An apostille authenticates legal public documents including the signatures and seals of the public officers on these documents. Some common apostille documents include birth certificates, death certificates, court orders, affidavits, power of attorney, utility bills, passports, salary statements, driver’s license. It may also include any other documents issue by a federal agency or certified by foreign or American consul.
Apostille for India
US Apostille documents for India may be any of the documents mentioned in the above niche, to be used in India. For instance a US or foreign national based in US travelling for a job in India would require almost all public document’s US apostille including birth certificate, educational documents, passports , free to marry apostille, etc. However, since most of these certificates are public documents, they first need to be notarized in order to be apostilled/authenticated for use in India.
How to Apostille Documents for India
Apostille authenticates public documents to be used in another country. However, for most countries the apostille certifications are valid for countries that are members of the 1961 Apostille Hague Convention Treaty. Hence, since India is a member country of The Hague Convention, US apostille are enough to process public documents in India.
Apostille documents can only be authenticated by your local Secretary of State. For example, a California birth certificate must be authenticated with a California apostille. Similarly, a New York death certificate must be authenticated by an apostille issued by the state of New York.
Requirements for US Apostille for India: An apostille can be issued exclusively on only original certificates. So, the latter should be in an apparent better condition, all signatures and stamps have to be readable and clear. Furthermore, it must not contain alien labels/marking.
Processing Time: Generally, a US apostille takes 5 to 7 days depending on the type of documents submitted to the County Clerk and/or the Secretary of State. However, using our apostille services for your apostille could reduce the time from 1 to 3 business days.
Moreover, there are five major Consulates and Embassies of India in the US. For some public documents such as the Power of Attorney, you will need to have two witnesses and also attested copies of the POA besides the apostilled copy by the US Secretary of State. Hence, before processing your documents, you may contact any of the following Indian consul/offices to avoid visa rejections:
- California (San Francisco)
- Chicago (Illinois)
- Texas (Houston)
- Georgia (Atlanta)
- New York (NYC)
Lastly, you may be required by the Indian authorities to have additional proof that you are a US residents. Some common public documents required in such cases would be:
- US Driver’s License
- House Lease Agreement
- Bank/Credit Card
- House/Utility Bills
- Water or Landline Telephone Bill displaying applicant’s (your) address
**It is important to contact your consul/embassy before you apply for processing your documents.
Apostille Requirements by US for India
Before submitting your documents for authentication, make sure you
- Notarize your public documents: For documents issued by the County, will first need to be notarized/signed by the country clerk and then the US Secretary of State (in that order). For documents issued by the Secretary of State, need only be notarized by the Secretary of State.
- All seals and signatures must be original: Photocopies will not be accepted for apostille unless they are ‘true notarized copies’. ** Note that birth certificates, divorce decrees, court documents, death certificates, marriage certificates, etc cannot be notarized by a notary public as ‘true copies’. They must be notarized by the Secretary of State.
- All public documents in a foreign language must be translated into English by a certified translator and notarized as a true translation. Failing to do so may result in rejection in your applications later on.
How It Works:
Upon approval of your online apostille form submission, we wait for your legal documents to be shipped. Note that PDF documents such as FBI background check do not require shipments. Once we receive all your documents at our office, we start getting your documents apostilled/legalized by the relevant departments. Once done, we ship/mail your documents back at your given address. For further information, you may contact us at Apostille Near Me.
DOWNLOAD THE APOSTILLE FORM HERE