Hague Apostille abolishes attestation of documents required for legalisation of foreign documents, MEA circulates guidelines

Adhering to the abolishment of attestation of documents required for legalisation of foreign documents by Hague Apostille, the external affairs ministry (MEA) on Thursday circulated guidelines to all state and union territories, academic institutions, etc., to remove any further requirement of legalization of an apostilled document for use in India.

The Hague Apostille Convention, 1961, abolishes the requirement of legalisation of foreign documents for use in any member country, once a document is apostilled (including e-Apostille) by a competent authority of the country where the document originates, read the MEA statement.

Therefore, no further attestation or legalisation by an Indian Mission/Post of an apostilled document is required for use in India, as India is a member of the Hague Apostille Convention.

The Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (HCCH - Hague Conference on Private International Law Conference de La Haye de droit international prive 1961 Apostille Convention) facilitates the use of public documents abroad.

The purpose of the Convention is to abolish the traditional requirement of legalisation, replacing the often long and costly legalisation process with the issuance of a single Apostille certificate by a Competent Authority in the place where the document originates.

The electronic Apostille Programme (e-APP) was launched in 2006 to support the electronic issuance and verification of Apostilles around the world.

The Convention has over 110 Contracting Parties and has become one of the most widely applied multilateral treaties in the area of legal cooperation, with several million Apostilles issued each year.

( With inputs from ANI )