Many of us will have the question why we need to get attestation, apostille, Embassy attestation for our original document . I too had the same questions when i was informed that marriage verification need be done for German Family reunion visa.
Why documents need to be attested and apostilled for using in abroad?
To use the Indian documents in foreign countries we must get attestation and apostille. The Hague Convention 1961 abolished the requirement of repeated Legalization of foreign public documents by the governments of member countries. Documents issued in a Convention country which have been certified by an Apostille are entitled to recognition in any other Convention country without any further authentication.
What is mean by legalization?
There are several countries that do not participate in the Convention. Still the verification process is similar (Which means we should get both State and MEA attestation and apostille), Additional to that it requires Embassy Legalization by the Consular Office of the country in which the document is to be used. Legalization means confirmation of the genuineness of a seal or stamp or signature on a document.
Hague Convention Apostille accepting Countries list:
How to get documents attested and apostilled:
Step 1: All original documents/copies requiring attestation or Apostille should be first authenticated by the designated authorities of the State/Union Territory from where the document has been issued.
Step 1.1: In case of personal documents, we should get attestation from Home/General Administration Department of the concerned State Government/Union Territory.
Step 1.2: In case of educational documents, we should get attestation from Education Department of the concerned State Government/Union Territory.
Step 1.3: Commercial Documents are to be pre-authenticated by the respective Chambers of Commerce.
Step 2: After getting attestation from designated authorities of the State/Union Territory apply for attestation and apostille from Ministry of External affairs (MEA). The Ministry of External Affairs legalises the documents on the basis of the signature of the designated signing authorities of the State Government/Union Territory/Chambers of Commerce.
Where to submit documents for MEA attestation and apostille?
Apart from New Delhi attestation cell there are MEA Branch Secretariat office at Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Guwahati. You can submit your documents to the nearer MEA Branch secretariat to get MEA apostille. But to get MEA apostille from branch secretariat you should first get Attestation from State/Union Territory from where the document has been issued. If you need Apostille without attestation from State/Union Territory then you have to approach MEA office in Delhi.
For more information click the below link: http://mea.gov.in/Images/pdf/AttestationApostile_of_Documents.pdf
Verification process for Marriage certificate, if we do it by our self:
Processing time for Getting attestation and apostille (from both HRD and MEA) in marriage certificate is 1 to 3 months. You might ask why it takes 1 to 3 months to verify the document. Here is the reason:
In some parts of India there are no options to verify the documents through online. If the location where you have registered your marriage does not have an option to verify your document through online then everything will be done through offline. At first we need to submit our documents at the respective State/Union Territory home department. From there your documents will send to register office where you got married. There they will verify your document and then they will send the reply to home department. Here, information’s between home department and register office are exchanged through courier. So it will take time.
If the location where you got married has an option to verify your documents through online then it might take less time (Within one day you can get HRD attestation). After getting attestation from home department we need to get Apostille from Minstry of external affairs. For which it might take few days to week based on place where you stay.
The time span for marriage verification depends on the place where you have registered your marriage and place where you’re living.
Marriage certificate verification procedure for German Visa:
Since, Germany is a member of Hague Convention. Germany no longer legalises Indian documents, a formal verification process initiated by the Embassy or Consulate General will be carried out depending on the individual case, by verifying those documents at their source.
The most common Indian documents verified are birth, marriage or school certificates. The verification fees may range from Rs 2,000 to over Rs 40,000, depending on the complexity of the documents and their origin.
When German Embassy initiate verification?
The verification process will ONLY be initiated on behalf of a German authority (not by a private person). If you apply for a long-term visa, verification of your documents is likely to be required in the following cases: speciality cooks, job-seekers, family reunion/marriage.
How Germany embassy carry out verification:
German Missions entrust experienced lawyer firms to carry out the investigation.
German embassy attestation service:
You can also get your certificate attested from German embassy. To book appointment check the nearer German consulate General website.
Initiative by Indian Government for getting attestation and apostille through online:
The Indian government e-Sanad project aimed at online submission/verification of documents with an ultimate object to extend contact less, cashless, faceless and paperless document attestation service for apostille and normal attestation to applicants in India.
Which are the documents authenticated/apostilled under E-sanad?
Any type of document viz personal, educational or commercial can be authenticated/apostilled using E-Sand.
What is NAD (National Academic Depository)
The vision of National Academic Depository (NAD) is born out of an initiative to provide an online store house of all academic awards.
National Academic Depository (NAD) is a 24X7 online store house of all academic awards viz.certificates, diplomas, degrees, mark-sheets etc. duly digitised and lodged by academic institutions / boards / eligibility assessment bodies.
NAD not only ensures easy access to and retrieval of an academic award but also validates and guarantees its authenticity and safe storage.
National Academic Depository comprises of two interoperable digital depositories viz. CDSL Ventures Limited (CVL) and NSDL Database Management Limited (NDML).
At present, who are getting benefited from E-sanad project?
The document should be available in the digital repository for getting attestation/apostille through E-Sanad. Initially only those Document Issuing Authorities (DIAs), that have digital depository of their documents (such as CBSE), are taken on board.
In future it will be extended to all the institutions. To check the Academic Institutions that will be covered under NAD click the below link:
How the verification processing time is going to reduced by use of NAD?
Since documents in NAD guarantees its authenticity you can request NAD to share your award details to a verifier.
Benefits of NAD:
Permanent and safe record of keeping all academic awards issued;
No need for issuing duplicate academic awards, students can get it from NAD;
Effective deterrence to fake and forged paper certificates;
All academic awards verification needs can be addressed by NAD;
Efficient, effective and transparent administration.
To know more click the below link:
I hope the information i shared was useful for you. If you would like to say your suggestion or share your knowledge please comment.
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