What is An Apostille (pronounced “ah-po-steel”) is a French word meaning certification.
An Apostille is simply the name for a specialized certificate, issued by the Secretary of State. The Apostille is attached to your original document to verify it is legitimate and authentic so it will be accepted in one of the other countries who are members of the Hague Apostille Convention.
The international agreement envisages replacement of cumbersome and costly formalities of a full legalisation/apostille service process with the issuance of an Apostille (also called Apostille Certificate). Apostilles can be issued by a competent authority designated by the state on whose territory the public document has been executed.
Apostille stickers are issued on certificates including birth and death, affidavits, powers of attorney, marriage certificates and educational documents like degrees, diplomas , matriculation and secondary level certificates. However, commercial documents are excluded from the purview of the Apostille Convention.
India is a signatory to the Apostille convention; and has designated the same authorities for authentication of documents for Attestation as well as for Apostille. Please follow the below link to view the list of Apostille service countries list.
