How to get PCC ( Police Clearance Certificate ) Apostille from MEA?
Police Clearance Certificate can be issued by Passport Office or Local Police of State Government. It’s always better to apply PCC ( Police Clearance Certificate ) from Passport office only. So once you receive Police Clearance Certificate from Passport office, you need to follow the below steps.
- Register here
- Submit the documents with us.
- Pay for the Apostille.
- Receive documents after Apostille to your Address.
Go to Apostille Process Directly
Go to Apostille Process Directly
What is apostille?
Apostille is a way of verifying the documents whether they are given from genuine authority or not. Nowadays anyone can make fake documents. The country you are travelling will ask you to get apostille because authorities wants to to make sure that you are submitting the original documents.
The Apostille is done by Ministry of external affairs only. This is the highest level of authentication for any document. Once you submit the documents for authentication your documents will go through many concerned departments to make sure that the document is genuine.
The apostilled police clearance certificate is a legal and valid document that can be presented in any of the Hague nations. The police clearance certificate is issued after verifying the applicants’ background thoroughly. PCC helps the other country to know that the person whose name is written on the certificate does not have any criminal record till the issuing date of the certificate.
Once the applicant gets a PCC apostille then there is no further need for the investigation of the documents through various modes as it is now authentic document. PCC is also known as the good conduct certificate, judicial record extracts, good citizen certificate, and police clearance certificate. The process to get a police clearance certificate is quick, easy, and can be completed by following the above-given steps in a few minutes.
Reasons why we need Police Clearance Certificate Apostille:
- Higher Studies
- Working in other country
- Requirement of the foreign country
- For moving as a permanent resident
- In case a person wants to stay for a long period in a foreign country
Police clearance certificate is a proof of no criminal charges against your name and it is given by Passport office in india.
PCC is a key document for foreign country for criminal background check.
Most of the countries ask for PCC apostille.
Police Clearance Certificate is essential for the safety of the country where the applicant is moving for numerous reasons. The country comes to know about the criminal history of the applicant.
When a person does not require a PCC
There are a few cases when an applicant does not need any clearance certificate from the police.
- When an applicant has applied for a tourist visa or a travelling visa
Important Note: If you are planning to go abroad for a vacation and will come back in a few days then the good news is you do not require a police clearance certificate.
Details that are presented in a Police Clearance Certificate
This is an overview of the details that a person can see on the Police Clearance Certificate affidavit
- Certificate No: A unique number is added
- Certificate issued Date: 00/00/0000 date and time are added
- Account Reference: ALPHA CODE
- Unique Doc. Reference: ALPHANUMERIC
- Purchased by: NAME
- Description of Document: ARTICLE 4 AFFIDAVIT
- Description: AFFIDAVIT
- Consideration Price (Rs.): ZERO
- First Party: NAME OF PERSON
- Second Party: N/A
- Stamp Duty Paid By: NAME OF PERSON
- Stamp Duty Amount(Rs.): AMOUNT
Documents that are needed to get a PCC attestation
There are only a small number of documents required for the PCC apostille
- The original police clearance certificate.
- A photocopy of an Aadhar card or a driving license.
- A photocopy of a passport’s front and last page.
The amount that a person has to pay for the Police Clearance apostille
To get an apostille police clearance certificate, an applicant has to pay some fees to each level of authority for the attestation. The amount vary with the state, country, number of documents, apostille service fees, and type ofdocuments. To know the accurate amount that an applicant has to pay for the Police Clearance apostille, contact a reliable apostille service provider.
How much time does it take to get a PCC attestation
As there are several authorities involved in the attestation of a police clearance certificate so it is a lengthy process. The estimate time that is generally taken for an apostille police clearance certificate is 10-12 days. The time period also depends on the place where the certificate was issued. However, the duration may increase if there are ample numbers of applications or due to any uncertainty.
Procedure to get Police Clearance Certificate Apostille
Getting PCC apostille is not so complicated like other documents Birth certificate, marriage certificate or degree certificate.
Since PCC is given by Passport authority there is no state verification required. PCC can be directly apostilled from MEA.
The PCC apostille MEA is basically the most important step. The certificate is sent to the Ministry of External Affairs for approval. Here all the major and supporting documents are examined by taking care of every small detail. When the Ministry of External Affairs is satisfied that all the details that are written in the police clearance certificate are 100% correct then only a stamp and signature are placed on the document.
The police clearance certificate that gets an apostille stamp on it can be used in any of the Hague nations as now it is regarded as real and lawful.
If facing any difficulty in understanding any of the point, then all you need to do is follow the steps given in this page
Or Register here and get your doubts clarified.
Note: For the nations that are not a member of the Hague nations, Embassy Attestation is needed.
- For Hague nations apostille ( issued by RPO )
Notary + MEA + Apostille - For non-Hague nations ( issued by RPO )
Notary + MEA + Embassy Attestation - Hague nations apostille ( issued by police)
Notary + MEA +Home department +Apostille - For non-Hague nations ( issued by police )
Notary + MEA + Home Department Embassy Attestation
What is the validity of PCC apostille
All the apostilled documents regardless which authentication is made(State or SDM) is valid only for 6 months.
If your Apostille is 6 months old then you need to get new apostille.
However, there are countries that accept an apostille PCC that is more than 6 months or an year old. So, to know the validity of your Police Clearance Certificate Apostille contact a trustworthy apostille service.
Can I directly deposite my documents to MEA
Unfortunately no…
Till 2012 citizens of India were used to deposite the documents directly to MEA for apostille. But the number of these documents were escalated rapidly from 2012. It was difficult for MEA to keep track of all these documents. So in order to make things simple MEA outsourced document collection and destribution to us.
However, only MEA has authority to apostille the documents .
You can register here and get apostille for your PCC
Steps involved in Apostille
- Registering online for apostille
- Sending the documents for office /visiting 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
Apostille has following details..
- 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.
Safety
Do you think that safety is an important parameter in PCC apostille? Yes, it is all the documents that are needed to submit for the apostille to the authorities are original. So, it is essential that they should be kept in a safe place. If the documents are misplaced then it can create a lot of problems in your visa and apostille process. So, always select an apostille service that will keep your document like their own. Do not go for cheap services, choose an authentic and reliable service provider.
Countries where apostille is required
Australia | Azerbaijan | Austria | Argentina | Belarus | Bulgaria | Brazil | Costa Rica | Canada | Czech | Cyprus | Chile | Denmark | Estonia | Ecuador | France | Finland | Georgia | Germany | Greece | Hungary | Latvia | Lithuania | Luxembourg | Italy | India | Iceland | Ireland | Japan | Jordan | Kazakhstan | Korea | Moldova | Morocco | Malta | Mexico | Mauritius | Netherlands | New Zealand | Norway | Peru | Paraguay | Portugal | Panama | Philippines | Poland | Paraguay | Russia | Sweden | Singapore | South Africa | Switzerland | Ukraine | Spain | Ukraine | USA| UK| Vietnam
