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Know all about the birth certificate apostille in India!

What is Apostille?

Apostille is a legal document that authenticates a document. In simple words, it tells the foreign country that the information that is provided in the document is true. It also says that the signature that is done on the certificate and also the seal is real. It is a legal document that is signed by the ministry of external affairs and can be used in foreign countries as proof of genuine documents. Birth certificate attestation is basically a way to convey that whatever is written in the document is completely right. 

Apply for Birth Certificate Apostille

A birth certificate is a document where everything related to your birth details such as place, time, name, and all the relevant information is written. However, an apostille birth certificate signifies that the information that is written on the birth certificate is accurate. The apostille birth certificate India tells that the person is born in India and also assures that all the written material on the document is trustworthy.

In 2008, India became a part of the Hauge Convention and after that, the need for an embassy attestation on a birth certificate was not required.  If you plan to go to Switzerland, France, Belgium, Poland, and many more, then an apostille on your birth certificate will be very beneficial. You can easily get a visa along with this legal document as it assures the foreign country that all the information is correct.

Requirement of the apostille for birth certificate

There are various places where an apostille for a birth certificate is essential. Such as 

  • Traveling to a foreign country on a “work visa”
  • Traveling to a country on a “traveler visa”.
  • Individuals who are planning to go foreign country for “business purposes”.
  • All the students who want to opt for foreign studies and apply for a “student visa”.
  • Applying for a “permanent resident visa” from a foreign country.

It is important that your birth certificate gets apostille if you are planning to send the document for all the above reasons to foreign countries

Apostille Stamp

Indian Apostille is a stamp sticker that is square in shape and is pasted on the backside of the document.  On the Apostille sticker, you will see that a line that is “Convention de La Haye du 5 October 1961” is written under Apostille. It means Hague Convention of 5th October 1961 in English. This sticker is placed on the backside of the documents. 

Details of the apostille for the Apostille stamp are given below. 

  1. The sticker is around 9 centimeters in length.
  2. Apostille stamp is a special sticker that is generated electronically through a computer.
  3. The apostille stamp is registered, dated, numbered, and also has a government seal.
  4. There is a specific code on every apostille sticker. The code implies the authority and legitimacy of information that is given in that document.
  5. The authority to sanction the apostille is given to the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MEA).

Details in the birth certificate apostille India

Birth certificate apostille in India consists of important information that tells what is in the document and all the relevant information that is date, place. The country and rest are given below. Birth certificate attestation is important if you want to send a document out of India for visa services. Below are the details on the Apostille:

  • Country: India.
  • Type of Public Document: Birth Certificate.
  • Signed By: Officer name being known by the Ministry of External Affairs.
  • Includes Seal/Stamp of Acting in Capacity
  • At: Place of Apostille
  • On: Date of Apostille
  • Certified By: Acting in Capacity
  • Signature: Authority that has given the Apostille
  • Seal/Stamp: Authority that has given the Apostille
  • Issued To: Holder of Document
  • Reference Number: Contains 10 numbers and 5 alphabets.

Documents that are required for Birth Certificate Apostille

There are several documents that require apostille as these documents are sent outside India. Each document goes through complete verification and requires certain documents. These documents are categorized as major and minor/supporting Documents. All the documents that are used in a foreign country are major and the documents that play a supporting role are minor documents/supporting documents. So, let’s see both of them:

Major Document

  1. Only original documents are required for apostille so the major document is the birth certificate.
  2. For an online issued Birth Certificate, we just need a PDF of the document for Apostille.

Minor Document/Supporting Documents

  1. Passport copy (the first and last page)
  2. Aadhar Card Photostat
  3. Passport-size photograph
  4. Application receipt of passport

Process of birth certificate attestation in India

Birth certificate apostille is covered under the personal category. There are two ways to get the apostille done that are the Home Department and Sub-Divisional Magistrate. Attestation by the Home department and Sub-divisional Magistrate both are not required at the same time. It is either Home or Sub-divisional, for only specific countries which are not part of Hague nation we use Home department attestation, for Hague nation countries we use sub-divisional only. 

The process of birth certificate legalization in India is as follows:

  •  Attestation by Notary

The first step for the birth certificate attestation in India is the notary attestation where a signature or stamp is done by the local notary.

  • Attestation by Home Department

Moving further, the next step is to get the birth certificate for apostille attested by the state government and the step is usually done in certain cases.

  •  Attestation by Sub-Divisional Magistrate

The sub-Divisional magistrate is an autonomous body and works in an individual manner. The common process that is followed for the apostille of birth certificate is Notary + SDM Attestation + MEA Attestation + Apostille

  • Apostille Receiving

This is the most important step of all. Here a sticker is provided by the Ministry of External Affairs that has the name and some details of the applicant. Moreover, many times the MEA also gives a stamp with the apostille sticker.

Best way to get Attestation on Birth Certificate (SDM Attestation or State Attestation)

As mentioned earlier, there are two ways to get an apostille on the birth certificate but which is better depends on the country where you are going and the time you have.

In case you are planning to travel to the Hague Nations then choose SDM apostille as this is less time-consuming and will also save your money. State Attestation usually takes three to four weeks(working) so choose SDM in case you want your work to be done faster. There are some countries that are part of the Hauge list but still ask for state attestation like Austria and Italy so in this country, you cannot go with state attestation.

If the travel destination is not in a Hague country, then it is better that you choose State Attestation. 

Cost of Apostille

The whole procedure of apostille comes with a cost and the total cost of the documents depends on the type of document and also the number of documents. There are several distinct bodies present all over the country and all this is a lot of time-consuming and also quite an expensive task. 

Validity of Apostille 

When you get the apostille, there is always a date of issue on that document. The apostille that is received through state or SDM attestation has a validity of only 6 months in general cases. Although the time period also depends on the country where we are submitting the documents and there are few countries that accept older apostille also. So, the validity of the apostille varies from one country to another.

Safety

As all the documents that need apostille are original and also important so it is better that you choose the apostille service that is safe as you cannot afford to misplace all these documents by choosing the service that is cheap and involves risk. Safety is vital when you are planning your future ahead, so choose the best and most secure way for apostille. 

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