Blogs Frequently Asked Questions

Apostille or Attestation both serve different purposes and are used in different ways. An apostille authenticates the documents to use in the member countries of the Apostille Convention, while an Attestation is done to verify the authenticity of the document to use in any country that is not a member of the Hague Convention.

You can apostille many documents, such as public documents (marriage, birth, and death certificates), commercial documents (incorporation certificates, Power of Attorney), and educational certificates (diplomas, degrees, transcripts).

Normal attestation's purpose is to verify the documents for Non-Hague Convention Countries, which often includes state-level, HRD, or notary verification. Additional attestation works at a higher level; it specializes in stamps from the destination's country embassy and government ministries to make the documents legally valid for international use.

The apostille is used to certify the authenticity of official documents. It also makes sure that these documents are recognised in the other member countries of the Hague Apostille Convention. The Apostillization process makes the verification of international document bery easy and cross-border administrative and legal processes very efficient.

The main difference between an apostille and attestation (authentication) is in their application and processes. In attestation, the document is verified by different government bodies, and it is valid for non-Hague countries. On the other hand, an Apostille is a process that certifies the documents to use in any of the Hague-Convention countries.

No, an apostille and an attestation are not similar. In Attestation, there are many levels for verification, such as notary, state, and embassy stages. It is used for those countries that are not a part of the Hague Convention. While an apostille is a single-step certification for the documents, it is used for the member countries of the Hague Convention, and it is simpler and universally recognized.

The official fee of an apostille for any document type, whether it is birth, marriage, education, or more, from the MEA in India costs Rs. 50 per document. The charges are paid through a postal order. Additionally, the outsourced charges are not included in it. They can vary depending on the agency you take assistance from.

Yes, for an OCI application, if the birth certificate is from outside India, then it needs to be endorsed for an apostilled mission abroad. The certificate should be issued from where the applicant is born, not from within India.

To get a birth certificate apostille in India, you first need to get it verified by your state government authority, generally the birth or deaths registrar or the issuing officials. After that, the MEA will issue the apostille certificate, which is a sticker or stamp that ensures the authenticity of the document.

To get an Indian marriage certificate apostille, you first need to get your marriage certificate verified and attested by your local state authorities and then by a Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM). Lastly, send your marriage certificate to the MEA for an apostille stamp.

In India apostille is only issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). Considering this, the apostille for a birth certificate in India is also given by the MEA.

To obtain an apostille for a US birth certificate in India, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs can help you with this. For this, from a public notary, get notarized photocopies, submit the original US documents, including your birth certificate and copies, to the MEA office in your state, and pay the fee. After that, collect the documents when they are ready, and take them to the US Embassy for stamping. There also pay the embassy charges, and within 2-3 working days, you will get an apostille on your US birth certificate in India.

In India, Visament is the best way to get assistance for an apostille certificate. Our experts are well-equipped and 24*7 available to assist you. Additionally, all our services are rendered in strict compliance with data protection laws. Also, we ensure that our clients get their legalized documents faster. So, do consider us to help you in getting your apostille certificate.

The validity of a marriage certificate apostille in India issued by the MEA is six months. However, it is vital to know that other countries may have different validity for a marriage certificate apostille in India.

You can verify an e-Apostille by using the unique certificate number on the issuing government's e-registry, scanning the QR code or validating the digital signature within the PDF document.

Yes, you can print your e-Apostille. However, the printed copy acts only as a reference. The original e-Apostille is a digitally signed PDF. Officials verify its authenticity electronically rather than through a physical signature or stamp.

An e-Apostille itself does not legally expire and remains permanently valid once issued. However, foreign receiving authorities often require the underlying document to be recently issued.

They are officially recognised by over 120 member countries of the Hague Apostille Convention. While all member nations should legally accept digital documents, specific authorities in countries such as the Netherlands, France, Italy and Spain are the most active and reliable adopters of an e-Apostille.

The processing time for the Indian passport renewal application is about 30-60 working days.

Yes, if you apply for a passport reissue, then your passport will be issued with a new booklet of 36 or 60 pages with 10 years' validity.