Attestation & Apostille: Frequently Asked Questions

An apostille is a single numbered certificate issued by the Ministry of External Affairs and accepted by all 120+ member countries of the Hague Convention. Attestation is the longer country-specific chain required by everyone else, ending with the destination country's embassy and often its foreign ministry. Which one you need is determined entirely by the destination country.

No. The UAE is not a member of the Hague Convention and does not accept apostilles. Note that this is no longer true of every Gulf state: Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Oman are all members, so those accept an apostille. Documents for the UAE need MEA attestation, UAE Embassy attestation in New Delhi, and MOFA attestation in the UAE. This is the single most expensive mistake we see people make.

Most of the 120+ Hague Convention members, including the United Kingdom, United States, Italy, France, Spain, Netherlands, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman and, since September 2026, Viet Nam. The UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Malaysia and Egypt are not members. Two members are exceptions for Indian documents: China and Germany objected to the Convention applying with India, so neither accepts an Indian apostille.

An apostilled document is valid in every Hague member country simultaneously, so one apostille covers them all. Embassy attestation is country-specific: a document attested by the UAE Embassy is not valid in Qatar.

Apostille on a personal document is typically 3 to 5 working days. Educational documents needing HRD verification usually take 7 to 15 working days. Full embassy attestation for countries outside the convention, such as the UAE, Qatar and Kuwait, generally runs 12 to 25 working days.

Because the state HRD department writes to your issuing university and waits for written confirmation before authenticating the certificate. Some universities reply in days, others take weeks. That wait is the largest variable in the whole process and it is set by the university, not by us or the MEA.

Some stages can be expedited and some cannot. The MEA stage is often flexible; university verification generally is not. Tell us your deadline at the outset and we will say honestly whether it is achievable rather than accepting the job and explaining afterwards.

For a Gulf employment visa, allow a month. For a UK or US university deadline, start as soon as you have your final certificate. Police clearance certificates are the exception and should be done last, because most authorities will not accept one older than three to six months.

Yes. Attestation and apostille stamps are applied to the original document itself, so photocopies cannot be used. Clients abroad courier their originals to our New Delhi office; we keep them tracked throughout and return them by courier.

Educational documents such as degree, diploma, mark sheets and transcripts; personal documents such as birth, marriage, death and police clearance certificates and affidavits; and commercial documents such as certificates of origin, invoices, memorandums of association and board resolutions.

Yes. A laminated certificate cannot be stamped and must be de-laminated first, which risks damaging it, or replaced with a fresh copy from the issuing authority. Tell us before sending it so we can advise.

It is common and usually manageable, but it needs to be handled deliberately rather than discovered at a counter. Tell us in advance and we will advise on whether an affidavit or a corrected certificate is needed.

Most embassies require an English or destination-language translation, itself certified and legalised alongside the original. We arrange certified translation as part of the job.

Cost depends on the document type, the issuing state and the destination country, because government and embassy fees vary widely. We quote our service charge and all government and embassy fees up front, so nothing is added later. Send us the document details for an exact figure.

The client. Courier charges for sending your documents to our New Delhi office, and for returning them to you, are paid by the client. You can use DHL, FedEx or any courier you prefer.

No. Most of our clients never visit: they courier their documents to us from abroad by DHL, FedEx or any courier. Everything else is handled remotely with updates by WhatsApp or phone.

Yes — most of our clients live outside India. Message us first with the document and the destination country: required documents vary from embassy to embassy, so we confirm exactly what to send for your case. Then courier your originals to our New Delhi office by DHL, FedEx or any courier you prefer. We complete every stamp and courier the documents back to your address anywhere in the world. Courier charges in both directions are paid by the client.

No. We are a private consultancy. We are not a government body and have no affiliation with the Ministry of External Affairs or any embassy. We cannot influence a decision or a timeline set by a university. What we do is make sure your file is correct, complete and submitted in the right order.