ATTESTATION OF DOCUMENTS (BIRTH/DEATH/ EDUCATIONAL CERTIFICATES ETC.)
There may be two types of attestation:
(i) Apostille: Indian documents are apostilled by the Ministry of External Affairs in India and not by the Indian Missions abroad. India is a member of the Hague Convention of October 5, 1961, abolishing the requirement of legalization of foreign public documents. Apostille is acceptable in member-countries of the Convention (also visit HCCH website: www.hcch.net). Apostille is done for personal documents like birth/death/marriage certificates, Affidavits, Power of Attorney, etc. and educational documents like degree, diploma, matriculation and secondary level certificates etc.
(ii) Normalattestation is done for all the countries who are not the members of Hague Convention and where apostille is not accepted.
(I) Attestation of Documents issued by Indian Authorities
Birth/Death/Educational Certificates etc. issued by authorities in India need to be apostilledin India(for details, please visit Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India web linkhttp://www.mea.gov.in/legalization-of-documents.htm)if they are to be presented before the authorities in the Netherlands or before the authorities of the countries that are members of the Hague 'Apostille' Convention of 1961, and no further attestation or legalization of such apostilled documents by the Embassy of India, The Hague is required.
However, Embassy of India can counter attest a document that has been attested by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Government of India or by any of the MEA’s authorized Branch Secretariats in India if the document in question is to be presented before the Missions/ Posts of countries, that are not members of the Hague ‘Apostille’ Convention of 1961 and where apostille is not accepted.
For Indian nationals, Birth/Death/Educational certificate or any other document issued by Government of India will be attested in the Embassy directly without referring to Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.
Documents required:
I. The original document (s) to be attested along with a self-attested photocopy of the original document (s).
II. Miscellaneous Application Form dully filled in and signed by the applicant (for Miscellaneous Application Form, please visit the link 'Forms for Consular Services').
III. Proof of Identity:
a In case of Indian nationals: Valid passport in original and self-attested copies of first two and last two pages of the passport and the page (s) containing passport officer's observation (s)(if any).
b In case of foreign nationals: Valid passport in original and self-attested copies of the passport pages containing personal particulars of the passport holder.
IV. Proof of Residence: Any of the following self-attested documents viz. copy of utility bill (landline telephone bill/electricity bill/gas bill/water bill) or lease deed (of house) etc. where the applicant’saddress is clearly mentioned, should be provided,OR Uittreksel from Gemeente where applicant’s address in the Netherlands is clearly mentioned should be provided.
V. Visa Status: Self-attested copy of passport page/Dutch Residence Permit showing the visa status should be enclosed.
VI. Processing Time:Normally,same day/next working day subject to documentation being in order.
Note: Apart from the general mandatory requirements mentioned above, applicant may be advised to submit additional documents, after scrutiny, on case to case basis.
(II) Attestation of Documents issued by the Dutchauthorities
No further attestation or legalization by the Embassy of India is required in case of documents apostilled by competent Dutch authority. In other cases, documents can be legalized by the Embassy of India. In such cases, proof of residence, proof of identity and visa status, etc, would be required.