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
Marriage Certificate Apostille & Attestation
Required for spouse visas, family sponsorship and joint residence almost everywhere.
A marriage certificate is needed whenever a spouse is being sponsored: dependant visas, family reunification, joint residence permits, and in many countries joint bank accounts or property registration.
Like other personal documents, it is authenticated by the state Home Department or an SDM rather than HRD, then attested or apostilled by the Ministry of External Affairs. For Gulf destinations, embassy attestation and MOFA follow.
Certificates issued under the Special Marriage Act, the Hindu Marriage Act and by municipal registrars are all attestable. What matters is that the certificate is an original registrar-issued document in a recognised format — a temple or ceremony certificate on its own is not sufficient.
For Hague Convention countries a marriage certificate apostille is enough; elsewhere, marriage certificate attestation by the destination embassy is required. Couples who have already moved abroad can courier the original certificate to our New Delhi office rather than travelling back to India.
What we need from you
- Original marriage certificate issued by the registrar
- A photocopy of the certificate
- Copies of both spouses' passports
- An authorisation letter for submission on your behalf
Process
How marriage certificate apostille works
Home Department or SDM
State-level authentication of the marriage certificate.
MEA apostille or attestation
Ministry of External Affairs applies the sticker or stamp.
Embassy attestation
Only for non-Hague destinations.
MOFA
Gulf countries only.
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
Around 3 to 7 working days for an apostille, and 12 to 20 working days for full Gulf legalisation including MOFA.
Generally not on its own. Authorities require the registrar-issued certificate under the applicable marriage act. If you only have a ceremony certificate, the marriage will normally need to be registered first.
No. Neither spouse needs to attend. We submit and collect on your behalf with an authorisation letter.
Yes, and it is one of the most common requests we handle. The UAE requires the full chain ending with MOFA attestation in the UAE.
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.