The Apostille seal is a computer-generated square-shaped sticker that is issued by the Ministry of External Affairs. This stamp has a unique style and a unique number that enables verification of the documents by other countries that are members of the 1961 Hague Convention Treaty. The unique number issued to the document after the process of Apostille can be verified by competent authorities of other countries which are members of this treaty, when the need arises. Thereby, proving the legitimacy of the document. The documents for which an Apostille stamp can be received range from personal such as one’s birth certificate, marriage certificate to educational for instance, one’s marksheet and transcript.

Apostilles authenticate seals and signatures of officials on public documents or documents which have been issued by a public authority in order to enable recognition of these documents by other members of the 1961 Hague Convention Treaty. This authentication provides a proof of genuineness of the documents and hence, provides assurity to the employer, university and others. The reasons for demonstrating the legitimacy of one’s documents can be personal, commercial or educational in nature.

The competent authority which can issue Apostille in India is the Ministry of External Affairs by the Government of India, whose office is located in India at
Joint Secretary (Consular), MEA. CPV Division, Patiala House Annexe, Tilak Marg, New Delhi-110001.

There are two ways of getting an apostille in India:
a) Receiving the MEA Apostille after getting state attestation.
b) Skipping the state attestation and getting MEA Apostille directly.

This is a safe way but more elaborate way where you have to go to state govt who issued this document submit your documents there and pay a nominal fee get your documents state attested. But above explanation makes you feel the state attestation easy but in really it is totally different. Since state govt are slow like a snail you it will take months together to get the state govt attestation.

For birth certificate state attestation following is the procedure:
Go to secretariat of your district submit the documents pay a nominal fee after getting the permission from Secretariat take your original documents to birth certificate issued authority such as municipal in your locality. Get a seal from them, take this sealed original documents to Secretariat again get the state attestation seal from them.

Now its time for MEA apostille:
To get MEA apostille you cannot directly go to mea just like you went to state authority. You must go to any certified agent and get your documents apostille. It will take 3–4 days or 1 week or 2 week depending on the charges you pay. I would suggest make a informed decisions before handling to any agent.  I will recommend you to avail Captain Sindbad’s service to get it done quickly.

This is a safe way but involves a lot of steps and is time-consuming. Firstly, one has to go to the state government that issued the document. There, the documents have to be submitted and a nominal fee has to be paid in order to get the documents state attested. 

The above explanation makes getting the state attestation look easy, but in reality, it is a totally different story. Since the state governments are slow like a snail, it might take months to get the state government attestation.

For receiving state attestation on a birth certificate, the following procedure has to be followed:

Firstly, one has to go to the Secretariat of their district. There, they have to submit the documents which require attestation and pay a nominal fee. After getting permission from the Secretariat, original documents are to be taken to the authority which issued the birth certificate such as municipal in your locality. After verification, the local authority will put a seal on the documents. These sealed documents are to be taken to the Secretariat, who will then attest the documents.

Receiving MEA Apostille after state apostille:
To receive the MEA apostille, you can not directly go to MEA. You must go to a certified agent in order to get an apostille for your documents. It usually takes 3–4 days, 1 week, or 2 weeks, depending on the charges you pay. I would suggest making an informed decision before handing over your documents to any agent and would also recommend availing Captain Sindbad’s service to get it done quickly and easily.

The procedure for getting an Apostille without state attestation is the same as getting MEA apostille after getting state attestation. You need to give your documents to an agent who will get the MEA apostille for you.