First and foremost thing that comes to your mind after hearing about apostille is “What is apostille?”
In basic words apostille is a certificate/ Sticker given by Ministry of external affairs to legalize a document so that it is considered a genuine document by foreign countries.
Every person who is born in a country basically will receive a birth certificate as a proof of Date of Birth and marriage certificate as a proof of marriage, once you travel to new contry on Work visa or dependent visa the other country wants these documents to verify your claims.
The foreign country wants to be sure that all the documents that you submit to them are genuine so they ask you to get apostille, the documents. To get apostille the documents, your documents will go through sevel departments to check the authenticity of the document. Once you have apostille for your document the foreign country is now sure that the document is genuine.
Go to Apostille Process Directly
Go to Apostille Process Directly
Reasons to get MEA apostation on the marriage certificate
- Flying on dependent VISA
- Going on Work VISA
- Getting PR done in other country
- For dual citizenship
- An individual who is going abroad on a family visa
- To get the property ownership
- To apply for passports for the children
Ways to get Apostille Marriage certificate
Basically there are two ways of getting apostille from MEA
- Through State Verification
- Through SDM Verification
State Attestation
All the documents issued in India relates to the state in which it is issued.
Here, the State government has to verify the document’s authenticity first.
State authentication will be done by the secretariat of the district in which the document is issued.
The apostille Marriage certificate is provided only after state verification is done.
There are many government bodies are involved in this process.
This process will take 30 working days to complete the whole process.
State verification in detail
SDM verification
State attestation takes a lot of time, there is a shorter way to get apostille marriage certificate from MEA through SDM verification.
Here, your documents are submitted to Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM).
The attestation of marriage certificate generally from SDM takes 3 to 4 days. Whereas, the same documents when attested from the state take 3 to 4 weeks.
Once the SDM verification is done then the document is submitted to MEA for apostille. This is the most crucial step in the entire apostille process.
Time required to finish this kind of apostille depends on the package you choose on our website.
Time required to complete varies from 3 days to 14 days
Both the apostille are legally accepted in hague nations (113) countries.
However, for Italy and Austria MEA Apostillation has to be done through state verification only.
For Non hague nations (nations which are not in the hague nation list)
All the documents must go through state verification to get MEA apostille and then legalization from the Embassy of the destination country.
How does our company help MEA ?
MEA apostilles thousands of documents everyday, In 2012 there was a boom in number documents that MEA received. It was very hard for MEA to keep track of all the documents.
So this job was outsourced to us. The collection and distribution of documents is our job.
Finally MEA has the right to apostille the document.
MEA no longer accepts the documents directly from citizens.
Apostille Stamp
Apostille stamp is a way to legalize a document by putting a sticker that is in a square shape on the top of the document. The stamp is placed so that foregin countries come to know that the marriage certificate apostille is real and correct. A thorough check of all the major and supporting documents is done and after proper verification, the embassy attests to all the certificates.
Which one is better SDM or state ?
If your Destination country is in Hague naton list, Except Italy and Austria then you should go for SDM attestation since this costs less and takes less time.
However if your documents belong to Punjab, Haryana and Goa the SDM costs are different there is extra verification for documents from these states.
Your destination country does not belong to Hague nation State attestation has to done then MEA apostille after that Embassy attestation(only for non hague nations).
Fees an applicant has to pay for apostille marriage certificate India?
There are several charges that are added to know about the exact charges for attestation of the marriage certificate. The fee depends on the type of document, various fees are charged at several levels of apostille that are discussed above, and a nominal fee is charged by the apostille service provider. The amount increases if the documents are more. So, these all are the charges that an applicant has to pay to get an apostille on a marriage certificate.
Validity of Apostille marriage certificate?
Apostille marriage certificate or apostille in general which is provided by MEA will have a validity of 6 months. Other countries have different validity. Indian apostille have 6 months validity.
How much time does it take to get the apostille marriage certificate India?
In a marriage certificate apostille, there are numerous steps involved. This is a simple but a little lengthy process as all the documents are checked by keeping every small detail in mind. There are various authorities so the certificate is verified for at least 3-4 times to avoid any mistake as after an apostille the document is regarded as legal and valid in foreign countries.
For the complete process, the estimated time is 3-4 days. However, the time also depends on the place where the certificates were issued. To know the exact time for the process, contact a trustworthy and genuine apostille service.
How do I apply for MEA Marriage Certificate Apostille or any certificate?
Steps involved in Apostille
- Registering online for apostille
- Sending the documents for office/or visitting our office to deposit the document
- Online payment for apostille
- Receiving the tracking number for the documents
- Check updates online
- Get emails regarding the apostille status
- Receive / collect the documents after apostille
Following are the details an Apostille contains:
- Name of country from which the document was issued.
- Name of the Person to whom document is issued.
- Name of person signing the document.
- Designation of the singed person.
- Place of certification date of certification.
- Number of certificate.
- Seal or stamp of authority issuing certificate.
- Signature of authority issuing certificate.
What happens once I apply for apostille?
Once you apply for apostille we will check the document for authenticity and will check the document with concerned departments for correctness.
if the document submitted to us is proper we will process it further to SDM.
After SDM signs the document it will be processed through MEA for apostille. We will check the details of the apostille itself like your name date and seals. If there is any correction required we will process the document again.
Checkout Marriage Certificate Apostille for the following countries-
