Authenticate a U.S. Document for Use in India

This page provides information on how to authenticate a U.S. document for use in India.

• Obtain an apostille from the state that issued your document in the United States.

Obtaining an Apostille
Documents issued in one country that need to be used in another country must be "authenticated" or "legalized" before they can be recognized as valid in the foreign country. Examples of such documents are court documents, birth, death and marriages records, educational documents, incorporation papers and other legal papers.  India is a party to the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents ("Hague Legalization Convention").  As such, Indian documents can be authenticated/legalized for use overseas by the issuance of an "apostille."  More Information

In the United States, each state issues apostilles for its own documents.  Thus, for an example, a California birth certificate must be authenticated with a California apostille.  Similarly, a New York death certificate must be authenticated by an apostille issued by the state of New York.  Each state maintains a website explaining how to obtain an apostille.  For a list of the state authentication authorities in the United States that can issue an apostille, click here.  The Embassy's American Citizen Services Unit also has information on the state authentication offices. Once a U.S. document has a U.S. state apostille, it can be used directly in India. It is not necessary to come to the U.S. Embassy.

Questions?
Email:  chennaics@state.gov