Things you need to know: What is the difference between an apostille and an attestation?
Apostille and attestation are similar processes in many ways, but they differ in a couple of key aspects. Both processes are important and must be completed when moving from one country to another. Attestation and Apostille are methods of authenticating documents so that they can be considered when processing your visa. Your visa application will be rejected if you submit unattested or non-apostille documents.
Each country has its own set of attestation authorities, which are individuals who can authenticate your documents. In most cases, you must first submit your personal, educational, and commercial documents to a local notary office for attestation and Apostillization. They are then forwarded to state authorities, and finally to central/federal bodies for authentication and signing. You must have your documents legally signed and stamped by relevant authorities before crossing any international borders for permanent residency, work visa, or study visa.
What exactly is attestation?
An attestation certifies that a document and its signatures are genuine. Wills and trusts are common places to find attestations. The attester should have no professional or personal ties to either original signatories.
Some of the most common reasons for visiting a new country are work, pleasure, marriage, or family. Failure to have your certificates attested before applying for visas, on the other hand, may result in rejection.
What exactly is an Apostille?
An Apostille is a type of legalization that defines whether the official seals, stamps, and signatures on a document are issued by the relevant authority. Birth certificates, marriage certificates, court orders, educational certificates, and other public documents issued in another country are among the documents under scrutiny.
It’s also worth noting that an Apostille is only accepted in countries that have signed the Hague Convention. Dealing with cases of children taken hostage across international borders is a critical aspect of this convention, so birth certificate attestation is required when traveling.
The Hague Convention is not ratified by the UAE. As a result, the documents must be verified by both the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the issuing country and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here in the UAE.
Those residing in the UAE who wish to travel to a country that is a signatory to the Hague Convention will require an Apostille.
The difference between attestation and apostille
🔹Apostillization of documents usually takes longer than attestation.
🔹 If you are traveling from a convention country to a destination country that is also a signatory to the Hague Apostille Convention, you must have your documents apostilled. A central or federal government department apostilles the documents in a predetermined format. There is a sticker with the applicant’s name, the name of the document, and the name of the officer issuing the sticker, followed by a unique number. Apostilled documents are recognized in all 114 Hague Convention signatory countries.
What documents are required to obtain an apostille And attestation?
🔹 The Ministry of External AffairsMinistry of External Affairs (MEA) will only apostille original documents.
🔹 Require an original or online verified document from You.
🔹 In addition, we require a photocopy of the person whose name the document was issued.
The procedure for attestation:
✔️ State attestation: State attestation is required prior to Apostille. For educational, commercial, and personal documents, various state attestations are available.
In the case of degree certificate attestation, for example, the issuing country’s Ministry of Education must attest the certificate before their Ministry of Foreign Affairs can confirm it.
For commercial document attestation, the issuing country’s business department (such as the Chamber of Commerce in the UAE) must first attest the commercial documents before the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
✔️ Apostille: Also known as the Ministry of External Affairs attestation, an Apostille is performed after the documents have been verified by the state.
An Apostille will be accepted by the countries listed above that are members of the Hague Convention.
Attestation from the embassy of the country for which the certificate will be used is the final stage of the certificate attestation process in the issuing country.
The procedure for Apostille
The procedure for apply an MEA apostille certificate?
An Apostille contains the following information:
🔹 Name of the country where the document was issued.
🔹 Person to whom the document is issued
🔹 The person’s name who signed the document.
🔹 Identification of the person who signed.
🔹 Date of certification, location of certification
🔹 Certificate number
🔹 The authority issuing the certificate’s seal or stamp.
🔹 Signature of the issuing authority.
When should you get state authentication and an MEA apostille?
Every document in India is the property of one of the 29 states or union territories. Normally, everyone thinks that the State attestation should come first. It takes a lot of time and money, though.
We have a solution right here on our website. Before deciding on an authentication method, determine whether your destination country is on the Hague nation list.
CASE 1: The State Attestation is necessary if it is not on the list
CASE 2: If your country is a signatory to the Hague Convention but is Italy or Austria, you will need to obtain State Attestation.
CASE 3: If you have a document from the states of Punjab/Haryana/Goa/Uttar Pradesh, you must obtain state attestation regardless of whether your destination country is a Hague nation.
As previously stated, obtaining state authentication is a time-consuming and complex process that typically takes 3-4 working weeks to complete.