What is Apostille Attestation? Purpose, Fees & Procedure

Purpose of Apostille bound by the Hague Convention Countries

In countries bound by the Hague Convention, an apostille serves a specific purpose -

• For higher education
• For the residency permit.
• To acquire a Person of Indian origin (PIO) / Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) card.
• To get married in nations covered by the Hague Convention but not in India.
• To register for an office.
• To verify and confirm a person's birthdate or location under the Hague Convention

Procedure required to get an Apostille Attestation

The candidates must get their documents apostilled if they are planning to study abroad.

Here’s a step-by-step guide for the candidates to get their documents apostilled:

• Step 1: Candidates are required to visit an Electronic Service i.e. e- Sanad established by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Government of India for verification and authentication of attestated documents.
• Step 2: Upload the verified documents and pay the fees of INR. 50.
• Step 3: Later, the documents get digitally scanned and verified by the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) and General Administration Department (GAD), Government of India (GOI).
• Step 4: Finally, the attested documents with Apostille labels/stickers are disposed of to the respective candidates.

Important: As the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) does not accept the documents directly from the applicant/individual, all Attestatted/Apostilled documents are submitted to The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and collected from designated outsourced agencies. Additional information can be found on the official website of the MEA, GOI.

Fees required for Apostille Attestation

Every document is required to be apostilled for 50 INR which is collected by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). Nonetheless, The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) does not accept documents directly from the applicant or individual, so any document that the Ministry of External Affairs needs to apostilled has to be presented and obtained from the organizations that are authorized as outsourcing.

NOTE: Outsourcing organizations/agencies will charge INR 90 plus a scanning cost of INR 3 per page for each document that is collected and sent for Apostille Attestation by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). However, Normal Attestation is performed at no cost i.e. INR 0.00.

What are the documents Apostilled by e-Sanad?

Documents identifying private, public, or commercial organizations can get their documents authenticated and apostilled via e-Sanad services. The document has to be in a digital archive to use e-Sanad services for attesting or apostilling.

NOTE: If the portal i.e. e-Sanad cannot identify or verify your documents, you are required to upload it through one of the Regional Authentication Centers (RACs) and then submit it to the nearest outsourced center to get it authenticated and apostille.

Documents required for Apostille

Below is the list of documents that can be attested. There are more documents in the list, which is not exhaustive.

Countries that come under the Hague Convention

There is a list of 105 countries that are a part of the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961, that introduced the Apostille attestation.

THE COUNTRIES INCLUDED IN THE HAGUE CONVENTION

Advantages a country gets when it becomes a member of the Hague Convention

For example: Since both Turkey and Italy are included in the Hague nation list, documents that are apostilled to one nation can be used for another. There is no requirement to get an Attestation from the destination country's Embassy on the Apostilled document. Since a nation party to the Hague Convention recognizes an apostille as the greatest degree of legality.

NOTE: The documents should be freshly Apostilled if they are more than six months old.

Can an Apostilled document be rejected?

Typically, applicants wonder whether or not their attested papers will be turned down. Having said that, in a few cases, the approach is valid and uncontested.

However, apostilles may only be rejected in the following two situations:

• The Apostille is an origin that cannot be verified.
• It is a formal document that deviates from the Model Certificate that is attached to the Convention.

Is your Apostille Attestation Valid?

An apostille should typically be accepted at any of the following issues:

• A criminal history check.
• Candidates are requested to submit the current apostille attestation for birth certificates and academic records.
• Your date of birth and educational background should remain the same.
• It is not necessary to use an older apostille; one should work just fine.

Apostille attestation simplifies the process of document legalization for international use, ensuring their validity across 105 countries under the Hague Convention. Managed exclusively by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), India, this process facilitates various purposes from education and residency to official permits and marital arrangements abroad.