In the course of company formations Like in India, the relevant deeds, contracts and public documents must go through the process of legalization - e.g.:
Declarations of intent, employment contracts, export certificates, director's resolutions, birth certificates, business contracts, shareholder resolutions, articles of association, articles of incorporation, certificates of origin, registration certificates, invoices, powers of attorney, declarations of residence, certificates and much more
Only authenticated and legalized documents have legal validity in India!
Legalization India – Apostille or full legalization?
India is, in and of itself, a member of the multilateral Hague Convention (Note: to exempt foreign public documents from legalization). Nevertheless, Germany has raised objections to India, so that in the bilateral relationship between the Federal Republic of Germany and India (Hague) Apostille, which guarantees the authenticity of a public document, not is applied.
Complete legalization
Instead, this is what happens in legal transactions between these two states three-stage process to apply:
- Notarial certification (notarization)
- Judicial certification (pre-certification)
- legalization
1. Notarization (notarization)
The notary confirms the authenticity of the signature and/or confirms that the content of the copy corresponds to the original (purely formally), but does not check the content.
The certification contains: authentication note, signature of the authenticator, imprint of the official seal.
2. Judicial attestation (Pre-certification)
In Germany, the relevant documents must be certified. This means that in the second step, the regional court, local court or local chamber of commerce and industry checks the notary's signature.
3. Legalization / Legalization (or consolarization)
In the third step, the path leads to the Indian embassy or the relevant Indian consulate, which - after submitting an appropriate application and documents (original and copy) - takes the final step Document legalization done.
This step is required to confirm the authenticity of a document in order to use it in India.
The Hague Apostille
In contrast to Germany (see above), the apostille is already valid between Austria - or Switzerland - and India.
The apostille is an official document that confirms the authenticity of a document. The apostille therefore replaces legalization (see above). This means that the Hague Convention exempts member states from the legalization of documents. There is therefore no need to go to the Indian embassy in Austria or Switzerland.
Apostille in Germany!?
Exceptions prove the rule. And this rule stipulates that Germany does not issue an apostille for India (see above). Nevertheless, companies are still able to benefit from an apostille - whether it is due to the skill of the applicant or the ignorance of the officials.
We are also aware of cases where these (in themselves) illegal Apostille was actually recognized in India. However, this is not the official and shortest route and can lead to an extra lap in Germany.
If you have any further questions on this topic, we are happy to help you at any time!
