Confused? Get legal advice!
Many clients call us for advice about what legal documents they should be sending to India, how to write their legal documents for India or whether their legal documents should also be stamped by the Indian Consulate/VFS. Each time we tell them that they need to ask their lawyer in India - and if you are also looking for answers to these same legal questions, then you should also ask your lawyer in India.
As a public notary, we can assist you with the legal process in Australia only. There is a process in Australia (following international conventions) that involves documents originating from Australia or signed in Australia to be first notarised and then authenticated/legalised, or stamped with an apostille. The challenge when dealing with the legal process relating to Indian documents signed in Australia but used in India is that there does not seem to be a single accepted approach adopted by lawyers in India or even by the Consulate/VFS despite the international conventions.
For example, widely recognised and accepted international conventions allow for documents that have been stamped with an apostille to be accepted in their intended destination country if that country is a member state of the Apostille Convention without further stamping, verification or legalisation. Accordingly, this should mean that documents that have been stamped with an apostille in Australia should be accepted in India without issue, however this often does not seem to be the case. Many lawyers in India have advised clients that they must also have their documents stamped by the Consulate/VFS and VFS have stated that those documents would have to be stamped with an apostille before they would accept them - despite the Apostille Convention.
Ultimately, your end goal is to satisfy whoever it is in India that the documents you are sending to them are valid. This means that despite whatever regulation or process may exist with VFS, the Consulate or international protocols, the intended recipient's opinion is the most important.
To obtain a quote on our notary public services for India, please visit https://www.notary-parramatta.com.au/notary-fees/.
Acknowledgements
This blog is supported and maintained by Phang Legal. Phang Legal is a leading provider of notary public services in Sydney. With offices conveniently located in Parramatta, Phang Legal supports and services the Indian community across Sydney with readily available and easily accessible notary public services at highly competitive rates.
For more information regarding notary public services for documents going to India, view our notary publications at https://www.notary-parramatta.com.au/jurisdiction/india-notary/.
Frequently asked questions regarding our notary public services can also be found at https://www.notary-parramatta.com.au/faqs/.
For Hindi to English translation services by NAATI accredited translators, see https://hindi-naati-translation.blogspot.com.au/.
Notary Public
Ern Phang is the solicitor director of Phang Legal and a notary public. Ern regularly writes about his experiences as a notary public, including the kinds of problems and solutions that his clients face when sending documents to India.
IMPORTANT: the information in this article is correct at the time of publication, however the law constantly changes. This means you should always refer to the most recent articles because we try to update this blog on a regular basis with the most current information.
