why legalization now?

While doing some research I came across an interesting article about the Hague convention. This was implemented to ensure that all the countries who signed or joined will not need to go through a legalization process. So all I need to get is an Apostille, however the Netherlands consulate does not currently know that India is now a part of the Hague Convention.

As per the MEA to get an Apostille you need to do the following steps:

Procedure: All documents should be first authenticated by the designated agencies in the State from where thedocument has been issued. In case of personal documents, Home Department/General Administration Department arethe designated authorities. In case of educational documents, State Governments have now opened Regional Authentication Centers (RACs) (see list) at various States from where the document should first be attested. Documents attested by these authorities then need to be presented to MEA for issue of Apostilles.

Fee: A fee of Rs. 50/- in form of Postal/Pay Order drawn in favour of PAO, MEA, New Delhi is payable for each Apostille sticker.

You can find more information at the following link
http://meaindia.nic.in/apostille.htm

To know which all countries have acceded to the Hague Convention you need to check this link:
http://www.hcch.net/

The irony is Hague is in Netherlands and they themselves are not updated on which country needs legalization and which does not. FYI Indians should not go through legalization yet they still have to. This is in effect since August 29, 2007 and Netherland counsulates have still not updated their procedure did I mention Hague is in Netherlands and is considered the seat of Goverment very similar to our New Delhi in India.

Leagalization

So you might be asking why am I doing this all, well I need to apply for a long term visa to the Netherlands. Prior to doing that one very important document needs to be procured, when I sent the consulate an email I was informed that I had to follow the chain to get the documents legalizaed from them in short first take the document to get it notarized, then stamped from the home department, then get it attested from the Ministry of External Affairs (Delhi). After all these stamps then fill up a 2 page form at the consulate and submit with approx Rs. 1400 and within a couple of days they would return it back to you. After which you can apply for your visa and submit all the relevant documents in relation to your purpose of stay.

The procedure in more detail below:

STEP 1: Get the original birth certificate from the Office of the Registrar of Births and Deaths, at the place where your birth occured. If your birth is registered contact the Registrar and request him to issue a new/fresh birth certificate. Advisably the document should be issued within the past six months.(i.e. should not be older than six months at the time of submission to our counter). - If you remember I got my original birth certificates extracted from the municipal office last week.

STEP 2: Get this original document attested from the competent authority of the State from which the document originates. Please be informed that IF ONLY your document originates from the State of Maharashtra, then your document should be attested from the Home Department, Govt. of Maharashtra. This is located at Mantralaya, New Administrative Building, Nariman Point, Mumbai. The Home department generally requires the original document to be notarised prior to attesting it.