Attestation is an important procedure for all those who plan to fly down in another country for job, studies or any other purposes. It is mandatory while you visit foreign countries for a purpose and you need to use your documents in the country. Either for seeking job or persuading studies or setting up your business, you are requested to produce your certificates of qualification that has been issued from the home country. In order to prove the genuinity of these documents it is compulsory to get them attested for submitting to any institution or company or the government itself. Attestation is the process of authenticating the documents using seal and signature by an authorised person, an authority, or a department and verifying that it was issued from a legitimate institution or board. In order to get any document attested, which has to be used in another country, there are a series of attestation procedures to be followed. Among them MEA attestation or Ministry of External Affairs attestation is critical for most document attestation.
Every original documents that requires Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi, must be first authenticated by the departments of the state or union Territory where the certificate was issued from. MEA attestation is only possible after the document has been validated by the state authority. There is a list of Regional Authentication Centres and the authorities who has the right to attest your documents at the state level, see it for yourself on MEA website. MEA attestation is essential to use the certificate in India and in foreign countries. This can be done on all the documents or certificates that has been issued from India. Attestation by MEA are of two types:
Apostille
India, being a member of the Hague Convention from 2005 wiped away the requirement of legalization of foreign public documents. Apostille is accepted in 105 countries that has been signed in the Convention. It is mandatory for personal documents like marriage, birth and death, Power of Attorney, Affidavits, and educational certificates. The document if apostilled in one member country of Hague Convention is accepted in every other member countries. This make it irrelevant to get your documents attested in each country separately. There are many apostille services who can help you get your documents authentic.
Normal Attestation
Normal attestation is done for all the countries who are not members of the Hague Convention where Apostille is not accepted.
Authentication of documents are different for each category;
Educational Documents
All educational documents like 10th,12th, degree, diploma, mark sheets and other certificates should be attested by the State Education Department of the state that issued the certificate, before getting legalized by MEA. Attestation is done with the name, signature, designation and the seal that makes the document authentic.
Personal Documents
Every personal documents like birth, marriage, death, affidavits, driving license, etc. must be attested by the Home Department of the state from where the certificate was issued, before MEA attestation.
Commercial Documents
The documents must be authenticated by the Chamber of Commerce with respective seal, signature, name and designation of the authorized person before attestation from MEA. Only after verifying the signature and stamp of the designated signing authority of the state or Union Territories, Ministry of External affairs attest your documents.
Documents required for MEA Attestation
- Original Document
- Photocopy of the document
- Photocopy of the Passport
- Service Charge
New India is the perfect partner for document attestation of all kinds and levels. We can help you get your valuable documents authentic and make them legalized in order to use it in the country you prefer to go. We also have services for marriage certificate attestation, educational certificate attestation, birth certificate attestation, PAN card services, Police clearance certificate, PRO services, commercial registration, translation services, and lot more.
