What is MEA Attestation?
MEA is known as the Ministry of External Affairs and MEA Attestation is considered one of the most important and valuable stamps on the documents. Once all the validated and authenticated documents are submitted by the respective agencies from the state where certificates were issued then you can get the MEA Attestation stamp if all the documents are valid.
MEA deals with everything related to foreign countries so the applicant must authenticate documents from INDIA to prove the authenticity of all the documents and certificates. Earlier External Affairs Department in Delhi was responsible for centralized attestation but now it has been decentralized.
Why is MEA Attestation required?
MEA Attestation in India is necessary for multiple occasions. People need to go through the procedure of attestation if they are applying for a work visa, student visa, residence visa, or want to expand the business in a foreign country, and many more. People have to go through MEA Attestation services if they don’t want to face any visa issues in the future.
If the documents and certificates are not validated from the authentic source then the person may have to face problems or even face rejection to stay in the foreign country. MEA Attestation is a method of the authenticity of a document and it declares the authenticity by attaching the original documents or certificates with the sign of the verifying person.
How to go through the MEA Attestation procedure in India?
All the documents requiring attestation will get the stamp by MEA if all the documents and certificates are authenticated. People have to go through MEA Attestation services so that they won’t face problems of authenticity in the future. The applicants should not rely on unauthorized personas for MEA Attestation services.
MEA Attestation can only be done once the State Government has attested all the required documents and certificates with the signature and seal of that particular department. The process of Attestation of documents from the MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) of India can be done on all the documents and certificates that are issued by the Indian Government.
The procedure of MEA Attestation in India is given below.
Step 1- Authentication of All documents and Certificates:
All the original documents or certificates are required to have attestation from MEA and for that firstly these documents need to be authenticated by the authorities of State or Union territory from where the documents or certificates were issued.
- Educational Documents or Certificates: All the documents and certificates should first be attested by the Education department or human resource department of the concerned state government or union territory. The authentication process should be done with the name and designation seal with the seal of the department.
- Non-Educational Documents or Certificates: Attestation of non-education documents should be done by the state home department or general administration department of the document issuing state government or union territory with the name and designation seal of that authorized department or officer.
- Commercial Documents or Certificates: All commercial documents or certificates should be authenticated by the respective chambers of commerce. You need to ensure that the rubber stamp of the respective chamber of commerce has been affixed on each document or certificate with the name and designation of the authorized person.
Step 2- Attestation and Legalisation of Documents and Certificates:
The MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) will attest or legalize all the documents and certificates only once they are being authenticated by the signatures and seal or stamp of designated authorities of the State Government or Union territory where all the documents and certificates were issued.
One thing you have to keep in mind is that MEA legalizes or attests the documents and certificates only based on the signature of the designated authorities of the State Government or Union Territory so it will not take any responsibility for the contents of the documents.
MEA Attestation procedure is only done based on the signatures of State Government or Union Territory Authorities hence it will not take any responsibility for the contents of the documents and certificates because they are authenticated by the State Government or Union Territory officers only.
Types of Documents and Charges:
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) doesn’t collect any type of fees for General Attestation of the documents or certificates. The applicants need to submit the following documents or certificates and fees.
- Original Documents or Certificates needs to be attested
- One Clear Photocopy of the Documents or Certificates
- One Clear Photocopy of the Passpo
Service Fees
Type of Documents and Certificates: Charges for uploading each Document and Certificate
Attestation (Government Fees): No Fees
Service Fees (Collected by SEPL): Rs. 90/- per document or certificate (Fees will be the same for all type of documents and certificates that includes educational, non-educational, and commercial)
Scanning Fees (Collected by SEPL): Rs. 3/- per page
