With certain rules and regulations set-up by each country, certificate authentication has become an essential aspect. Today, no country in the entire world allows immigrants without the legalized and authenticated documents. This strict step is taken by the countries to avoid forgery, fraud, identity theft, and misrepresentation of the immigrants on their lands.

The document is legalized in the country you are planning to travel from based on the rules of the country you intend to travel to. And according to the requirements of the intended country, you either have to get your documents attested or apostilled.

At the time of applying for documentation authentication, applicants often get confused between attestation and apostille services. Most of them think that both are the same and the ways to enter into any new country. But, that’s not correct.

In this post, we will explain the difference between the two so that you hire the right service.

Attestation of the documents

It’s a process in which the verifying departments check and verify the original documents and declare them to be authentic by attaching the signature and applying the stamp. Here, you submit the original as well as a copy of the documents to the authorized government employees to verify and give the proof of authentication.

Apostille of the documents

Apostille is a validation certificate that is used in the countries that are a member of the Hague Convention. The aim of the apostille services is the same as that attestation but the process is a bit different. Here, you get a unique identification number that is pasted on the back of your document. All the records are maintained online using the unique identification number and you are allowed to travel to different Hague countries with a single apostille.

The Attestation Process

For attestation, your documents have to undergo different departments. And, the departments are mentioned below:

State Attestation-The attestation process starts from the state where the certificate was issued. Based on the type of documents, they are sent for HRD, Notary, or SDM attestation.

MEA Attestation – After state attestation (initial verification and stamping), the documents are sent for MEA attestation which is done by the Ministry of External Affairs.

Embassy Attestation– Once attested by the Ministry of External Affairs, the documents are moved to the embassy of the country you are planning to immigrate to.

MOFA attestation– The last step in the attestation process is MOFA attestation which is done by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Sometimes, MOFA attestation is not important because it is done once you reach the country you are immigrating to.

The Apostille Process

As compared to the attestation process, the apostille process is simple and takes less time. You do not have to visit different departments for apostille services because everything is done by the Ministry of External Affairs. The sign and stamp received by MEA validate the document even if it is not authenticated by the Embassy of the country.

So, based on your requirements and the country you are planning to travel to, you should select the right option between attestation and apostille services.