Germany Embassy Attestation: Why Germany Accepts Neither an Apostille Nor a Legalisation From India

No. Germany objected to India's accession to the Hague Apostille Convention on 21 April 2005 and has never withdrawn that objection, so the Convention does not operate between the two countries. The German Federal Foreign Office states on its own India pages that the Convention is not applicable between Germany and India. An Indian apostille is therefore the wrong document for a German authority.

No, and this is the part that surprises people most. German missions in India discontinued the legalisation of Indian documents in 2000, with the approval of the Federal Foreign Office, and have not resumed. There is no counter in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru or Kolkata that will legalise an Indian certificate for Germany.

Because the pages were written years ago, copied from one another and never checked against the German missions' own information. Ask any agency offering it which German office applies the stamp and on what date legalisation resumed. There is no answer. A fee quoted for a service that no counter performs is worth questioning before you pay it.

It is document verification. A German authority or court that doubts an Indian document asks the German mission to check it; the mission commissions a service provider, a consular officer assesses the findings, and a statement goes back to that authority. It is expert help for their decision, not a certificate for you. A private individual cannot initiate it, so no agency can sell it to you as Germany embassy attestation or under any other name.

The mission publishes a substantial fixed amount per application, charged regardless of how many documents are verified, and it invoices the German authority that requested it, which may then seek reimbursement from the applicant. Published processing is several weeks on average plus postal time each way. Check the mission's own page for the current figure, because it changes.

APS, the Academic Evaluation Centre attached to the German Embassy's science section in New Delhi. It confirms your academic documents are genuine and that you are eligible to apply to a German university, and the APS office in India has processed applications since October 2022. It is not Germany embassy attestation, no apostille replaces it, and we do not provide it. Apply several weeks before your deadlines.

For the academic documents it covers, in practice yes. APS examines your marksheets, degree and school certificates directly, which is why German universities and the visa process rely on it rather than on stamps. A separate German body might still ask for something else for a non-academic document, so read your own admission and visa checklist rather than assuming.

Go back to them in writing and ask what form they mean, because the word attested is used loosely. If they want an apostille, tell them the Convention does not apply between Germany and India. If they want Indian government authentication, that is Notary, SDM and MEA attestation and we can do it. If they want recognition of the qualification, that is a German assessment process, not a stamp, and nothing in Germany embassy attestation will deliver it.

That is almost certainly heading towards verification, and the registry office itself initiates it. You cannot pre-empt it by buying attestation. What helps is making sure the certificate was issued by the correct registrar, that names and dates match your other records exactly, and that you can supply the supporting identity documents the mission will ask the authority for. Expect the process to take weeks.

Usually yes, and in most German files it is the only real cost. German authorities generally require a translation by a sworn translator recognised in Germany, who seals it and attaches it to the source document. Have it done in Germany rather than in India, because an Indian agency's certification is commonly refused by German offices.

Those take the commercial chain: a chamber of commerce attestation, then the Ministry of External Affairs. German counterparties often name the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce specifically, so ask which chamber they expect before starting. A covering letter on company letterhead, signed and stamped, should travel with the set.

Yes, where it is genuinely wanted: Notary, SDM and MEA attestation for the German bodies that ask for Indian authentication, and commercial documents through the chamber route. What we will not do is sell you Germany embassy attestation as an apostille Germany does not accept, or as a legalisation no German mission performs. Send us the written requirement and you will get a straight answer, including when that answer is that you need nothing from us.