Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: The Goa Government has notified a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the pre-authentication of personal, commercial and educational documents required for Apostille or Attestation before submission to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) for use abroad.
According to a notification issued by the Home Department, the Regional Passport Office (RPO), Goa has been authorised by the MEA to issue Apostille certificates on public documents in the state. As India is a signatory to the Hague Apostille Convention, 1961, an Apostille certificate eliminates the need for further legalization of documents in member countries.
To ensure the authenticity of documents submitted for Apostille or Attestation, the MEA has mandated that they be pre-authenticated by designated Documents Issuing Authorities (DIAs) in the respective States and Union Territories.
The Goa Government has designated the Director of Education for educational documents up to the Higher Secondary School Certificate level, the Director of Technical Education for documents issued by professional colleges and technical institutions affiliated to Goa University and the Goa Board of Technical Education, the Director of Higher Education for documents issued by non-professional colleges affiliated to Goa University, the Director of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship for documents issued by institutions under its jurisdiction, and the Under Secretary (Home-II) for all personal and commercial documents.
The SOP also requires every authority or officer authorised to issue documents to register their signatures with the respective DIA. Similarly, Notaries appointed under the Notaries Act, 1952 must register their signatures before documents executed by them can be pre-authenticated.
The notification further provides for the pre-authentication of canonical documents signed by the Notary based at the Paco-Patriarchal, Archbishop’s House, Altinho, Panaji, subject to registration of the notary’s signature with the DIA.
The government has stated that DIAs will, as far as possible, pre-authenticate original documents or certified copies issued by government authorities. Where certified copies are unavailable, the DIA may verify the original document and pre-authenticate its photocopy.
Once pre-authentication is completed, applicants can submit the documents to the Ministry of External Affairs’ outsourced service providers in Goa for Apostille or MEA Attestation.
