ATTESTATION OF DOCUMENTS SUCH AS PAN FORM, BANK STATEMENT, SALARY STATEMENT, COPY OF INDIAN PASSPORT, COPY OF A DOCUMENT ISSUED BY US AUTHORITIES (US PASSPORT, DRIVING LICENSE, ETC.)
- Apostille Convention: the Hague Convention, to which India and USA are signatories, abolishes the requirement of legalization for Foreign Public Documents. With the certification by the Hague Convention 'Apostille', the document is entitled to recognition in India and vice versa and no certification by the Embassy/Consulates of India is required. The convention applies to public documents which have been executed in the territory of one Contracting State and which have to be produced in the territory of another Contracting State.
- However in many places in India, they would easily recognize the attestation by the Indian Embassy/Consulate and hence may ask for attested copy despite the document already being apostilled. Hence, to avoid any inconvenience, if you wish to have the apostilled document also attested by the Consulate, you may apply to the Consulate.
- The Consulate will attest the local documents issued by US authorities only after they have been first notarized and then apostilled by the state authorities concerned in the US. Apostilling is done at the offices of the Secretary of State where the applicant resides. For details, please check the state government’s websites. For example, residents of California may check the website www.sos.ca.gov.
- The Consulate does not attest any document issued by authorities in India. If any document issued by authorities in India (such as birth and death certificates, affidavits, diplomas, marriage certificate and educational certificates issued by authorities in India) are required to be presented to authorities in USA, these should be apostilled in India. For details, please check the website “Legalization of Documents” at https://mea.gov.in/apostille.htm
- The Consulate reserves the right to reject attestation of documents the contents of which are objectionable or contrary to the Rules.
- Please note that Commercial Documents are NOT attested by the Consulate. The same should be apostilled from US Government Authorities for presenting in India.
- Please note that Education Sponsorship Documents are NOT attested by the Consulate.
- Normal processing time is 21 business days.
Delivery of Documents (Pick-up Hours) : 04.00 pm to 04.45 pm (Monday to Friday)
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How to apply:
Applying In Person:
All miscellaneous attestation services are now accessible on a walk-in basis, without the need for an appointment, from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM on regular working days.
Carry originals of all the supporting documents to be presented to the Consular Officer (photocopies of which are to be attached with the application).
Applying by Mail:
Send all the supporting documents to the following address:
Miscellaneous Cell
Consulate General of India,
540 Arguello Boulevard;
San Francisco CA 94118
Fee : A non-refundable fee of US$ 10.00 (Ten only) and US$2.00(Two Only) towards Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF) per application. For subsequent documents, US$ 10.00 (Ten only) each must be paid by applicant.
Fees should be paid through Money order or Cashiers’ cheque drawn in favor of the ‘Consulate General of India, San Francisco’. NO BLANK CHECK/MONEY ORDER WILL BE ACCEPTED BY THE CONSULATE. Cash, Personal Cheques, Credit Cards, Debit Cards or other banking instruments are not accepted.
Supporting documents:
- Miscellaneous Services Form- Download the Miscellaneous Application form and complete the application form.
- Notarized copy of Passport (First and Last Page)
- Proof of your US Visa Status:(Notarized copy of any one of the following)
- Photocopy of the page containing visa on passport (H1B, H4 etc) and the copy of I-94
- Clear Photocopy of Green Card
- Employment Authorization Document (Work Permit)
- I-797, I-140 or I-20 (If approval copy of these notices are pending, also attach a handwritten note detailing the efforts being taken to regularize status)
- Proof of current US residence address: (Notarized copy of any one of the following)
- US Driving license.
- PG&E, Water or landline telephone bill displaying applicant’s address
- House Lease Agreement
- State Identification Card
- Note:Bank/credit card/mobile phone statements are not accepted as residence proof
- The main document to be attested: (All documents to be submitted in two sets – one for attestation and one for office record)
- Local document issued by US authorities (such as US passport, driving license, etc.) must be notarized and apostilled.
- Indian documents such as Passport, Driving License, Pan Card, Aadhar Card, Voter ID, Educational documents etc., documents must be apostilled from India. Documents which are not apostilled from India will not be authenticated by Embassy. Such documents will only be attested as ‘True Copy Attestation Only”. On each document to be attested, applicant will state that "I TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE CONTENTS OF THE DOCUMENT” and write full name and sign, as in the passport and applicant shall submit original and a notarized copy of the same.
- Documents like PAN form, bank statement, salary statement, etc. need to be notarized - send both original and a copy.
- If you want to receive the attested documents back through mail, submit a trackable pre-paid return mailing envelope (USPS 'Express Mail' or UPS etc.)
- In case the Consulate receives applications with incomplete documentation, the same would be sent back unprocessed in the return envelope sent by the applicant.
FAQs - Miscellaneous Services
