The entire process of Certificate Apostille is not an easy one. It can be very tedious and time consuming. Considering the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it can get even more complicated. Hence, it is best advised to hire an MEA apostille agency or service provider to get things done quickly and seamlessly. Getting a certificate apostille requires the applicant to deal with different government departments and agencies. This may prove to be extremely difficult in view of the ongoing pandemic. Hiring an expert certificate apostille agency to do the work on your behalf would save plenty of time and avoid any hassles since the agency is a professional and knows how to get things done. Yes, the agency would charge a certain amount as a fee, however it is worth it rather than doing things the wrong way.

If you are planning to move to a foreign nation which is a member of the Hague Convention, hiring BVS Global, one of the top apostille service providers in India is a wise decision considering the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Certificate Apostille

Apostille refers to the authentication or certification of a legal document that has been issued in India. Apostille is done to legalize and authenticate the legitimacy of certificates such as marksheets, degrees, diplomas, marriage, birth, etc. An Apostille document in India is valid and acceptable in any of the countries around the world that are member nations of the Hague Convention. There are 117 countries that are members of the Hague Convention. If you are looking to relocate to a foreign nation and for visa application, certificate apostille is a must. Under the Hague Convention, a document apostilled in one member nation is acceptable in another member nation.

An apostille is nothing but a stamp that is affixed behind the original document. The stamp is unique in the sense that it bears a unique identification number. Using this number, the foreign country that you are planning to relocate to can verify its authenticity. In India, the Apostille certification is done by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The MEA is the only government body authorized in India to do apostille authentication. Once the Apostille stamp has been affixed by the MEA on the original document, it does not have to be certified again by any of the Hague Convention nations.

 Process of Certificate Apostille

Prior to the Apostille by the MEA, there are several stages of authentication that need to be carried out. This depends on the type of the document to be apostilled.

Stage 1: Attestation of the document at Regional level

This is a very basic and initial level of attestation done by the University from where the certificate has been issued or by the respective Chamber of Commerce in case of commercial documents.

Step 2 : Attestation of the document at State level

This stage involves attestation of the documents by different departments at State Level depending on the type of document.

For personal documents : State Home Department

For educational documents : State Education Department

Attestation can also be done by the SDM (Sub-divisional Magistrate) which is independent but equivalent to State level authentication.

Stage 3: Legalization of documents by MEA

Legalization of documents by affixing an apostille stamp by the MEA is the final stage of authentication. The MEA apostilles only those documents that have been attested at a State Level. Once the MEA stamp is affixed, the certificate is considered as apostilled.