The Apostille is a computer generated sticker that verifies and confirms the seal and signature of the designated officer / authority, who authenticated and verified the certificate that is known as Apostille Attestation. If the certificate is intended to use in country those are the member of Hague convention then the certificate need to be apostille attestation.
Procedure
I. Ministry of External Affairs providing Apostille attestation to the certificate issued from all the states in India for the use foreign countries. All documents required for Apostille attestation, should be authenticated by a designated department in the state, from where the certificate has been issued. In case of an educational document it should be attested from the regional authentication center / H R D department of the state government, but in case of a personal document such as marriage certificate, birth certificate etc. it should be attested from the home department of the state government.
Educational Document
a. State education department Attestation
b. Apostille Attestation from Ministry of External Affairs (M E A)
II. Non Educational Document
1. A. Notary Attestation
2. B. Home Department Attestation from state government.
3. C. Apostille Attestation from Ministry of External Affairs ( MEA)
A huge number of countries all over the world have joined a treaty that greatly simplifies the authentication of public documents to be used abroad. This treaty is called the Hague Convention of October 1961, abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents. It is commonly known as the Apostille Convention. Where it applies, the treaty reduces the authentication process to a single formality: the issuance of an authentication certificate by an authority designated by the country where the public document was issued. This certification is called an Apostille.
With India's accession to the Hague Convention of October 5, 1961, abolishing the requirement of legalization of foreign public documents, the Government of India, Ministry of External affairs at CPV Division, started issuing Apostilles on August 29, 2007.
Apostilles can only be issued for documents issued in a country party to the Apostille convention and that are to be used in another country which is also a party of the convention.
Apostille convention facilitated the circulation of public documents issued by a country party to the convention and that are to be used in another country also party to the convention. Apostille is a French Word which means Certification. A document bearing an Apostille is valid in all the Hague convention countries.
Albania, Belgium, Czech Republic, Grenada, Korea, Netherlands, San Marino, Switzerland, Andorra, Belize, Denmark, Georgia, Latvia, New Zealand, Salvador, Seychelles,
Antigua, Bosnia, Dominica, Honduras, Lithuania, Norway, Saint Lucia, Yugoslav Republic,
Argentina, Bulgaria, Ecuador, Hungary, Luxembourg, Serbia, Saint Vince, Tonga,
Armenia, Botswana, El Salvador, Iceland, Malta, Liberia, South Africa, Slovakia, Trinidad and Tobago,
Australia, Brunei, Saint Lucia, Estonia, India, Malawi, Poland, Slovenia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, China, Fiji, Ireland, Monaco, Panama, Spain, Ukraine,
Austria, Islands, Finland, Israel, Montenegro, Portugal, Suriname, United Kingdom,
Barbados, Colombia, France, Italy, Marshall, islands, Romania, Sweden, Northern Ireland, Bahamas, Croatia, Germany, Japan, Mauritius, Russian Federation, Swaziland, United State of America,
Belarus, Cyprus, Greece, Kazakhstan, Namibia Dominica, Hungary, Venezuela