Do you really need an apostille for VFS?

I have been asked to get my documents stamped with an apostille and then attested by VFS. Why?

Good question.

The reality is that when people don't know things - they guess. Sometimes it's an educated guess, and sometimes it's just a guess based on what they think is the right thing to do. If your lawyer in India is unfamiliar with the international conventions, such as the Apostille Convention, then it's possible that when they ask you to get your documents signed in Australia, they'll also want you to have your documents stamped with an apostille AND stamped by the Indian Consulate. But are both required?

You could say that a safe rule of thumb is that you can't have too many stamps. The more stamps you have, the more official your document will look, and the more likely someone looking at it will accept that it's sufficient for their purposes. This is practical advice, but it isn't great legal advice because there are actually international laws and conventions that govern how documents can be signed internationally and accepted in other countries.

In the case of documents signed in Australia but used in India, the Apostille Convention will allow documents to have been signed and notarised in Australia as well as stamped with an apostille from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to be accepted in India without any further stamps from other officials or authorities (ie, like VFS or the Indian Consulate). That's it.

If your lawyer in India has asked you to have your document also stamped by the Indian Consulate, then the chances are that they're not familiar with what's required by international law and convention or the people/offices that he's dealing with aren't familiar. For them, the safe bet is to have a stamp from the Indian Consulate. The downside for you is that it just means the process becomes more expensive and takes more time.

After you have your document stamped with an apostille, VFS (on behalf of the Indian Consulate) will ask you to sign a disclaimer/undertaking confirming that you're aware that you're not required by international law and conventions to have your document stamped by the Indian Consulate once it's been stamped with an apostille.

Every time we notarise documents for India, we recommend our clients to scan their document for their lawyer in India to check whether it would be sufficient. Do NOT ask whether an apostille is required and do NOT ask whether attestation by VFS/Indian Consulate is required - otherwise, they may just say 'yes' without really knowing why or committing you to a course of action that's going to incur more cost and take more time.

What next?

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/.

Ern Phang
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.

What's the fastest and cheapest way to have my utility bill notarised?

Why do you need to notarise your utility bill?

Recent changes at VFS now means that if you live in New South Wales and you need to prove your address (or change of address), you need to provide VFS with a notarised copy of your utility bill. Previously, these documents could be certified by a justice of the peace, but not anymore. Involving a notary public in this process potentially means a higher level of formality to verify the documents being notarised to confirm their authenticity - ensuring that the process and the checks required by VFS are taken to a higher standard.

What's the problem with notarising utility bills?

Notary public services generally deal with original documents and this presents a bit of a challenge when many documents (especially utility bills) are only being produced and sent as electronic documents by email or by download. The process of notarising electronic documents still means printing the electronic document as a paper document for it to be notarised.

What do we offer to help you satisfy this process?

Notarising your utility bill can be quick and easy, but it depends on what you're prepared to do and what you're able to do (and how your utility provider can assist you in this process). Currently, our notary public service offering is tailored towards the following arrangement as being the fastest and cheapest method that more and more of our clients are electing to follow.

Fastest and cheapest - arrange for your utility provider to email a copy of the utility bill to us directly. When the email comes to us directly from the utilty provider, we'll print the attach statement and provide a notary certificate confirming that we received the documents directly from the utility provider. Provide your utility provider with this email and call us to make an appointment.

If you can't arrange for your utility provider to email us directly, you can either print your utility bill or email it to us and we'll verify the information with the utility provider. Due to the steps in this process, it potentially takes longer and will cost more than the first method.

What next?

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/.

Ern Phang
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.

Applying for OCI on behalf of your children

Signing for minor children

If you're applying for an OCI for your children (under 18 years old), you must sign an affidavit in support of the application. If you live in New South Wales, the affidavit must be witnessed and notarised by a notary public. The affidavit must accompany your other application documents and be lodged with VFS for processing. 

You can download a copy of the affidavit format as proposed by VFS.

https://www.vfsglobal.com/india/Australia/oci_pio_service/pdf/Affidavit-for-OCI-reissuance-minor-children.pdf

What next?

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/.

Ern Phang
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.

Notarising change of Indian address... in Australia?

If you need to change your address record with VFS, you must provide evidence of your new address. Some people use utility bills, others have their drivers licence. For documents that refer to an Australian address, those documents can/should be notarised in Australia.

But what about changes to Indian addresses?

To prove your new Indian address, presumably, you'll be providing copies of your Indian utility bills or your Indian drivers licence. Even though VFS asks for these Indian documents to be verified and notarised in Australia, they can't be - or at least they shouldn't be notarised in Australia.

It's interesting that VFS has taken this position with various documents that originate from India. Normally, if you needed to verify or attest a document issued by an Indian government or authority, it would need to be done in India or at least by the Indian Consulate (ie, through VFS). The same applies to any other document issued by any other foreign government.

For some reason (unknown to us or to others we've spoken to), VFS direct that Indian documents can be notarised in Australia, yet if you have a document (such as a birth certificate or marriage certificate) issued by any other country other than India or Australia, then that document must be attested by the relevant foreign office of the country where it was issued.

Essentially, this same rule should also apply to Indian documents since they cannot be attested in Australia aside from being attested by VFS/Indian Consulate and they certainly shouldn't be attested by a notary public in Australia. The fact that if you live in New South Wales, VFS now requires all documents to be attested by a notary public, makes things both confusing and potentially not possible.

New pricing packages for attestation

Cheaper pricing packages for a limited time only

We've seen how the changes at VFS have caused a lot of problems for our clients and we're here to help. From 1 September, VFS has changed its requirements for documents attestation, especially for NSW residents. Previously, you could have your documents attested by a justice of the peace but that's now your documents must be attested by a notary public.

As a leading provider of notary public services, we've been helping the Indian community around Sydney with notarising their documents for use overseas as well as for submission to VFS. Now that more and more documents must be notarised or attested by a notary public before they can be sent to VFS, we appreciate that the cost of what used to be a free (JP) service is now more expensive. Accordingly, starting from 1 October we're going to be launching a number of 'discounted' packages to lower the cost of notarising documents. Stay tuned.

What next?

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/.

Ern Phang
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.