Attestation/Apostille
Overview:
Attestation/Apostille is usually done for documents such as Power of Attorney, Will, Civil (Birth/Death/Marriage/Divorce/Educational Certificates/Bank Statement, Passport, OCI, Driving License etc) and Commercial documents.
India is a signatory to The Hague Apostille Convention, 1961 since 26 October 2004. It abolishes the requirement of attestation/legalization of foreign documents for use in any member country, once an Apostille certificate (including e-Apostille) has been issued by a competent authority of the country where the document originates.
Canada is a Member of this Convention since 11 January 2024.
As India and Canada are members of the Hague Apostille Convention, 1961, further attestation by Indian Consulate is not required for a document that is already apostilled by any of recognised Canadian authorities. This abolishes the requirement of attestation/legalization of an apostilled documents by the Consulate.
In this background, the admissibility/non-admissibility of the requirement of attestation by this Consulate is based on the nationality of the applicant and the nature of document to be attested. The same is categorized along with its procedure, as outlined below:
-
All Documents of Canadian nationals
All Documents of a Canadian national (including OCIs) such as Power of Attorney (POA), Will, Civil documents (Birth/Death/Marriage/Divorce/Educational Certificates/Bank Statement, Passport, OCI, Driving License etc) and Commercial Documents issued by Canadian authorities and subsequently Apostilled by following designated Canadian authorities can be used in India without the requirement of further attestation or legalization by the Consulate-
i. Global Affairs Canada (Ministry of Foreign Affairs Canada)
ii Ministry of Justice, Government of Alberta
iii. Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery, Government of Ontario
iv. Ministry of Justice and Attorney General, Government of Saskatchewan
v. Ministry of Attorney General, British Columbia
vi. Ministère de la Justice du Québec (Ministry of Justice), Quebec.
In this regard, a Declaration has been issued by the Consulate which may be seen at the following link and can be referred to the authorities in India along with the apostille Canadian documents. In case of any ambiguity, the authorities in India may be requested to get it confirmed from the Consulate. https://www.cgitoronto.gov.in/docs/1725641703_Document.jpg
NOTE:
Attestation for the purpose of OCI by applicants who had acquired citizenship before June 1, 2010 and have lost their last held Indian passport - Email a copy of first and last page of your Indian passport at [email protected] for clearance to file affidavit. Once the clearance is obtained, please fill up the affidavit at click here. This filled-up document needs to be notarised by Notary Public and then further attested by the Consulate General of India, Toronto via BLS. Thereafter, this attested affidavit along with copy of first and last page of lost Indian Passport and all the documents required for applying for OCI, as per Consulate's website, can be used for applying for OCI at the nearest BLS center.
II. Documents of Foreign national other than Canadian nationals
If the country of the foreign national is a Member of the Hague Apostille Convention, then the documents such as POA, Will, Civil document (Birth/Death/Marriage/Divorce/Educational Certificates/Bank Statement, Passport, OCI, Driving License etc) and Commercial documents should be apostilled by the foreign ministry of that country. This would be sufficient for acceptance in India and there is no requirement of its further attestation at the Consulate.
If that country is not a Member of the Convention, then the document has to be attested by its local Mission in Canada or if no Mission of that country in Canada is available, then by its foreign office in that country before the document can be applied for attestation by the Consulate.
The procedure for applying of such attestation at the Consulate is as under :
-
Form: Duly filled in Miscellaneous application form (CLICK HERE) along with a photograph pasted on it (requirement for all documents)
-
Mandatory documents:
-
Copy of passport/(s) (first and last page)
-
Copy of valid PR card/Work/Study/Visitor permit
-
Address proof- Please enclose any one of the following documents as proof of present address [Phone bills, Bank statements are not accepted as valid address proofs.]
-
Driving license
-
Photo ID issued by the Provincial Government
-
Utility bills (Gas, Electricity, Water or Landline Telephone Bill displaying applicant’s address / House Lease Agreement).
c. Additional documents
(If there are joint POA applicants please CLICK HERE for Joint Misc Form) (Applicable for Joint POA document only)
-
Notarised POA in original and copy
-
Notarized Will in original and copy. Not be signed at this stage (Applicable for WILL only)
-
Notarized document to be attested (Applicable for Civil documents and Commercial document only)
-
Letter from the Company/Agency/Organization on their letterhead, stating the purpose of attestation, and identifying the person (with designation) who will be submitting documents on their behalf. (Applicable for Commercial document only)
III. Documents of Indian nationals seeking attestation from the Consulate
A) Indian national seeking attestation of their personal documents, such as Power of Attorney, Will, Civil documents (Affidavit, Vakalatnama, Petition, Bank Statement, Indian passport, OCI, Driving License etc) and Commercial documents should follow the procedure as summarized below :
-
If the document to be attested by the Consulate is already Apostilled by the following designated Canadian authorities, then no further attestation/legalization by this Consulate is required and can be used in India-
i. Global Affairs Canada (Ministry of Foreign Affairs Canada)
ii Ministry of Justice, Government of Alberta
iii. Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery, Government of Ontario
iv. Ministry of Justice and Attorney General, Government of Saskatchewan
v. Ministry of Attorney General, British Columbia
vi. Ministère de la Justice du Québec (Ministry of Justice), Quebec.
In this regard, a Declaration has been issued by the Consulate which may be seen at the following link and can be referred to the authorities in India along with the apostille Canadian documents. In case of any ambiguity, the authorities in India may be requested to get it confirmed from the Consulate of its genuineness. https://www.cgitoronto.gov.in/docs/1725641703_Document.jpg
-
If the above kind of document to be attested is not yet apostilled by the designated Canadian authority, as mentioned above and the applicant desires attestation by the Consulate, application for attestation of such document by the Consulate can be applied with following procedure:
(a) Form: Duly filled in Miscellaneous application form (CLICK HERE) along with a photograph pasted on it (requirement for all documents)
(b) Mandatory documents:
-
Copy of passport/(s) (first and last page)
-
Copy of valid PR card/Work/Study/Visitor permit
-
Address proof- Please enclose any one of the following documents as proof of present address [Phone bills, Bank statements are not accepted as valid address proofs.]
-
Driving license
-
Photo ID issued by the Provincial Government
-
Utility bills (Gas, Electricity, Water or Landline Telephone Bill displaying applicant’s address / House Lease Agreement).
(c) Additional documents:
(If there are joint POA applicants please CLICK HERE for Joint Misc Form) (Applicable for Joint POA document only)
-
Notarised POA in original and copy
-
Notarized Will in original and copy. Not be signed at this stage (Applicable for WILL only)
-
Notarized document to be attested (Applicable for Civil documents and Commercial document only)
-
Letter from the Company/Agency/Organization on their letterhead, stating the purpose of attestation, and identifying the person (with designation) who will be submitting documents on their behalf. (Applicable for Commercial document only)
B) Attestation of certificates issued by authorities in India such as Birth Certificate, Death Certificate, Marriage Certificate, Educational Degree, Aadhar Card, PAN card or document of similar in nature, can apply for apostille by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, New Delhi and the procedure in this regard, may be seen at its website at: https://www.mea.gov.in/apostille-menu.htm
Such documents cannot be attested by the Consulate.
The applicant in Canada may refer to the above guidelines for attestation of his/her documents.
Note: Only the following Indian government issued certificates would be attested at the Consulate as per III A/B above - passport, OCI, Driving License.
* * *
