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The Ministry of External Affairs attests original documents//true copies of documents for use abroad. Attestation done by the Ministry of External Affairs is of two types:

1. Apostille:

India, since 2005, is a member of the Hague Convention of October 5, 1961 that abolished the requirement of legalization of foreign public documents. Apostille is acceptable in all member-countries of the Convention (For more info please visit the website: www.hcch.net). Apostille is done for personal documents like birth/death/marriage certificates, Affidavits, Power of Attorney, etc. and educational documents like degree, diploma, matriculation and secondary level certificates etc. As India is a member of the Hague Apostille Convention, 1961, no further attestation or legalization of a document apostilled by a member country, should be required for using such apostilled document in India. An apostilled document should, therefore, be treated as legalized document for all purposes in India by all concerned, in accordance with the international obligation under the Convention.

(Countries under Hague Convention is available at the following link).pdf

(No further requirement of attestation of apostilled documents).pdf

(Enclosure: Issuing and Accepting Apostilles ) .pdf

2. Normal Attestation:

This is done for all the countries which are not a member of Hague Convention and where Apostille is not accepted.

Procedure for Attestation/Apostille

A. E-sanad: A. E-sanad: e-Service for verification & attestation of documents of Indian Citizens. Detatils of e-Sanad can be obtained by following thefollowing Link..pdf

B. Attestation/apostille of documents not covered under E-sanad:

Step 1. Authentication of Documents

Applicant Regional Authentication Centres (RACs)
(Details of RACs is available at following link).pdf

Authentication

Step 2. Deposition of Documents with authorized Outsource Service Provider.


Details of Outsource Agency centers is available at following link Appendix G.pdf

Details of Jurisdiction of Branch Secretariat/RPos is available at following linkAppendix H.pdf

Deposition

Step 3. Receipt of apostilled/Attested documents from Outsource agencies.

Receipt

Important Note:

Legalisation of documents: The Ministry of External Affairs thereafter, legalises the documents on the basis of the signature of the designated signing authorities of the State Government/Union Territory/Chambers of Commerce. Hence it does not take responsibility of the contents of the documents.

Outsourcing of receipt and Delivery of Documents. As a result to outsourcing of receipt and delivery of documents for attestation/Apostille with effect from July 2012, no document is directly accepted from individuals at the Ministry of External Affairs Counter at CPV Division, Patiala House Annexe, New Delhi. The original document/true copy is to be submitted directly to any of the four outsourced service providers along with a photocopy of the document and a photocopy of the Passport of the applicant. It would be pertinent to point out that the Ministry does not legalize photocopies. Applicants are advised not to rely on unauthorised persons/touts for Apostille or Attestation services.

Decentralization of Attestation/ Apostille Services. W.e.f. January 01 2019, Attestation/Apostille services have been decentralized to Branch Secretariats/RPOs in 15 cities Ahemdabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Chennai, Chandigarh, Cochin, New Delhi, Guwahati,, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Panaji, Raipur and Thiruvanantapuram. The contact details of these RPOs and the collection centres of the four service providers in these 15 cities are as given above.NORKA ROOTS, a public sector company under the Department of Non-Resident Keralite Affairs, Government of Kerala is authorized to submit documents for Attestation/Apostille by RPO, Thiruvanantapuram .

Applicants are requested to approach their respective Branch Secretariats/RPOs as enumerated above through the four outsourced service providers for obtaining the requisite services of apostille/attestation as required.

Fees for Apostille and Normal Attestation

MEA: A fee of Rs 50 is payable for Apostille of document. (W.e.f 21 December 2016, payment by means of postal orders has been discontinued.) Normal Attestation is done free of cost.

Outsourced agencies: As the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is not accepting documents directly from the applicant/individual, all documents for the purpose of Attestation/Apostille by MEA are to be submitted and collected from the four designated outsourced agencies. The fee chargeable by the outsourced agencies per document for its collection and delivery for Apostille/normal attestation by MEA will be Rs. 90/- (Service Fee) and Rs 3 per page (Scanning Fee) .

For more information, suggestions or any grievance please contact:

Fax : 011- 49016638
Email : sooi[at]mea[dot]gov[dot]in, soatt1[at]mea[dot]gov[dot]in