PCC is the abbreviation for Police Clearance Certificate. This document is essential to carry when you have plans to apply for a study visa, work visa, or temporary or permanent residence visa abroad.
On top of this, PCC is one of the helpful documents you might need abroad for business purposes. This certificate confirms to the foreign country that you are genuine and have no criminal record of being scolded for illegal activities in your home country.
But, you have no permission to use your PCC in the member countries of the Hague Apostille Convention October 1961 without an MEA apostille placed on your document by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Government of India.
This blog gives you the clarity you need to get your PCC apostille in India.
How to Get PCC Apostille in India?
Apostille confirms the authenticity of your document mandatory in the Hague Apostille Convention 1961 member countries. India has been part of the Hague Apostille since 2008.
An apostille is a form of attestation that ceases the requirement for document verification and legalisation from the Embassies of the Hague Apostille Convention member countries.
Prior to clearing your doubt about what an apostille is, why you need an apostille, and the difference between apostille and attestation, read about the main topic – how to get PCC in India.
The work of a certificate apostille is legal and performed by the government authorities like the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Government of India. Prior to 2012, the MEA provided apostille services directly to the applicant.
The MEA, since 2012, has outsourced the apostille services. The MEA officially approved Superb Enterprise Private Limited (SEPL) to accept documents via SEPL from the applicants to provide apostille services.
How Will You Get an Apostille on PCC From MEA?
Prior to MEA apostille, you need to attest your PCC from the State Home Department. So, to finish things efficiently, the government departments accept applications for attestation and apostille from the MEA authorised agencies.
The expert team of SEPL accepts your document, then checks if the document is original or fake. It is because sometimes people submit fake certificates for apostille without knowing the consequences of doing fraud with the government.
Once the team of the SEPL gets the assurance that your PCC is original and legal, an expert submits your PCC to the State Home Department office for verification and attestation.
After getting the attested PCC from the State Human Department, the SEPL team submitted the document to the MEA for the MEA apostille stamp and sticker.
Once your PCC, with no hindrance, receives the MEA apostille, your SEPL consultant contacts you to request to collect your certificate from the office or share the method so the team can deliver your document to your residence.
How Can You Approach SEPL for PCC Apostille in India?
You can approach SEPL via email, Whatsapp, courier your document, or directly visit any service centre of SEPL in India. The SEPL has many service centres in the metro and non-metropolitan cities in India, such as Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai, Delhi, etc.
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On top of this SEPL service centre is also opened in Dubai, UAE. In Dubai, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) of the UAE government also approved the SEPL group to help and complete applicants’ certificate attestation and document apostille procedures for all embassies.
The MEA only accepts applicants through its outsourced agencies to keep the apostille services easy and reachable for the general public. There are two ways the MEA accept documents for apostille via its outsource agency SEPL, and they are:
1. Online Attestation and Apostille – eSanad Services
eSanad is a government portal to submit documents and apostille applications to complete the documentation process online. But, this portal is available to the authorised agency like SEPL. Neither an applicant nor an unauthorised agency can use the eSanad portal for online apostille services.
2. Offline Attestation and Apostille Services
The applicant can personally visit the service centre of SEPL to submit his application and PCC for apostille. On the other hand, he can courier his document for the apostille to one of the SEPL service centres in India.
What are the Documents Required for PCC Apostille in India?
There are three documents the SEPL team required from your side to run your application for PCC apostille in India.
- Your original PCC
- Your passport with six months’ validity
- An Authorization letter from your side
You can read the Authorization letter. It’s a letter in which you give permission to the agency to complete your PCC apostille procedure on your behalf.
Move on to the next and learn what apostille is, why apostille is required, and how apostille is different from attestation.
What is Apostille?
Apostille on your legal documents is a clearance that the government of your native country gives to the government of the foreign country you are going to for study, employment, or business. Apostille is a digital stamp on your PCC that proves the document is authentic and carefully scrutinised by your native country’s government authorities.
Why is Apostille Required?
Embassy attestation is the oldest method to legalise a document to use in any foreign country. The embassy of the foreign country located in India places an attestation on the certificates of the person who is going to that country for education, employment, or other purposes. The Hague Apostille Convention is the second type of document attestation launched on October 5, 1961.
Apostille is a simple two-step verification and legalisation of public documents that involve the concerned state department and the MEA of the Hague Apostille Convention member countries. There are 113 member countries of the Hague Apostille Convention where you can use your apostille PCC for the following purposes.
- Study visa
- Work visa
- Permanent residence visa
- Temporary residence permit
- International trade
Different Between Apostille and Attestation
Attestation is the oldest verification procedure followed by every nation in the world, and the apostille has limitations. It is acceptable in only 113 countries.
Attestation has three steps – HRD Attestation, MEA Attestation, and Embassy Attestation. On the other hand, MOFA Attestation is compulsory for document use in the Gulf Countries.
Apostille has two simple steps – State Attestation and MEA Apostille.
If you have doubts or questions to get clarification, you can contact SEPL. We provide swift and secure PCC apostille services. We also clear all your concerns and doubts associated with the document apostille.
Conclusion
Getting PCC apostille in India is a task accomplished by the MEA authorised agency SEPL to make this legal legislation work less hassle and approachable for the Indian citizens.
