Having gone through the tiring process of applying for apostille services in Chennai, I am thrilled to share with you my experience and the knowledge I have gained. Apostille services are a must for those who need to legalize documents for the countries that are the members of the Hague Convention. I will be illustrating the step-by-step process of getting apostille services in Chennai through my personal journey in such an article.

Step 1: Get Your Documents Together

The first thing that needs to be done in the apostille process is to compile all the required documents. The following:

• Degrees and diplomas
• Birth certificates
• Marriage certificates
• Trade documents
• General Power of Attorney

Do make sure that the copies of your documents are all original and are not tampered with, as this is the only way to get all the paperwork approved. This will be verified by concerned authorities.

Step 2: Document Verification

For the issuing of the apostille to become a reality, your credentials have to be validated first. For education certificates, find the board of your school or college for the verification process. Personal documents such as birth or marriage certificates are verified by their respective issuing authority.

Step 3: Notarization

The next thing that follows after the verification is to get notarized documents. A notary public from Chennai can perform this act. He will admit that the documents are legitimate before adding the official seal.

Step 4: State Home Authorities Authentication

This is followed by the submission of the notarized document at the same department to the Home Department of Tamil Nadu which is required for state-level authentication. With this, the government organs take over and do the verification formally that the notary signature is certified.

Step 5: Ministry of External Affairs Settling

Having the document state notarized, the MEA attestation should be your next step. The MEA office in Chennai will examine the attestation of the state and certify the final apostille.

Step 6: Documents Submission

To apply for apostille services, you are to take your certificates yourself to the office of the concerned MEA branch in Chennai. One should fill in the required form and have to pay the necessary fees there. The fees differ according to the type of document and the number but on average it tends to be around 200 rupees per document.

Step 7: Arriving to Get the Apostilled Documents

Once your file runs through, you will be given a date to come and pick up the legalized documents. The processes might not be the same all the time, but a common one is executed within a period of about 3-5 business days.

Additional Tips

It is my belief that the following are the things one has to do:

• Get the ball rolling much earlier before the date you need the documents.
• Have extra copies of your entire document in the process.
• Always stay prepared for probable slippages and the inclusion of new catalogues.
• Take into consideration the service of a trustworthy company dealing with apostille if you are not able to go through the entire process by yourself

 

To sum up, apostille services in Chennai require several stages beginning with document verification and on to MAT. The process may seem complicated, but if all steps are followed diligently, the documents gained will be the apostilled ones. So remember, calm and a keen eye are very important in the proper scare of this process.