Credit: Worldwide Transcripts
Written by: Abhishek Chatterjee
Reviewed by: Vakila Khan

Phases involved in the issuance of Apostille documents

The term apostille is usually heard when you seek to travel abroad and apply for a visa. It’s mandatory to apply and go through the complete visa procedure when you go to a foreign country may for higher studies, or job, or maybe temporary or permanent residence. Each of these demands and valid visa followed by apostille documents. Even if you are planning to reach out to the branches of your business in a foreign country, you must have authorized documents to move ahead. The legalization of documents and certification is a mandatory procedure to be followed while moving abroad for the above-mentioned scenarios, which are known as apostille documents.

In simpler terms, the implication of Apostille is certification. The procedure of Apostille is a certification of all the legal documents that are to be done while you move to another country. When you seek to apostille a document, a stamp or a sticker is obtained from the authority on the same known as the Apostille stamp. It is a technically generated ticket with a unique authentication code. The stamp is applied on the back-side of the document by the officials. The motive of the stamp is to ensure record maintenance online. This stamp secures the need of not getting any extra certifications from the embassy making it a flexible choice to proceed.

While you get your Apostille documents, it’s essential to keep the basic steps into consideration involved in the process. Have a look at the following pointers to know the steps in brief.

  • Notary Attestation: The initial step is to get your educational and personal documents certified by the Notary. The task is accomplished at any regional lawyer or from the collector’s office.
  • Residence Department Attestation: The department that certifies the personal documents is Home Department. It is a state-level organization. All the documents that are issued under the same state government are legalized by this department. It is also well known by the Mantralaya of the state.
  • Human Resource Department Attestation: The department is entirely responsible for the certification of educational documents. The significant factor focused in this part of the authentication process is the Certification verification. Verification of the certificates is done from the university or the board, from where the document has been issued.
  • Sub-Divisional Magistrate: In some cases, the role of state attestation is performed by the sub-divisional magistrate. The main instance when this process works out is when the Home Department or the Human Resource Department attestation is not eligible.
  • Chamber of Commerce Attestation: If you seek to travel abroad for your business, the Chamber of Commerce attestation is the initial step for you to execute. The commercial documents are not to be verified by the state government officials.
  • MEA Attestation: The role of this attestation procedure is to manage foreign affairs. This process will provide the valid sticker and stamp as needed. This is the final step that needs to be executed before leaving the home country.

Every step is essential and needs to be followed to ensure the secure validation of Apostille documents. Validation of all the documents is quite essential to execute a smooth visa procedure.