A marriage certificate is the legal proof of a person being married. This is valid in our country. If the married one wants to go abroad for any reasons, this certificate needs to be attested.

However, both attestation services serve the same purpose. But, apostille makes it legally accepted in all member countries of the Hague Convention. It is recognised worldwide. You can see it as a square-shaped stamp on your marriage certificate, which makes it valid across 92 member countries of this convention.  

India has been incorporated with the Hague Convention since 2005. It was set up on October 5, 1961, which retired the need for legalizing the proof of marriage. This service is for legalizing all documents that are required for immigration.

Once Indians get this stamp on the paper, no further verification of documents is required.

But before that, you need to get through notarization. It furthers the process of how to apostille marriage certificate in India.

Notarisation

Notarisation refers to authenticating done by the notary officer. It certifies that the certificate is valid as per notary public and whatever is written in it is verified.

Mostly, NRIs require it. These applicants should notarise their marriage proof from the court. Then, the same should be apostilled from these departments the Home/ General Administration Department of the State/ Union Territory.

How to apostille marriage certificate in India

• Visit Regional Authentication Center (RAC)

To get an apostille sticker on this proof, Regional Authentication Center (RAC) is the competent authority. The government has located RACs in different states & union territories. You can filter the address nearby your location here.

Then, contact the outsourcing agent.

Note: Only four agencies hold a legal right to collect documents for apostilling. Only these agencies can directly send them to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), where the sticker with its stamp is put on it. Here is the list to get through & select the one nearby your location.

• Submit the certificate

Once you have contacted the agent, send the duly notarized documents to him. Enclose original proof and its photocopy for authentication.

• Outsourcing Agent to Visit RPOs/ Branch Secretariat

As the agent receives your paper, he forwards them to the branch Secretariat/ RPOs. He wisely selects the one that has jurisdiction over it. It’s certainly MEA that apostilles it. Once verified, the outsourcing agent is informed to collect the paper. He again goes there to pick it up.

• Deliver to Applicants

Finally, you get the verified marriage certificate from the outsourcing agent via a courier or email or in-person.

Personal Request To MEA in Not Permitted

Since July 2012, the MEA has not been apostilling marriage certificate directly at the Ministry of External Affairs Counter at CPV Division, Patiala House, New Delhi.

You have to follow the hierarchy of the steps to authenticate the true copy & photocopy directly. It is to be sent to any of the four outsourced service providers. Do send original and photocopy of the passport also.

15 RPOs Across India

The central government of India has decentralized apostille services to Branch Secretariat since January 2019. The applicants can approach any of the nearest RPOs through outsourcing agents in 15 cities. These are located in Ahemdabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Chennai, Chandigarh, Cochin, New Delhi, Guwahati,, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Panaji, Raipur and Thiruvanantapuram.

Fee for Attestation in India

The authority accepts fee through debit cards or cashier cheque here.

• The MEA charges Rs 50 for Apostilling the marriage proof.
• The outsourcing agent charges Rs. 93 per document, which includes fee for delivery and (Rs 3 per page) scanning.

What documents should be enclosed with?

• Document
• Valid visa photocopy
• Original visaapproval notice, if any
• Original passport and photocopiesof first & last two pages

If you want to ask further queries or clear doubts regarding this NRI service from Services2NRI, call or contact.