Secure Apostille Services Helpline

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Apostille for US issued documents in Kolkata

  • UPDATED A MONTH AGO

Note: An apostille on a US issued document can be obtained from US only. No authority in India or anywhere else outside US is eligible to issue an apostille for a US document. Apostille service provider such as Secure Apostille Services can handle the complete process on behalf of you in US. 

Apostille for US issued documents in Kolkata is provided for all US issued documents such as US Birth Certificate, US Marriage Certificate, FBI Background check Certificate. Documents issued from all 50 US States and federal government need to be apostilled in order to use them in India or anywhere outside the US

Lets learn About US Apostille in Detail 

What is the US Apostille ?

Apostille is a process of leagalizing any US issued document to make it valid to be used outside the USA. Documents with Apostille are considered genuine, Original and authentic documents. Apostille is a process of verifying documents for originality, authenticity and correctness. 

According to the Hague Convention of 1961 any document issued in any Hague country needs apostille by the competent authority in order to be used outside the country of origin.

This is done to reduce fraudulent documents being used for international trade and commerce.

4 Simple steps to get US Apostille on your Documents 

  1. Register on Apostille Portal 
  2. Collect all  Documents you want to Apostille 
  3. Submit the Original / Photocopies of documents
  4. Receive Documents with Attestation Directly to your home
Apply for US Aposille

What are the use cases of the US Document Apostille ?

  1. For OCI purpose 
  2. For VISA Purpose 
  3. For Marriage registration purpose 
  4. To Marry US citizen in India
  5. For Naturalization process 

How to get a US Apostille in kolkata?

Apostille process for US document depends on issuing authority 

There are 2 kinds of Documents when it comes to the Apostille process

  1. Documents issued by State Government 
  2. Documents issued by Federal Government

US Apostille for State Government Issued document in kolkata

Documents such as US Birth Certificate, US Marriage Certificate, US Death Certificates are issued by any of the 50 States in the United States of America.

Since these documents belong to the State Government Apostille will be done by the respective states where the original documents were issued.

You can get Apostille on US state issued document in Kolkata in 2 ways 

  • Apostille on Original documents
  • Apostille on photocopy through Notary Attestation

Apostille on Original Documents

Apostille on original documents is a most preferred way of apostille as the acceptance rate for this apostille is very high.

For this you need to submit original US America issued documents.

You need to submit the document to Secretary of state office firstly 

The document details will be verified by the Vitals 

Once the verification is done the documents are apostilled by Secretary of state ( SOS)

Apostille on Photocopies of the original US documents

Some people are hesitant to submit original documents for the apostille. In this case apostille will be done on the photocopy 

Below are the steps to get US Apostille 

1) Get Notary Attestation on the photocopy 

2) Get copy certification by the custodian certification

3) Submit the document to Secretary of State for apostille 

Note – Many of the countries accept photocopy apostille documents however some countries insist on getting apostille on original documents so please check with concerned authorities for the information.

Federal Government or USDOS Issued document Apostille in Kolkata

Documents such as FBI criminal record Certificate are issued by the federal government hence Apostille for FBI documents will be done by Federal government.

The U.S. Department of State (USDOS) requests original documents to be submitted for apostille purpose. All the required verifications will be done by the Federal government and finally apostille Attestation is done.

Steps Involved in obtaining Apostille for the US Document in Kolkata

Step 1 – Register for Apostille
Step 2 – Submit the original documents to us

Step 3 – Get Apostille by the State Secretary or USDOS / Federal government 

Step 4 – Get Documents couriered back to you 

Estimated time to get the Apostille on the US Document / Certificate in Kolkata?

The time taken for an apostille depends on the state in which the document was issued or whether the document was issued by the state or federal government. Generally the apostille will take 10 working days in kolkata additionally sending and receiving courier to US will take 8 working days. So keep around 20 working days for the apostille. If apostille is required on Photocopy it will reduce timings by almost 5-6 working days. 

Some States provide expedited process for extra charge you can get as early as 3-4 working days if you opt for expedited service. 

Check with us before proceeding.

Cost of obtaining US Apostille in Kolkata?

Cost is influenced by Many factors 

  1. Issuing state, Which state issued the Original document 
  2. Choice of courier
  3. Apostille required on Original document or Photocopy 
  4. Expedited service needed or Normal Process

Check with Secure Apostille Services for the exact quotation.

Process of getting full legalization for US issued documents for non Hague countries in kolkata

Since Non Hague Nations do not belong to the list of Hague Nations, a simple Apostille by State or federal is not sufficient to get the document legalized. Embassy Attestation is also required to make them legalized for particular country, 

Example –  For UAE you need to get UAE Embassy Attestation is needed on the document along with an apostille.

Steps required to get Embassy Attestation for US document are as follows 

Step 1 – Notary Public attestation ( Required only for Photocopy attestation, if submitting Original documents then skip this )

Step 2 – State secretary Apostille – SOS Apostille  (  The secretary of state in which the document is issued will provide this )

Step 3 – USDOS Authentication or Federal government Authentication

Step 4 – Embassy attestation – After obtaining all the above attestation finally the document is submitted to Embassy of the required country to get Embassy Attestation

Note – Some embassies accept photocopy apostille documents, some insist on submitting original documents for embassy attestation enquire with the embassy or with us to know the exact requirement.

Federal issued documents such as FBI Criminal Background check documents does not need state apostille (SOS) so the documents will directly go through USDOS for authentication.

Suggestion – For state issued documents some countries accept direct submission after apostille by state ( SOS ) is completed this saves valuable time and cost. Check with embassy or with us before proceeding 

The above mentioned 4 steps are called as the full legalization process. This process requires 8-12 weeks to complete the whole process. So start your applications early or check with us how we can reduce this timing.

Navigating the apostille process can be intricate, demanding a comprehensive understanding to recommend the most efficient route for a swift apostille. Connect with us or initiate the application form, and we’ll provide guidance every step of the way throughout the apostille process.

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Frequently asked questions

Apostille or Attestation on Educational Documents by Ministry of External Affairs in India Can be done by Submitting the original Documents or True Copies of Original Documents Issued from the relevant School Boards / Universities.

Steps to get Apostille on your Educational Documents:

  • Register for Apostille
  • Submit the documents with us.
  • Pay for the Apostille
  • Receive documents after Apostille to your Address.

Apostille Attestation is Legalization of your documents from Ministry of External Affairs in India. Apostille can be given for the documents issued in India by any authority or issued by any Indian authorities outside the country like Embassy / Consulate. Apostille from MEA can be used in any particular country apart from India.

Check out this article  more details on what is apostille .

Apostille and Attestation are similar words. But Apostille will be given from the Ministry of External Affairs in India. Attestation has a broader meaning. Attestation from MEA is called Apostille. Attestation can be given by State Government or Embassy.

For Educational documents attestation from state government is called HRD attestation.

For Non Educational documents such as Birth Certificate, Marriage Certificate, Affidavits state attestation is called home department attestation.

Attestation for any documents from Indian Embassy is called Embassy Attestation.

Read here for further details on how to get apostille.

Ministry of External Affairs Attestation ( Apostille ) can be done in 2 ways.

  1. State Authentication / Attestation,
  2. Sub Divisional Magistrate ( SDM ) Attestation / Authentication.

State Attestation Process takes longer time compared to SDM attestation. It’s better to do SDM Apostille since it is fast.

If you are travelling to Italy or Austria, then state attestation is required. For all the other Hague nations SDM Apostille is enough, legal, valid and accepted.

Procedure to get Apostille on your Documents:

  • Register for Apostille
  • Submit the documents with us.
  • Pay for the Apostille
  • Receive documents after Apostille to your Address.