, residence permits, citizenship applications and family sponsorship. Because they are personal documents rather than educational ones, they do not go through HRD, which makes them considerably faster.
Verification is done by the state Home Department or by an SDM, neither of which needs to write to a third party. From there the certificate goes to the Ministry of External Affairs for an apostille or attestation stamp.
The main thing that delays a birth certificate is the certificate itself. Handwritten municipal certificates, certificates in a regional language, and older formats often need to be re-issued in a computerised English format before any authority will touch them. We check this before starting rather than discovering it at a counter.
Hague Convention countries accept a birth certificate apostille. Countries outside the convention need birth certificate attestation instead, which adds the destination embassy’s stamp after the MEA. If you are living abroad, courier the original to our New Delhi office and we return it to you once complete.
What we need from you
- Original birth certificate, computerised and in English where possible
- A photocopy of the certificate
- A copy of the passport of the certificate holder or parent
- An authorisation letter for submission on your behalf
Process
How birth certificate apostille works
Home Department or SDM
State-level authentication of the certificate.
MEA apostille or attestation
Ministry of External Affairs applies the sticker or stamp.
Embassy attestation
Only for non-Hague destinations such as the Gulf.
MOFA
Gulf countries only, completed in the destination country.
Timelines
How long it takes
Indicative only — the issuing state is the main variable.
| Destination | Typical timeline |
|---|---|
| Apostille (Hague countries) | 3–7 working days |
| Gulf countries (full chain) | 12–20 working days |
Clients outside India
Apostille & Attestation from Abroad, Simply Send by Courier or Scanned Copies
Most of our clients live outside India. There is no need to travel: send your Indian documents to our New Delhi office and we handle every stamp.
Message us first
Tell us the document and destination country. We confirm exactly what to send before you courier anything.
Courier your originals
Send them to our New Delhi office by DHL, FedEx or any courier you prefer.
We handle every stamp
State verification, MEA apostille or attestation, and embassy legalisation, with an update at each stage.
Returned to you
Your completed documents are couriered back to your address anywhere in the world.
Courier charges for sending documents to us and for returning them are paid by the client.
Guides
Read the guide
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Usually 3 to 7 working days for Hague Convention countries. Gulf destinations need embassy and MOFA attestation as well, which takes 12 to 20 working days.
Often, yes. Many authorities require a computerised certificate in English. The municipal corporation that issued the original can normally re-issue it in the correct format, and we will tell you if that is needed before we start.
The apostille does not expire. Some receiving authorities set their own recency requirements for supporting documents, so check what has been asked of you.
Only Indian-issued documents can be apostilled by the Indian MEA. A certificate issued in another country must be apostilled by that country's competent authority.
Not sure where to start?
Send us the document and the destination country. We will reply within one working hour with the exact process, timeline and cost.