Apostille For Austria in India

An apostille is essential if you need to validate the authenticity of your personal documents. Apostille for personal documents includes 4 steps:

• Local Verification 
• Notary Attestation
• State/SDM Attestation 
• MEA Attestation 

Local Verification – At first, your personal documents such as birth certificate, marriage certificate, or degree certificate undergo local verification. Review and authentication are done by the authorities which provided you with the documents. For Instance – 

• Educational documents including a bonafide certificate or degree certificate are reviewed and verified by the University/Institution. 
• Experience Certificate is reviewed and verified by the Corporation or Company you worked for
• PCC (Police Clearance Certificate) is reviewed and verified by the Passport Office or Local Police Station
• The divorce Decree Certificate is reviewed and verified by the registrar of the district court

Notary Attestation – Following local verification, your documents are submitted to the Notary for further attestation. Officials at Notary Public Office check your documents for errors or missing information, and if no mistakes are found, then a Notary stamp/certificate is issued.

SDM/State Attestation –  Two primary attestation methods for obtaining an Apostille for Austria are State Attestation and SDM (Sub Divisional Magistrate) Attestation. Below both attestation methods are explained in detail:

State Attestation – The secretariat of the district checks and authenticates your documents. If everything is correct then a stamp/signature is placed on the documents that were issued by the state body. Due to the involvement of multiple government bodies, state attestation is considered a lengthy and costly process. To get an apostille through state attestation it takes more than 30 working days. 

SDM Attestation – A quicker and more cost-effective alternative to get an apostille for Austria is SDM (Sub Divisional Magistrate) attestation. In SDM attestation, the documents are submitted to SDM for verification. SDM attestation is the preferable choice compared to State attestation as it is significantly faster and less expensive. The process time of getting an apostille for Austria is just 3-4 days.  If you are traveling to Austria or any other country that is a member of the Hague Nations, then SDM attestation is a better option. 

MEA Attestation – After the above-mentioned verifications, your personal documents are submitted to the Ministry of External Affairs. The MEA India affixes a square-shaped stamp known as an apostille on the back of your documents. 

It’s always better to talk to your Apostille helpline, they will guide you on which process you need.