Commercial Documents Legalisation from Embassies

Three stamps, three different checks

Embassy legalisation is a relay. Each office confirms the stamp of the office before it, so the foreign authority at the end only has to trust its own embassy.

1. Chamber of Commerce

The Chamber is the only stage that looks at your company. It checks that the business is registered with it and that the person who signed is on record as an authorised signatory. Unsigned, unstamped or digitally signed papers stop here.

2. Ministry of External Affairs

The MEA does not read your invoice or your MoA. It confirms that the Chamber's seal and signature are genuine. For an embassy country it attests the document; for a Hague country it apostilles it instead, and the chain ends there.

3. The embassy or consulate

The destination country's mission in India confirms the MEA stamp and adds its own. This is the stamp the foreign buyer, bank, customs office or registrar recognises. Some embassies also look at the content, for example checking that the buyer named on an invoice is in their country, or asking for a translation.

Which countries need the embassy step

The table shows how we process commercial documents for the destinations we see most. Rules can change, and a buyer's or bank's written instruction always comes first.

Vietnam is the trap. Exporters hear that Vietnam accepts apostilles, which is true for degrees and birth certificates, and send apostilled invoices that are then refused. For company papers, plan for the Vietnam Embassy stage. Saudi Arabia went the other way: it used to need embassy attestation, and now takes only the new MEA e-apostille with a QR code.

What happens at the embassy counter

Each embassy runs its own counter with its own forms and habits. A few patterns hold across most of them:

• Covering letter. Many missions want a letter on company letterhead naming the document, the purpose and the receiving party abroad.
• Copies. Embassies often keep a photocopy of every page they stamp, so the set you send should be complete.
• Translation. Some missions legalise only documents in English or their own language. Others legalise the English original and expect a translation abroad. We arrange translation into any language when it is needed.
• Jurisdiction. Some countries have consulates in other Indian cities, and the right counter can depend on where the company is registered. We route the file to the correct one.

For China in detail, see China embassy attestation, or the document guides for invoices, GST certificates, GMP certificates and MoA and AoA.

Exporter's checklist before you courier the set

• Destination country and the receiving party's written request
• Every page signed in ink and stamped by an authorised signatory
• Company name, address and IEC consistent across all papers
• Invoice values and buyer details agreed with the buyer first
• Number of legalised copies each party needs
• Whether a translation is needed, and in which language
• Any LC or shipment deadline, shared in your first message
• A contact person who can answer questions from the Chamber

Send the list on WhatsApp before you courier anything. We confirm the route, price and time estimate. Delhi companies can drop papers at our New Ashok Nagar office; others courier them in, and we return the finished set by Blue Dart or another secure courier.

Questions about embassy legalisation