Notarisation
A separate step by a notary public. It is not a substitute for an apostille, though people often confuse the two. Where the route requires it, it comes before state authentication.
Net Worth & Solvency Glossary · Visa Finance
Apostille of an Indian CA Certificate for Use Abroad
noun · a certificate that travels with the one signed document it is attached to
Definition
An apostille is a certificate attached to a public document that confirms where the document came from: that the signature and seal on it are genuine and that the signer held the office they claimed.
It lets the document be used in another country where the Hague Apostille Convention applies with India, without further legalisation. The Convention does not apply between India and Germany, so an Indian apostille is not the route for documents going to Germany.
In India, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issues apostilles.
Issued byThe Ministry of External AffairsAfter the document has been authenticated by the designated authority of the state concerned.
ConfirmsThe signature and seal are genuineAnd that the person who signed held the office they claimed. It certifies the origin of the document.
Does not confirmThat the figures are rightOr that the assets exist, or that the document suits the purpose it is used for. It says nothing about content.
Meaning
What an apostille certifies and what it deliberately does not
The apostille system comes from the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention, which India joined in 2005. A document that has been "apostilled" carries this certificate.
An apostille certifies the origin of a document, not its content. It says the signature and seal are genuine. It says nothing about whether the figures are right, whether the assets exist, or whether the document suits the purpose it is used for.
It certifies
- The signature on the document is genuine.
- The seal on the document is genuine.
- The signer held the office they claimed, so the document came from where it says it did.
It does not certify
- That the figures are right. Nobody in the apostille chain reads the numbers.
- That the assets exist. The certificate's content is the signer's responsibility, not the apostille's.
- That the document suits its purpose. Whether it fits the recipient's requirement is a separate question.
The apostille authenticates the author, not the argument.
A visa officer who receives an apostilled net worth certificate knows that the signature was verified through the MEA. From the apostille alone, they do not know that the assets exist. This is why a mission can accept the apostille and still question the certificate.
Because India is a party to the Convention, an apostille issued by another member country is the recognised way to authenticate a public document from that country for use in India, except where that country has objected to India's accession.
The exception
Germany
Germany objected to India's accession to the Convention, so the Convention does not apply between Germany and India. German missions in India stopped legalising Indian documents in 2000. Where a German authority needs an Indian document checked, it asks the German mission to have the document verified; the applicant cannot start that verification.
An applicant sending a net worth certificate to Germany should follow what the German authority or mission asks for, not the apostille route.
- STEP 1CA certificateSigned by the chartered accountant, UDIN generated
- STEP 2NotarisationWhere the route requires it; a separate step, not a substitute
- STEP 3State authenticationBy the designated authority of the state concerned
- STEP 4MEA apostilleIssued by the Ministry of External Affairs
Accepted abroadIn countries where the Convention applies with India, with no further legalisation.
Embassy legalisationWhere the destination is not a party, or the Convention does not apply between it and India.
Germany: outside the apostille path. Verification by the German mission, only at a German authority's request.
Before it goes
Preparing a certified net worth document so it survives legalisation
An apostille attaches to one specific signed document. If anything changes afterwards, even the spelling of a name, a new original has to be signed and the whole process repeated.
1
The figures are settledNothing on the certificate is still being discussed or waiting on a document.
2
The recipient's format is confirmedThe mission or institution has said what the certificate must show and how.
3
The applicant has read and approved itEvery name, date and figure checked by the person whose document it is.
The steps run in a fixed order
Sign first, apostille last- Sign and generate the UDINThe chartered accountant signs the certificate and generates its UDIN first.
- NotarisationFollows the signature, where the route requires it.
- State authenticationBy the designated authority of the state, after notarisation.
- MEA apostilleComes after the state's authentication.
Where the certificate runs to several pages, the pages are secured together before signing. Working backwards from the visa appointment date is the reliable way to fit the sequence in.
A net worth certificate for a visa file is prepared with this sequence in mind.
Who issues it
MEA apostille, notarisation and the route through Indian Branch Secretariats
The MEA issues apostilles in India after the document has been authenticated by the designated authority of the state concerned. Documents usually reach the MEA through its Branch Secretariats, regional centres and authorised outsourced agencies, not over a public counter. Who first authenticates a document depends on the type of document and the state. A document from one state routed through another state's channel is a common cause of delay.
FirstThe state's designated authorityAuthenticates the document. Which authority that is depends on the type of document and the state it comes from.
ThenThe Ministry of External AffairsIssues the apostille. Documents usually reach it through its Branch Secretariats, regional centres and authorised outsourced agencies.
Apostille
An MEA process. It certifies the origin of the document after the state's authentication, and it is the certificate a Convention country recognises.
Patron does not issue apostilles. Obtaining an apostille is an MEA process, and fees and timelines are set by the MEA and its agencies. Among the destinations asked about most, the United Kingdom, the United States, Ireland and the Schengen states other than Germany accept an Indian apostille. Germany objected to India's accession to the Convention and does not accept one: a German authority that needs an Indian document checked asks the German mission in India to verify it. The full list of Convention parties is kept by the Hague Conference on Private International Law.
Written by Subham Jhunjhunwala · Reviewed by CA Sundram Gupta
Sources: Ministry of External Affairs, Apostille (mea.gov.in). German Missions in India, legalisation and verification of Indian documents (india.diplo.de). Hague Conference on Private International Law, Apostille Convention status table (hcch.net). This entry describes Indian practice in general terms. The destination country's requirements govern each document.
Need help with a certificate that uses apostille? See our Net Worth Certificate for Visa.Prepared with the signing, notarisation and apostille sequence in mind.