What is an apostille? Why do NRIs need it?

NRIs or Indian diasporas require attestation services to authenticate documents like educational, financial, commercial, and personal documents of the individuals for their personal and commercial use in countries abroad. Also, NRIs who want to set up business in India will need commercial documents duly attested by MEA for export and other business-related purposes. The authentication is done in two forms: normal attestation and apostille certification. It depends on the individual which attestation they want to get done as per their needs. Usually, the documentation services for NRI are availed for apostille certification. Let’s first find out what an apostille is?

What is an apostille?

An Apostille is a kind of square-shaped stamp affixing by MEA, Government of India, on the document’s backside. Any kind of documents issued in one country must be used in another country must be authenticated and legalized or, more specifically, apostilled to be recognized as valid in the foreign country. Apostille certification is required where the documents are to be used in countries that are members of the Hague apostille convention. These documents are to be attested by the Indian ministry of external affairs. The documents required to be apostilled can range from transcripts, degrees, power of attorney to legal documents. For getting the attestation by the Indian ministry of external affairs, all the documents need to be duly legalized and authenticated. If the country is not a member of the Hague apostille convention, then the documents can be generally attested by India’s ministry of external affairs.

Apostille is mainly required for the following documents

Documents required for Apostille certification

The following documents are required-

The original document needs to be apostilled.
Photocopy of passport
Name of the country for which the apostilled document is to be used.

Apostilled documents and the original document can be shipped anywhere in India by a trusted courier service company at the applicable courier charges.

Why do NRIs need apostille certification?

Apostillation of the documents is required to phase out the necessity of document legalization when going to foreign countries to obtain employment or work visa, applying for permanent or temporary residency, for student visa or study abroad, import and export of business, etc. apostille is important for the countries which are a part of the Hague apostille convention.

Procedure for obtaining apostille certificate

The government has recently decentralized the procedure. Ministry of external affairs, India is responsible for providing apostille documents. The process has been regionalized in 15 cities to the branch secretariats. The cities include- Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Chennai, Chandigarh, Cochin, New Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Panaji, Raipur, and Thiruvananthapuram. The process begins with the local notary from where the document has been issued and is then taken for state authentication, and the MEA then provides an apostille sticker. The procedure differs for different documents. The necessary steps involved in the document apostille process are-

The first step is to get the educational and personal documents authenticated by the notary done at the regional level by the lawyer or at the collector’s office.
The next step is to get it certified by the home department. This includes the certification of personal documents. The home department is responsible for the legalization of the documents that are issued by the same state government.
Then comes the attestation by the HRD (human resource department). This department will certify the educational documents of the individual. Certificate verification is done from the university or board where the document is issued.
Suppose the certification is not possible through HRD or the home department. As an alternative, SDM(state district magistrate) can do the state attestation under certain situations.
To get your commercial documents certified and legalized, the Chamber of Commerce will verify your commercial documents before the MEA.
The final step is the attestation and legalization by the ministry of external affairs, India. The MEA will provide stickers and MEA stamps as per the requirement.

How can NRIway help with documentation services for NRI?

It is quite tricky for the NRIs to do the apostille process as it is quite complicated and involves several steps. They will require professional services for apostille authentication and legalization to save their time and efforts. Nriway offers such documentation services for NRI as apostille documents and attestation that makes the cumbersome procedure of apostille convenient for them while they relax in their home comfort. They offer quality documentation services for NRI. They have excellent customer support and are available 24/7 for taking queries. NRI way has professional agents that assist you in procuring the apostille sticker. You just need to give your documents, and they will handle the rest. They do it at an affordable price and relieve you from the stress of coordinating with different government officials. Nriway is your solution that helps you feel that distance can never keep you from India.