Apostille is a process of attesting the documents which provide them with a legal identity under all the countries which comes under the Hague convention i.e. 105 nations. In India, the Ministry of External Affairs administers the Apostille of documents. India joined the Hague convention in 2005 which abolished the need for legalization of foreign public documents, which included multiple channels for verification. If done right in a manner, apostille attestation is a much simpler process.

With the help of Apostille attestation, your documents will get a legal identity and will be declared authentic for all the nations which come under the Hague convention. Apostille attestation is done for the documents like personal, corporate and educational documents. Personal documents include birth certificate, death certificate, marriage certificate, divorce certificate, affidavits etc. Corporate documents include MOA, AOA, patent documents, etc. Educational documents include school and college degrees and certificates, diploma certificates etc. The Apostille attestation replaced the process of legalization of foreign public documents as it includes multiple channels for verification.

Apostille is a simple process to get your documents authenticated for all the countries which come under the Hague convention. There are many situations where the Apostille attestation can be rejected like if the origin cannot be verified, and the formal elements differ from the model certificate of the convention. The Apostille attestation is done on the reverse side of the original document authenticating with a unique stamp and number. The Apostille attestation will help in making your documents legalized in such a format that they will be recognized by all the nations belonging to Hague Apostille Convention.

Following is the procedure of Apostille attestation in India:

• Authentication of the document- Firstly the document should be authentication by the designated authority where the documents are originally issued. Depending upon the documents, one should visit the concerned department. Like for personal documents, one should visit the home or general department or for educational documents, one should visit the educational department of the concerned territory.
• Deposition of documents with authorized outsource service provider- The documents are submitted to the outsourced service provider or if choosing an online service provider, the documents can be submitted through e-sanad. The applicant has to pay a standard fee set by the e-service provider. Further, the documents are submitted to the branch secretariat or RPOs by the outsourced agency. The documents are digitally verified by the Department of Internal Affairs and the General Administration Department.
• Receipt of documents from outsourced agencies- The outsourced agency receives documents from the branch secretariat or RPO of the concerned territory. The legalized and authenticated documents are handed over to the applicant.

So above is the step-by-step procedure of Apostille attestation in India. Please take note that the MEA will not accept the documents from the applicants directly. They will accept the documents from the authorized service provider and will give them back after attestation. You can easily find the certified online Apostille services in Hyderabad and other places too. You can easily get your documents attested online in 7 working days.