The tranquil beauty of northeast India, Sikkim is a land of diverse ethnic composition and a multilingual population. From icy cold deserts, lush green forests to emerald mountain lakes, Sikkim is a small package of natural wonders for its visitors. Despite its small size, Sikkim has a spectacular diversity of natural habitats and wildlife.
In addition to its rich and diverse population structure, Sikkim is one of the fastest-growing regions of India. As a result of its diversification, the state has become a frontier for opportunities for its people over the past several years. Moreover, further developments in its diverse domains have led to a greater demand for Apostille services.
SPS Global in Sikkim offers customised solutions to meet the client’s needs.
Of course it is!
That is exactly what our platform does: it provides the client with the most convenient and customer-friendly solutions.
We at SPS Global Sikkim have a team of highly skilled professionals who are dedicated to delivering the most efficient and reliable Apostille services. SPS Global is a platform where we make sure to facilitate every aspect of the Apostille process for the client.
Document verification is the most basic thing that everyone has to go through if they are travelling abroad for any commercial or educational purposes. It is the most crucial step, and it needs to be handled with extreme care. Apart from being lengthy, the verification process can be a tedious thing to handle alone. Therefore, a platform like SPS Global extends its support services to facilitate the entire Apostille process for the client.
An Apostille is a form of authentication that allows a person’s documents to be used in other nations affiliated with the Hague Convention. It is a kind of legal formality that helps to establish the credibility of various documents to be used abroad. An Apostille can be issued in the form of a sticker or stamp by a credible authority.
An Apostille is a square-shaped sticker issued at the back of a person's documents. This stamp is computer generated and has a Unique Identification Number on it. This identification number helps the foreign authorities verify the details of a person. An Apostille stamp helps them to be certain of the fact that the person travelling to their country is a legal citizen of a country. It helps to establish your credibility as a person.
An Apostille can only be issued when:
A convention called in the year 1961 to simplify the process of legalization at a global level is popularly known as the Hague Convention. The initiative was a joint effort by many countries to facilitate the use of public documents abroad. The convention adopted a common legal document known as an Apostille. As per the convention, a document will be considered valid after an Apostille stamp has been applied to it. An Apostille stamp issued by one country is recognised by all other members of the Hague Convention.
The process
The Apostille process consists of the following steps:
1) Notary Attestation
Notary Attestation is the first step in document verification. At this first stage of verification, all your personal and educational documents are verified by the notary.
2) Home Department Attestation
After verification at the regional level, the next step is the verification by respective state authorities. At the state level, the Home Department verifies all the personal documents of a person.
3) HRD Attestation
Human Resource Department at the state level is responsible for verifying all your educational documents.
4) SDM Attestation
In certain cases, the Sub-Divisional Magistrate Attestation works as an alternative for the state attestation. This alternative is preferable when the option of Home Department Attestation is not feasible.
5) Chamber of Commerce Attestation
Chamber of Commerce is an organization that is responsible to verify the commercial documents of a person.
6) MEA Attestation
This is the last step of legalisation where an Apostille stamp is issued by the MEA at the back of all the necessary documents.
Do you want your documents Apostilled without having to go through the above-mentioned process on your own? Then hurry up and visit SPS to get it all done in the easiest manner possible!
An Apostille is a French word that means Certification and it’s Pronounce as “ah-po-style”. An Apostille is simply the name for a specialized certificate, issued by the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi. The Apostille sticker is pasted on the backside of 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 Apostille Convention is an international treaty that simplifies the legalization procedure for foreign public documents. It allows a Government body to certify a document issued in its own country as valid for other countries without further certification by the destination state. The Convention has 126 contracting states as of November 2023, including the United States and Canada.
The Apostille Convention provides the simplified certification of public (including notarized) documents to be used in countries that have joined the convention. Documents destined for use in participating countries and their territories should be certified by one of the officials in the jurisdiction in which the document has been executed.
The Hague Convention requires that all Apostille be numbered consecutively, with individual numbers applied to each Apostille issued. The recognized standard Apostille contains a seal and 10 mandatory references: name of country from which the document emanates, name of person signing the document, the capacity in which the person signing the document has acted, in the case of unsigned documents, the name of the authority that has affixed the seal or stamp, place of certification date of certification, the authority issuing the certificate, number of certificate, seal or stamp of authority issuing certificate and signature of authority issuing certificate. Prior to the introduction of Apostille certificates the burden on international courts and authorities to judge foreign documents as authentic was quite considerable. On the October 5, 1961 the Hague Convention abolished the requirement of legalization for foreign public documents. The Convention reduces all of the formalities of legalization to the simple delivery of a certificate in a prescribed form, entitled “Apostille”, by the authorities of the Ministry where the document originates. This certificate, placed on the document, is dated, numbered and registered. The verification of its registration can be carried out without difficulty by means of a simple request for information addressed to the authority which delivered the certificate.
Apostille Process depends that if the documents are Educational, Non Educational or Commercial. Educational Certificate Apostille is required if you are going for Job or Study in any of The Hague Convention Countries. Non Educational documents like Marriage, Birth Certificate Apostille services are required for your dependents, if you want them to accompany you in that country. Commercial documents Apostille is required if you want to send shipment, open a branch in Hague country of have to do some business collaboration. We will try to explain process for you.
First step of the Process is getting the Notarization of document done. Notary can be done from anywhere in India. And it can be done from Delhi also. Doing Notary from Delhi will save some time, as documents has to come to Delhi only for Apostille.
After the Notary is done, next step in Sub Divisional Magistrate. SDM attestation is done in Delhi. It’s same for Educational and Non Educational documents. If you leave few countries, this SDM Stamping is valid in all the countries. Some countries Like, Italy, Switzerland and Austria might ask for State HRD for Educational Documents and State home Department/GAD for Non Educational documents. So, if you are planning for these countries please get complete knowledge from office HR or local bodies who are applying your case. SDM Stamping is done in 1 day and on the backside of the original Document.
Last and most important part is getting the document attested from Ministry of External affairs. After Notary and SDM Stampings are done Documents are submitted in Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi for Apostille. Just like Notary and SDM, Apostille Sticker is pasted on the back side of the document. Apostille sticker will have your name and current date. It also have unique number and contain name and designation of the person who have signed it. After Apostille sticker, the process is completed the documents are ready for use. When you receive the Apostille document, first please check that all the spellings and dates are fine. As sometimes there can be some mismatch in the spelling. If there is some spelling mistake then it has to submit in correction department. That will take another 1 day
If you are going through State Attestation Process then it might take more than a month. As for Educational documents, first stamp from University is required and then from State HRD Department. And for Non Educational Documents, First Stamp is required from Local DC office and then from State GAD/Home Department. If you go through SDM Apostille process then processing time is only 5 to 6 working. This Process takes less time and is less expensive as well.
Apostille Sticker has a validity of Six Months. Means you have to use this Apostille within 6 months, after that whole life you can stay in that country. But if you want to change the country after 6 Months then Apostille needs to done again. Don’t worry if there is no space on the backside of the document. New Apostille Sticker can be applied on the expired Sticker.
Original Documents are very important part of our Life. Sometimes it takes several months to obtain new documents. So security of documents is most important for us. You can do live tracking of the process daily. Currently document is in which city and in which department, you can check with just one click. Whenever you handover your documents to any of our office, a link is shared to you on mail. With that you can track the whole process, till documents are delivered back to you.
If you are travelling outside India to any of The Hague convention Country for Study or Work, then Apostille is required on your Educational documents. And if you are applying dependent visa for your spouse or children, then their Marriage and Birth Certificate will be required to get Apostille. Still if you have any query, you can get in touch with SPS Team @9920111362
