MEA India Apostille for Permanent Resident Permit Abroad
- UPDATED A MONTH AGO
Apostille for permanent resident permit is usually required for Indian citizens applying for a permanent residency in a foreign country. Apostille is a certification on your documents to authenticate them in a foreign countries that are part of the Hague Apostille convention of 1961. In India, the ministry of external affairs is the authority issuing a document apostille. You can get your document apostille from MEA India for your PR application with the help of an apostille service provider. This article provides an overview of apostille requirements and process for Indian citizens applying for a permanent residency abroad.
4 Simple steps to get MEA Apostille on your Documents
- Register on Apostille Portal
- Collect all Documents you want to Apostille
- Submit the Original / Photocopies of documents
- Receive Documents with Apostille Directly to your home
What is an Apostille?
An apostille is a certification or stamp issued by a designated authority from a country to legalize the use of documents issued in that country abroad. Apostille was introduced as a legalization instrument after the Hague Apostille Convention. Before that, an attestation from the embassy was mandatory to legalize foreign documents.
India joined the Hague apostille convention in 2004. Thus, an Indian citizen travelling to any of the Hague countries needs to get an apostille from MEA India to legalize their personal, educational and commercial documents.
Why Do You Need an Apostille for Permanent Resident Permit?
Many countries mandate submitting documents with an apostille for PR application to make sure that documents are genuine. Apostille guarantees that your documents are issued by a legitimate authority and not forged or duplicated. Apostille certification is a crucial step in verifying your personal, educational and commercial documents abroad.
If you are applying for a Permanent resident permit in a Hague country, your documents submitted to the immigration offices without an apostille may be rejected. Thus, preparing your documents with an apostille is essential to avoid unnecessary delays in processing your PR application.
Documents that Require an Apostille for Permanent Resident Application
Documents that require an apostille for the permanent resident application process may vary from department to department. However, following are the documents that usually need apostille for PR applications:
- Birth Certificate Apostille mandatory for most of the country’s PR applications as a proof of identity.
- Marriage Certificate Apostille as the proof of marital status. Also many countries require this for family reunification or dependent status.
- Divorce Decree Apostille – If you have been married and divorced, you need to submit an apostilled divorce decree especially if your marital status affects your PR application.
- Police Clearance Certificate Apostille– It is mandatory for most of the country’s PR applications for people above 18 years.
- Adoption Deed apostille, if you are applying for PR with a child adopted from India.
- Passport copies apostille – This is also mandatory to check the nationality of the applicant.
- Degree Certificate Apostille – This is required to prove your educational qualification. Countries such as Australia and Canada require an Educational Credential Assessment to verify the equivalency of your degree.
- Transcript Apostille
- Diploma Certificate Apostille -It is mostly required if you are applying under skilled worker program in Canada and Australia
- Employment reference letters
- Experience certificates
- Salary slips
- Income tax returns (ITR)
- Bank statements or proof of funds
MEA India Apostille for PR Process
The ministry of external affairs only provides apostille on documents verified and attested by designated authorities. Thus, to verify documents there are two major established authentication methods in India. They are:
An apostille from MEA India obtained after both verification methods are equally valid in a foreign country. However, certain countries such as Italy mandates obtaining state attestation. Thus, if your destination country does not mandate state attestation, following SDM attestation is a better option. SDM attestation is cheaper and faster compared to the state attestation method. Following are the steps we follow to get an apostille from MEA India:
- Notarization
- SDM/State Attestation
- MEA Verification/MEA Apostille
Let us explore each step in detail:
1.Notarization
Notary is a government authority eligible to check the authenticity of documents. This step is common for both methods of authentication. However, in the case of the state method, some states may accept documents for attestation without a notary. A public notary will verify and attest your documents.
2. SDM/State Attestation
This step is the only difference between both methods of verification.
SDM Attestation: SDM means sub divisional magistrate. Your apostille service provider will submit your documents to the SDM. SDM will also verify your documents for their originality. Then, he attests on the backside of the document with a seal and signature.
State Attestation: State attestation happens at the state where the documents were issued. The departments involved in the process are home and HRD.
If your documents are personal such as birth and marriage, the state home department will conduct verification and attest documents. Local verification will be conducted by the secretary of the district where documents were issued on behalf of the state home department. After verification, the home department will attest your documents with a seal and sign.
If your documents are educational such as degree certificates, then the state HRD ministry will conduct verification. The department will check with the respective university to verify whether it was signed by a legitimate authority. After verification, the HRD department will attest your documents with a sign and seal.
3. MEA Verification and Apostille
In this step, we will submit your documents to the ministry of external affairs. The ministry will conduct a final verification. This process usually won’t take time. However, in certain cases the ministry conducts thorough verification on the documents by sending mail to the concerned authorities to check the authenticity. Finally after verification, the ministry will paste an apostille stamp on the backside of your original document.
Now your documents are legally valid to use in a Hague country.
Apostille for Permanent Resident Permit: Processing Time
Processing time for an apostille may vary depending on various factors. Apostille using the SDM authentication method may take from 4 days to 14 days depending on the service you choose. However, if you want to get attestation from the state department, it may take a longer time period. Some states take around 30 days to finish state attestation alone.
Apostille for Permanent Resident Permit is a service usually required for people who have settled abroad and seeking to apply for a PR. Submitting documents to prove age, nationality and marital status is a mandatory step for PR applications. Since those documents are issued in India, to accept them in a foreign country, you need to get an apostille. With the help of an apostille service, you can get your apostilled personal and educational documents delivered anywhere in the world.
Register for Online MEA Apostille
Provide applicant details
Frequently asked questions
- Birth certificate
- Marriage certificate (if applicable)
- Police clearance certificate (FBI and local PCC)
- Educational degrees
- Employment reference letters
No. You need to get an apostille for documents issued in India only. If your documents are from the country where you are applying for PR, there is no need for getting an apostille.
No. MEA does not accept direct application from applicants. You must go through an authorized apostille service provider to get a document apostille.
What is the cost of an apostille for PR applications?
Apostille for PR cost may vary depending on the following factors:
- Number of documents
- Type of document
- Authentication Method
- Choice of service
- Passport
- Birth certificate
- Marriage certificate (if applicable)
- Police clearance certificate
- Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) for degrees
- Proof of funds such as bank FD or statement from Indian banks
Educational Qualifications
1.Degree certificate
2.Diploma certificate (applicable for nursing professionals)
3.Transcripts/Mark sheets
Personal Documents
1.Birth certificate
2.Marriage certificate (if applying with a dependent spouse)
3.Police Clearance Certificate (PCC)
4.Proof of professional registration (if applicable for regulated professions)
No. For non Hague countries you need to get embassy attestation as part of your PR application. You need to get embassy attestation after MEA attestation.