Thursday 24 February 2011

Step 2: Quick guide for Apostilling in 5 days

First things first.
Follow this guide to get your educational documents Apostilled in only 5-Days. (Now that is quick). 5-Days is applicable only to IIT Bombay documents only. Guide is applicable to all Indian educational documents. Contacts etc. applicable to Maharashtra State. For documents issued in other states you have to do some work to find out the right contacts in that state.

Big Picture
**IMPORTANT**
(Before starting make sure that your document is not laminated or the lamination from the backside is removed.) Another post on how to do it

1. Your University (IITB in this case) has to authenticate the documents (Degree) in this case. So STAMP No. 1
2. A notary (from the same state as your Univ.) has to stamp and attest the documents next. So STAMP No. 2
3. State Home Department (Maharashtra in this case) has to attest/certify the notary. So STAMP No. 3
4. State HRD Department (Education or Employment Dept) has to authenticate this degree now. So STAMP No. 4
5. Ministry of External Affairs, Delhi will then apply the Apostille sticker on your degree. So STAMP No. 5

Finer Details  (Applicable to IIT Bombay Documents only)

You need to start the process on Monday (Day 1) so that you can finish it by Friday. (This is utmost important else you might lose a week or may be more)

Day 1 Step1: De-laminate your degree from behind and proceed to Academic Section on 2nd Floor of Main Building, IIT Bombay. Please ensure you reach there at 10:00 AM. Find out the Dy. Asst. Registrar and request him to authenticate your degree. He will guide you to a Clerk in the same section who will keep the degree and ask you to come back after couple of days. Request him/her to do it right then else you will miss the visa deadline. He/She will then ask you to come back in 1 hour. Enjoy the next one hour meeting your old pals/profs. etc. Do the coffee in the shack or whatever you like. Collect the documents at 11:00 AM. There shall be a stamp saying "CERTIFIED ORIGINAL DEGREE" signed by the Dy. Asst. Registrar.

Day 1 Step 2: Notary: If you know any notary. Go get your degree attested. Else proceed to Andheri Court Lane in Andheri East. It is close to Andheri Station. Assuming you reach there by 12:00 PM. The moment you enter the lane taking you to court, you will find many touts who ensure they are dressed like Lawyers with courts and white pants etc. Dont be fooled with the appearance. If you can find a notary yourself do it, or else take services from one of the touts. Bargain the price. They might ask you 500 INR per document or more. It shall not be much more than 200 INR per doc. But make sure you get it notarized asap so that you do not miss the next step which has to be done today only.

Day 1 Step 3: (2:30 pm to 5:30 pm only) By now you should have 2 stamps from previous 2 steps. Next proceed to Mantralaya building in South Mumbai. It shall take you close to 1 hour or a bit more. Directly proceed to Mantralaya Annexe, which is right in front of the Main Building, Mantralaya (Do not line up in queue at the entrance to main building. Queue for Annexe is at the gate of Annexe Building only). Make sure you are carrying your Passport Original and Copy, PAN Card Copy, Passport Size Photo (1) and the Original degree. 
Proceed to 9th floor of Mantralaya Annexe which is the Home Department Office. They will see the first 2 stamps and put their own stamp with signature
 Home Department Contact Details: 022 22022688
"Sh.Sunil Rawade, Section Officer, Home Department, Government of Maharashtra"

Day 1 Step 4: By now you should have 3 stamps. Find yourself a xerox center outside Mantralaya and get a back to back copy of the attested degree. Now depending upon if you want the attestation to be done for pursuing higher education or employment, you need to go to education department or employment department respectively. Contacts are below:


Education: Smt. Seema Dhanderi, Joint Secretary, Higher Education Department, 4th floor, Mantralaya Annexe, Mumbai-400032, Tel: 022-22025206(O), 24367773 ( R)

Employment: Sh. V.R.Shirsat, Deputy Secretary, Government of Maharashtra, Employment & Self-Employment Department, 14th Floor,  Mantralaya, Mumbai. Tel: 022-22838783 (O)

I did it from employment department so the following holds true for employment only.

You need to fill a form given at the entry of employment department. Paste a photo on that page. Attach the passport copy, pan card copy, degree original and back to back copy. Submit it there only. They will provide you a number. Jot it down for reference. Documents submitted on Monday will be returned back on Thursday in the same week.


Day 2: Buy a Single postal order worth Rs. 50 from any post office. If you have multiple documents, buy that many postal orders each worth 50. It will be required for apostille sticker in Delhi.
Day 3: Free
Day 4: Time to collect the authenticated degree. Reach the Mantralaya at 2:00 sharp and collect your degree from 14th floor employment department. Quote the reference number you had been provided while submitting the degree. Time to fly to Delhi now for step number 5. Take an evening flight from Mumbai to Delhi.

Day 5: Reach the following address by 8:30 AM

Contact for MEA in Delhi: CPV Division, Attestation Cell,  Ministry of External Affairs  Patiala House Annexe, Tilak Marg,  New Delhi-110011.  Telefax: 011-23387931.

Make sure you have the following in hand.
1. Passport Copy (of a valid passport)
2. Original Degree
3. Copy of Authenticated degree with 4 stamps by now. Back to back copy.
4. Postal order worth Rs. 50 per document.
5. Copy of Transfer Letter / Letter of Assignment (Not required, but good to have in case asked)

Submit your documents in the morning and you will get them back between 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm.

Well thats it. Now proceed with your rest of the formalities in embassy or wherever. :)

3 comments:

  1. Other Useful Links for other states :

    http://randychd.blogspot.com/2009/04/how-to-and-tips-on-apostille.html

    http://abisurd.blogspot.com/2007/10/attestation-by-mea-ministry-of-external.html

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi! Great post like this must be highly accepted. It is so nice to read such a useful blog. Thanks

    Delhi Certificate Attestation

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hello,
    Same again, A BIG THANK YOU. Truely a life saver.

    Certificate Attestation In Maharashtra

    ReplyDelete