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Attesting General Power of Attorney in SF

Recently I had to go through the motions of getting a General Power of Attorney (GPA) document attested in San Francisco. I am an Indian by birth. My parents were trying to buy a house back in India for me. Since I did not want to travel to India they needed a GPA so that they can act on my behalf to sign all the documents required to buy the house. The problem however is that they needed it urgently because the seller lives in UK and wants to get all the things done quickly so he can go back.

My parents send me a GPA document that they obtained from a lawyer. This is a document that will give the power to my parents to buy the said property in the document on my behalf. The lawyer said that I will have to get the document attested at an Indian Consulate in USA. The closest one for me is in SF and I can drive there in about an hour from where I live. So I though it will be like a day's work to get all the things done.

I looked up at their website for the procedure to attest GPA. I found the page I was looking for and the process seems simple enough. These are the things I need:

  • Complete Miscellaneous Services Application
  • Attach all previous passports in original
  • Photo copies of first 5 and last 2 pages of current passport
  • Current passport
  • Photo copy of a valid visa
  • Proof of status: original green card/visa/EAD. For me it is a valid visa
  • Proof of residence: Drivers License/Electricity/Water/Telephone bills/lease agreement. For me it is driver's license.
  • Photo copies of proof of status and proof of residence above
  • Original apostilled Power of Attorney to be attested
  • Photo copy of apostilled Power of Attorney document
  • Paste a photo in Miscellaneous Services Application
  • Paste a photo on Power of Attorney document
  • Sign Miscellaneous document
  • Pay $20 for fees using money order / cachier's check or debit card ($3 extra). Debit card for me

I got everything right except for apostilling the document. I got myself photographed. Pasted one in the GPA and another on the application and drove for more than an hour in traffic to reach the SF indian consulate only to find that I need to get the GPA apostilled. I did not know what it was and how it was supposed to be done. So I just skipped the step and went to the consulate. After standing in line for an hour the lady at the counter was kind enough to walk me through the whole process. She told me that first I should get the GPA notarized by a notary public after signing the document in front of the notary. Then I should send the GPA along with self addressed envelope to Secretary of State, California to get the document apostilled. Once they send the document back to me I will have to bring the documents to Indian consulate for attestation.

If I send the documents via mail to Secretary of State in Sacremento, it will be too late for me to send them to India. So I called up Secretary of State, CA to ask how long it will take if I walked in. By the way you can find all the details at http://sos.ca.gov. Contact phone for notary public is here. The lady on the phone said that by mail the turn around time is 1 day exclusive of the mail service time. And if I walked in it will be over in about 15 minutes. They just require the notarized document.

Great. That is easy. But there is just one thing. I wanted to finish all this in one day. So I had some planning to do. First it takes 2 hours to drive to Sacremento from where I live. And another 2 hours from Sacremento to SF where I will get the final attestation. The consulate closes at 12 pm. While the Secretary of State opens at 8 am.

The next day I started at 6am and drove to Sacremento. It was exactly 8am by the time I was in the Secretary of State. Finding the notary public office was easy and I got the document apostilled in about 15 minutes. Then I started off to SF for another 2 hour drive. I got the apostilled document photo copied at an office max in SF. It was 10:30am before I stepped into the consulate. At this point it was just a matter of time. I was in the line for an hour and then everything flew by quickly. She took the documents and the payment and asked me to return at 4pm to pick up the documents. I drove to work at 12pm and returned back to SF at 4pm. Everything was ready for me. Took the attested documents, drove back to work and then home late in the night.

Two days and 450 miles later I have all things done! That one day was tiring with 350 miles logged. End of the day the whole process is not that complicated. I was lucky to be close to Sacremento and SF. But for others who are not so lucky it will take more time. So please make sure you have enough time.

Comments

Unknown said…
I was looking for help related 'Apostilled POA'. I had no idea what it is.

I thought of doing same thing as you did. Going to SF consulate w/o apostilled Power of Attorney.

Your blog saved my trip to SFO. It really helped.

Thanks!
Re-ynd said…
My pleasure! I was hoping this post will help someone :)
Unknown said…
Hi Chandan
Do you know if the GPA if created by me here and notarized could be sent to India without the Indian Consulate's attestation?
Is it a requirement in India that the GPA should be attested in the Indian Consulate? and also how did you send the GPA? By DHL or by USPS? How much does it cost?
Thanks!!!
Re-ynd said…
Yes GPA that is not attested by Indian Consulate can be sent with just a notarization *if* the lawyer involved in the registration process (or what ever it is that you need GPA for) agrees to it. Not all lawyers need the attestation. Some go by the book, others (most) go by the money under the table.

I used FedEx and it cost around $30 I think.
Unknown said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said…
Chandan, thanks for your post.

Few quick questions - Does SFO Consulate mandate Apostille procedure for plain paper POA ?

Was your POA on a plain paper or Indian Stamp Paper ?

Did you follow this whole procedure as Indian citizen or US citizen ?

Appreciate quick response from your end.

Thanks
Re-ynd said…
Answers below:

Few quick questions - Does SFO Consulate mandate Apostille procedure for plain paper POA ?
A: Yes

Was your POA on a plain paper or Indian Stamp Paper ?
A: Plain paper

Did you follow this whole procedure as Indian citizen or US citizen ?
A: Indian citizen

Hope this helps :)
Prakash said…
To Srinivasan

Attestation by Indian Consulate is not required in every-case. It depends on the law of individual states in India, so you need to find out from your local lawyer if its required.
Unknown said…
Thanks Chandan Appritiate your help to so many people with similar situation.

I have one question can i notarize the GPA and send it for Apostilled by post. i have 1 week time to get things done. cani complete it in a week by post.
Re-ynd said…
@SHYAM
You probably can send it by mail. The Secretary of State personal said the turn around time is 1 day. So everything depends on the time it takes for USPS to move the mail. Assuming it takes 2 to 3 days (to and fro included) for USPS it may be pretty tight but possible.
Unknown said…
Thanks Chandan.Pls let me know do we need to go sacramento or can we do it in sunnyvale because i saw one at 1208 East Arques Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94085
(408) 739-4400

this is near to me.
Re-ynd said…
I don't know where you got that sunnyvale address from, but there is only 1 office in northern CA. The one in sacremento is the main office. The other 2 offices are in southern CA (san diego and LA). Look up the link here
http://www.sos.ca.gov/business/notary/contact.htm

Or you can give them a call at (916) 653-3595 and find out. See more details at http://www.sos.ca.gov/contacts.htm#notary
Unknown said…
Hi Chandan,

you are right. I have planned to go tom morning to sacramento for apostilled as you said all i need for apostill is a white paper and GPA filled form. get it certified on 2nd floor on a plain paper and then apostill it. theni will travel to SFO and get it attested. please let me know if i need any other prerequisits..thanks..
Re-ynd said…
For getting the GPA apostilled I think all you need is a GPA with a photo and notary signature. I guess the photo can be on a different sheet too. What I did was stick my photo on the last page of GPA, got it signed and stamped at a local notary and took that to the SoS. I did not take any white sheet.

For notarization and the consulate you will need a list of things that I mentioned in the blog post.
Unknown said…
Chandan,
One last question. the power of attorney to be attested by the consulate should be typed on plain paper and not on a stamp paper from india. what does this mean.

second - all power of attorney should carry signatures and address of 2 witnesses. do we need this also?
Re-ynd said…
the power of attorney to be attested by the consulate should be typed on plain paper and not on a stamp paper from india. what does this mean?
A: Google is your friend. See example of stamp paper: http://www.mindpowerindia.com/images/stamp-paper.jpg. It has a Rs. X stamp on it.

second - all power of attorney should carry signatures and address of 2 witnesses. do we need this also?
A: Yes. Write address of a couple of friends or colleagues and have them sign it. They don't need to sign in front of any notary or consulate.
Unknown said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said…
i will clear i have a Power of attorney application form send from india. which i filled and in the last page i got it notarized *(beside the photo). so my question was does that notarization should be in a separate page for both original and xerox of POA. And a different page for witness or witness column is also included in the POA form.
Re-ynd said…
It does not matter whether you have them (notary or photo or witness) in separate or same paper.
Neha said…
Thanks! This was a very helpful for us and truly appreciate the effort you have taken to help by sharing your experience.

Will you be able to reconfirm that the signature of the two witnesses "does not need to be notarized"?
Re-ynd said…
I am glad that my past experience is helping so many people. Coming back to your question:
Will you be able to reconfirm that the signature of the two witnesses "does not need to be notarized"?

So the way it works is you will have to get the witness signatures and their addresses on the GPA before you get the document notarized. Then get it notarized and apostilled and attested :).
Kiran Guntur said…
Thanks Chandan.
Very detailed blog. You saved my a trip to consulate.
Thanks,
Kiran
Brenny said…
Thanks for doing this Chandan, it really has helped move me along on this POA process.
I'm in NC, and will be dealing with the Washington consulate office, but the part I was stumped by was the 'apostille' business. I was off reading the description based on the Hague convention and couldn't tell where it was pertinent and not.

@Srinivasan. You asked about creating the GPA here. Did you use a lawyer to get it written up? I think I will follow the same process.

Thanks to all for this thread. It really helped a lot.
Brenny said…
Just did some more research and the Indian consulate says that they will not (do not need to) attest to a GPA that is prepared in the US and apostilled because both India and US signed the Hague treaty and documents notarized by one country are recognized in the other.

Maybe you had to be it attested after it being apostilled b/c your parents sent the doc from India?

Welcome your thoughts as your blog post is more informative than anything I can find on the Indian consulate site. They seriously should link to your post as reference.
Re-ynd said…
@Brenny, thank you for posting back your finding. I am sure it will be helpful for others. Can you please provide the link that confirms your statement that US documents don't need attestation.

I am not sure if the POA written in US is valid in India. I mean when applying for loan or buying house etc. Keep posting...
Brenny said…
Hi Chandan.
Yes, I'm still in the process of discovery.
So I looked up instructions for miscellaneous services/attestation of documents on the Washington DC embassy website.
http://www.indianembassy.org/newsite/misc_guide.asp

Under 'attestation of foreign public documents' it states:
Embassy of India will not re-authenticate a public document that has been apostilled by the authorities of the country of origin.

Our situation is different from yours in that we are both US citizens. But still, the business we'd like to conduct is in India. When I spoke to the lady at the Secretary of State office, she said that if the signer (my wife) is in the US, then they can do it both ways. In other words, apostille a document from India or apostille a document that was generated here.
Google being my friend, I googled for general templates for power of attorney, found one and created my own GPA. We are going to have a lawyer in India check it, and then apostille that and send to India.

I then looked up authentication of US documents for use in India. The embassy website in New Delhi says that a document originated here can be adjudicated for use in India.
http://newdelhi.usembassy.gov/acsnotarialauth2.html

So, this is the approach I'm trying. I still have not heard from the lawyer in Kolkata, but I will keep you posted as I think it might help somebody in this situation.
Re-ynd said…
Thank you for the info Brenny.
Gaurav Vaidya said…
Hi Chandan,

Is it enough for the document to have just the signature of the person who is giving the POA? I ask because the person receiving the POA is in India.

Thanks.
Gaurav Vaidya said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Re-ynd said…
Yes, only the signature of the person giving the POA is required.
Gaurav Vaidya said…
Thanks for your reply Chandan. I had another question. I am preparing the POA doc myself. Should I be specifying the designations of the witnesses where they sign?
Re-ynd said…
Not necessary
Paragon odySSey said…
Thanks a lot for your fantastic blog. I (almost!) followed your footsteps and got POA for me and my wife apostiled and attested in a single day. Much appreciated!
kanwarid said…
Hi Chandan et. all!

Thanks for the detailed blog. We (me and my wife) have executed PoA and got it Notarized in Sunnyvale, CA on white paper and would be using it to get registration for APT done in Bangalore.

Since the PoA is single document and has both of our photos/signatures.

1) Does anyone has idea for how much amount do I need to make Cashier's Cheque for to be sent to Counsulate in SFO? Would it be $20 or $20 + $20 (for both). I 've mailed consulate, but no reply yet :(?

2) For the similar reason, for what amount do I need to send cashier's check to "Secretary of State" if I am sending it via Mail?

SoS website says

There is a $20.00 processing fee (per signature authenticated) and a $6.00 special handling fee (per public official for documents submitted over the counter)


Thanks,
KD
Aham said…
Thanks Chandan, I'm going to be on the same boat in some time, this info was a good useful starting point :)
Unknown said…
This post is mind boggling and very helpful. But I am still confused with the Apostilled stuff.

I am from NC and the nearest Embassy is in DC and according to them all I need would be the following as per this link:
http://www.indianembassy.org/newsite/misc_guide.asp

1. Miscellaneous Service Form filled, signed & photograph attached.
2. Residential Address Proof
3. Copies of Visa Pages
4. Passport in Original
5. Appropriate Fees

And for attestation of PoA:- Check this out from the above link
Attestation of Power of Attorney (POA) and other documents

And as Brenny quoted earlier, I also noticed this from the above link:
Attestation of foreign public documents

My Question:-
---------------
Do I need to get my PoA Apostilled or not? I have a Rs.100 stamp paper on the PoA for the moment.

I would really appreciate if you could get back to me on this as you have always for other posts. Or if you could let me know your email id also would be great for further communcaition.
Re-ynd said…
@Nava, I am not a lawyer, so anything I say is just from my experience not necessarily the right thing. Having said that, after looking at the link you provided, it seems like you will not need to apostille the document.

If I remember correctly, the person over at San Francisco's Indian Embassy said that the apostillation of a document is a state (california) requirement and not an Indian Embassy requirement. So your state may not have this requirement. Good luck!
Unknown said…
:) You are as good as a lawyer my friend...but I understand what you say. Thanks for your prompt response.

I have another question:
The PoA application says the fee is $20 per signature. Which signature or rather whose signature is being referred to here? If it were the signature of the person at the Embassy - then would it become 2 signatures if I were to sed the original PoA and the notarized copy of the same???

Again I am just expecting your thoughts based on your research and experience - since that has been of great help...

Thanks a billion. I was actually planning to drive up 6.5hrs to DC to avoid confusion - but rethinking on that option again now.
Re-ynd said…
The $20 per signature is for the people giving PoA. So $20 for your signature and another $20 for your spouse's signature (if any).
Shruti said…
Hi...You dint need to appostill your other documents did you? copy of passport...proof of residence etc? I am asking because the miscellaneous application guidelines mention that we need to.

Thanks for putting all this info up! Its really helpful!
Re-ynd said…
@Shruti, No I did not have to apostille the rest of the documents. Just the PoA.
kanwarid said…
I 'd got my PoA done at SFO which me and my wife have executed for registration purpose. Though the PoA is of 3 pages and has both of our photos/signatures, at SOS Deptt. Sacramento I was charged ~$20 since it is a single document.

At consulate we were charged again $20 as it was a single document. They asked me if we would like to have Stamp on the middle of both photos (I believe this is optional). I asked them to do so, hence they charged another $10 for the stamp.
World In Hand said…
Thanks a lot Chandan, your blog was really really helpful.
Unknown said…
Hello Chandan, Thanks for the blog...I applied for the same via email and they sent it back twice..I attached $ 20 MO but now they are asking me to post my Passport (I gave them notarised copy of PP) and relevent fees. Their site says the fee is $20 but I dont understand why they are asking for fees/??
n009 said…
Hello Chandan, Thanks for the blog(life-saver)...I am living in Oregon, so choose to apply for POA via mail and sent them below documents
1. Complete Miscellaneous Services Application
2. Original APOSTILLED Power of Attorney
3. Photocopy of Original apostilled Power of Attorney
4. Photo (1 on misc application and other on POA with my sign)
5. $20 Money Order
6. photocopy of Driving license attested
7. Photocopy of necessary passport pages attested
8. Photocopy of visa details attested
9. Photocopy of I-797 attested

but unfortunately that didn;t work and they sent it back to me twice.

So i e-mail them on cgisf@cgisf.org and got following reply
---
You have to send the original passport and respective fees for the processing. Follow the procedure on the website sir.


For any further information please visit our webiste www.cgisf.org.
---

As i mentioned earlier I already sent $20 money order which fee they are asking now??

Your Comments are highly appeciated!
Re-ynd said…
So you sent $20 money order twice? And both times they took the check and returned the rest of the documents?

I am not sure what else they want. You may want to call them up and tell them that you did everything according to the website.

Did you get the photo on POA notarized? They will change an extra $10 for each photo to be notarized on the POA.
n009 said…
Its the same $20 Money Order (attached with application) which they sent back to me twice as my application was rejected. Only thing i missed (after reading your reply) is $10 Money Order for photo on POA.
Unknown said…
Hi Chandan, appreciate your details on this blog! Great job
Sachin said…
Chandan

Thanks for the details It really helps.

1. I am in LA, so would like to mail the GPA document to State Office to get notarized and apostilled.Is this OK or do i need to get it notarized locally and send it for apostill????


2. Do i need to affix a photo on the GPA document before it gets Notarized?? ... If so which page i should do that??


Thanks in advance
Re-ynd said…
@Saravanan

1. I notarized my document before getting it apostilled.

2. You should affix a photo. Affix it on the last page if there is space, otherwise stick it on a separate white page and attach that page to the GPA.

I got a notary stamp covering part of the photo. Not sure if that is needed, but the notary said he thinks that is how it should be done.
Anbu said…
There were about 7 pages in POA. Should I get notarization for every page in POA and apostilled.

Also, photocopy of POA should be notarized.

Thanks
Re-ynd said…
@anbu

Q: There were about 7 pages in POA. Should I get notarization for every page in POA and apostilled.
A: You only need 1 notary on the last page and 1 apostillation

Q: Also, photocopy of POA should be notarized.
A: I did not need to because I visited the consulate. If you are mailing, you may need to. See previous comments.
Anbu said…
Thank you so much.

I just realized that I made a typo with the POA date. But I sent it to my Montana State Secretariate for Apostillation.

Once I get back can I change the date and get it notarized before sending it to embaasy.

Thanks
Hi Chandan,

Great job! This is very useful. One question - Does Indian Consulate send the POA to India or they give it back and we courier it to our family.

Thanks,
Re-ynd said…
@Rajesh Khazanchi

The Indian consulate will send it back to you and you will have to mail it to India.
Unknown said…
Great post.. Did the same procedure today.. Thanks

ZJ
Unknown said…
Chandan,

You have already been so generous of your time in answering so many questions that I am hesitant in asking another one. But I could not find an answer to the following:

1) The Indian consulates ask that the POA document and the *photograph* be notarized. When I went to the notary, she did not know how to notarize the photo separately. She said that the photo cannot be notarized.

The notary has asked me to choose the wordings on which I need the notary to sign. So my questions to you:
1) How did you get your "photo" notarized before getting the attestation?

2) What wordings did you use on your POA document on which the notary signed?

Thanks and Best Regards,
Sudhir
Re-ynd said…
@sushma
1) How did you get your "photo" notarized before getting the attestation?
A) Paste the photo on the last page of your document and then ask the notary to stamp that page in such a way that a part of the stamp overlaps the photo. That should do.

2) What wordings did you use on your POA document on which the notary signed?
A) Not sure what you mean. It is the standart GPA document that you get from indian banks or lawyers. See these links for some examples
http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.odu.edu/ao/oip/studyabroad/resources/generalpowerofattorney.pdf
http://www.delafe.com/form/frmgpowr.htm
http://www.realkerala.com/form_general_power_of_attorney.htm
Unknown said…
Chandan,

Thanks for your prompt response.
I should have been more clear with my second question. I was not asking for the wording about the POA document itself. I was asking about the addiitonal verbiage at the end of the document that is needed for the notary to sign. For example, one of the possible verbiage is:

"This instrument was acknowledged before me on the ____ day of ____ 2010 by ______" .

It is my understanding that by law the notary cannot choose the verbiage him/herself - that needs to be chosen by us.

Back to Question #2 in my previous mail:
What notarial verbiage was used on your POA document to get it notarized?

I hope I have made myself clear.
BTW, I live in Texas and will be going to CGI, Houston.

Warm Regards,
Sushma
Re-ynd said…
@sushma

Yes I understood your question. As I said in the previous comment, the 3 links have different verbiages. You can use any one (look towards the end of documents). My GPA as sent from india has the following verbiage:

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have signed, executed and delivered this Indenture of Power of Attorney, on this the ___ day of January ______ at ________________
Anbu said…
Hello,
I sent my POA on june 9th (by post). I didn't receive it back or got any news regarding the status. I tried calling them and also sent email. No replies as of now.

Generally, how many days it will take to get it back.

Thanks
Abhinav said…
Hi Chandan ,

Thanks for the useful post.

Can you please walk me through the process of getting a GPA Apostilled?

I have the GPA on a plain paper. How should I get it Apostilled?

Also the GPA as sent to me from India has the following verbiage at the end:

Dated at _________ this the ____ day of ______ 20____.

Is this something I have to fill? If yes, then what exact information should go in these blanks.

I am in Seattle and need to get the GPA attested from Indian Consulate In San Francisco.

Can you please help me with this? Your help is much appreciated.

Thanks,
Abhinav.
Abhinav said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said…
Great post, I have been researching the Power of Authority thing since morning because I need to send one to my mom back in India.
Correct me if I am wrong, the process is like

1) get a POA on a paper with 2 witnesses and a photo, get it notarized, I can go to any bank for that.
2) then either go to secretary of state and get it appositted.
3) or go to Indian embassy and get it signed or something.

Now the confusion is whether both 2 and 3 are required or only one?

I would be doing both If I lived in SF but As I live in AZ and nearest Indian consulate is in SF it will be difficult for me to go there and get it done, also I am not comfortable mailing my original passport.

Further Info found on : The Hague Convention, to which India and USA are signatories, abolishes the requirement of legalization for Foreign Public Documents. With the certification by the Hague Convention ' Apostille', the document is entitled to recognition in India and vice versa and no certification by the authentications office or legalization by Embassy of India or Consulates is required.

Which makes me believe that there is no need for step 3 if step 2 is done.
What do you say? I am confused and need some insight.

Thanks again for such a wonderful blog.

MJ
Anand Kumar said…
Chandan,

Just came back after mailing my PoA to India. It was a 12 hour thing. But your blog did save me one extra trip to SFO as I had no clue about Apostille. I retraced your steps and got everything done with no issues.
For folks who plan to take this journey, the office max is diagonally across the Indian consulate and you have Fedex Kinkos a block further.
The security guard went beyond his brief and gave instructions which were very helpful. Kudos to people like him who go above and beyond.
In the consulate, I had to go through 4 lines, one for the token, one for doc verification and one for paying the fees and then to pick up the papers.
Arup Gupta said…
Great Blog! For me both me and my wife are US citizens. I am getting the POA Apostilled through a service in Sunnyvale. Do I still need a Indian consulate Attestation?
Unknown said…
Hi Chandan,

Here my question,

1) Once i Apostille the GPA, do i need to send GPA to Indian consulate for attestation. As SFO Indian Consulate clearly mentions that
"If you are obliged to execute the Power of Attorney on a Stamp Paper from India, then please follow the
‘Apostille’ Convention. Once the ‘Apostille’ sticker is affixed to the Power of Attorney, the Consulate is not
required to authenticate the Power of Attorney again."

Please advise,

Thanks
Vishwa
Vishal said…
Can you confirm if the following steps are correct:

First, get the POA notarized
Second, get the POA apostilled
Third, Get it attested by the consulate.

Per my understanding, we should sign the POA at the consulate. If thats correct, then what is the notary verifying?

Any help would be really appreciated...

Thanks,
Vishal
Unknown said…
well last month I did send POA to my Mom in India, and although I wanted to get it apostilled but when I went to Secretary of state's office they said that notary's stamp should have some particular format in order to get it apostilled. So I just sent it like that, thinking lets see what happens, but you know what it did work. So all in all it depends on the lawyer back in India, how he handles the case and how much he trust you/your POA holder.
Rex said…
Do we need to attach original passport, even if we have notarized the photocopies of the passport?
grcache said…
This whole new process of getting POA Apostilled seems outrageous. This suddenly change starting Jan 01, 2010. I did extensive search for any gov. of india law or rules change and there was nothing.

Here are some things I believe CGISF should provide better reasons for
1. Why does only CGISF require the documents to be apostilled? I checked NY, DC and Chicago Indian consulates do not require Apostilled unless POA is on Stamp Paper

2. As per Apostille convention and NY consulate there should not be any need to get the POA re-attested / notarized?

3. I can't understand why an Indian Govt. entity cannot attest a document for use in India? Apostille is needed when you don't have an Indian Govt consular for these services. If the Consulate can issue a passport then why can't it do a simple attestation.

I will send this to the consulate office as well. Not hoping to get a response but I will try.

I would greatly appreciate if anyone has a good explanation for this.

thanks in advance!
grcache said…
This whole new process of getting POA Apostilled seems outrageous. This suddenly change starting Jan 01, 2010. I did extensive search for any gov. of india law or rules change and there was nothing.

Here are some things I believe CGISF should provide better reasons for
1. Why does only CGISF require the documents to be apostilled? I checked NY, DC and Chicago Indian consulates do not require Apostilled unless POA is on Stamp Paper

2. As per Apostille convention and NY consulate there should not be any need to get the POA re-attested / notarized?

3. I can't understand why an Indian Govt. entity cannot attest a document for use in India? Apostille is needed when you don't have an Indian Govt consular for these services. If the Consulate can issue a passport then why can't it do a simple attestation.

I will send this to the consulate office as well. Not hoping to get a response but I will try.

I would greatly appreciate if anyone has a good explanation for this.

thanks in advance!
Unknown said…
Hey Chandan,

Dude, you made my life a little easy. I am also in a rush of getting the POA done, and I was confused with the whole apostille thing. I was not sure if this is required for Indian citizens too (I am an Indian citizen). I called a few services in India to inquire if I needed the apostille, but no one had a sensible answer.

Reading your post was such a big relief; now I exactly know what to do and hopefully will get it done soon.

Thanks a lot for sharing your experience..!!!!

Cheers,
Ulhas
Anonymous said…
Thanks for sharing such procedures and info regarding POA. I had mine done by a Denver business attorney. I was in Europe then for a business trip, when my wife needed to release checks on my behalf. Obtaining a POA may sound a lot of work, but thanks to our lawyer, my wife had it easily.
Anonymous said…
Thanks for sharing such procedures and info regarding POA. I had mine done by a Denver business attorney. I was in Europe then for a business trip, when my wife needed to release checks on my behalf. Obtaining a POA may sound a lot of work, but thanks to our lawyer, my wife had it easily.
Unknown said…
Hi, don't know if this post is still active, but I have an urgent question. My wife and I are making a POA in favor of my brother. We live in Seattle and I am flying to CA Tuesday after getting it apostilled tomorrow.

1) Do both my wife and I have to fill up the Miscellaneous Services Application or just one?

2) If both have to fill it up, do we do that on separate forms or one form ( though there seems to be no way of filling one app. form by two people)?

3) If both have to fill separate apps, given that I am the only one who is going to the consulate in person, do I have to get my wife's app form notarized?

Would greatly appreciate the help.

Best,
Sumit
varca said…
Hi Chandan,

Thanks for posting your experience! Its very helpful.

I have couple of questions. Can you please help?

1) Lawyer from India has emailed me a word doc format which usually fits on India Stamp paper. The height of document is length than normal paper size. I am not sure if we need to take print outs on indian stamp paper? Or a normal size paper?

2) Also you have mentioned photo is required to be pasted on GPOA document. The format the lawyer has sent doesnt have a photo space. Would that be an issue?

Thanks!
Re-ynd said…
You can use normal paper. It is OK if the document spans multiple pages and/or more than the number of pages in the original document. The formatting also need not be the same as the original.

You can attach a blank page to the end of the doc and paste your photos there. Or you can do what I did. Which is basically modify the word doc to have some empty space above your signature area.

HTH
Ratnakar said…
Really nice post Chandan. You saved lot of time of others.
... said…
Nice blog Chandan, Thank you.

Here is some information from High Commission of India, London (http://hcilondon.in/counslateservice1.php) on Apoistile Vs. Attestation by Indian Consulate

Attestation of Foreign Public Documents :


High Commission of India, London will not re-authenticate a public document that has been apostilled (legally attested, authenticated) by the authorities of the UK government. A document apostilled by UK Government is entitled to recognition in India and no further certification or legalization by the High Commission of India in London or its Consulates in Birmingham or Edinburgh are required. Relevant portions are contained at Article 1 of the Hague Apostille Convention, abolishing the requirement of legalization for foreign public documents in case of contracting states and are re-produced below:- more...

a) Direct Attestation of Foreign Public Documents

An Affidavit, Declaration or Power of Attorney to be used in India which has not been authenticated by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office can be attested at the Consular Counter of the High Commission. The person needs to bring the documents in original along with a photocopy, valid passport and the requisite fees directly to the Consular Counter of the High Commission. In case of Power of Attorney a photograph (s) of the executant (s) is required. The executant is to sign the documents in the presence of the Consular Officer.
Unknown said…
Hi Chandan,

Thank you so much for posting this blog , it really helped me in understanding the procedure of getting POA done.

It would really help if you can explain following point.

I did go through the links of POA who have suggested ,but I am unable to find out the exact verbiage where the attorney has to sign .There is no space provided for the signature of the attorney ,so please can you forward me the format of POA you have used.

Regards,

Sumati J
Sanjay Jadhav said…
Was GPA document sent by your parents signed by them? or was it just a Indian GPA format?

Thanks in advance...

Sanjay
Unknown said…
Chandan, I have been looking for all these details and your blog post showed up in my search results like an angel. Thanks a million for all the details.

One simple question though (feel free to email me or leave a response on my blog through my profile), this PoA is both my and my husband's name. Does it mean both of us need to be present in SFO or Sacramento or will one do? I think the answer will be yes, but still wanted to get your opinion.

Thanks once again.
I went today morning with a plain documents and they asked me to get it apostilled. Thanks a lot for all the details.. I will go through this..
DHAIRYA said…
Chandan,


Thank you very much...
your post helped me and my friend a lot...
We might have repeated all done by you...
But after reading your blog we have done only the next day work...
my place to Sacramento(apostille) than from there consulate india, SFO ... wait for 3-4 hours and than got the POA...
really it was helpful....
DHAIRYA said…
@Priya,
I should say No,
Because at both place for two passport is required not person
Because all this you can do by post as well but it takes long time
Yesterday when me and my frnd gone through whole procedure... I didn't entered to consulate ...
all was done by my frnd I was just waiting out side as phones and bags were not allowed I was with our cells and bags and only he went inside...
Unknown said…
This post very helpful.

I have a question.

Could you please let me know whether the GPA needs to be signed by my parents

Thanks
Karthik
Re-ynd said…
Parents signature is not required
T said…
OMG!! You don't know how much your blog post helped me. Great job.
Ravan said…
I did the same what you have done and it worked very well. Thank you so much for saving my time..
Prakash said…
Great helpful blog...
Chandan, Could you please let me know if POA format is some general format that we can just print out in a paper or it has to be sent from India. You had mentioned that you got it from India. Do you know what I have to do if I have to do everything from US(creating POA doc etc). Is there any reference that I can get online? Please help.
Anonymous said…
Searching for "general power of attorney form india" you will get a lot of examples. Here is one http://www.docstoc.com/docs/9655907/General-Power-Of-Attorney-Form-India
Prakash said…
Thank you very much. So, it does not need to be something that should be sent from India by some legal person.
deepthy said…
hi chandan,
u hve helped soo many people.. hope to help me too. my question is that will the embassy attest a stamp paper.. coz the bank in india wants power of attorney to b on stamp paper. what do i do?
Re-ynd said…
@deepthy, I don't think you can get a stamp paper attested. Not sure what you can do in this case.
RAMKUMAR said…
Hi Chandan,
I just do not know how to thank you for the detailed notes about Apostille. I am in Sunnyvale on a short visit and had to give a POA to my brother urgently in India.I got totally confused about this 'Apostille" business. When i searched, i got your blog.I could get the Apostille done.THANKS SO MUCH.YOU ARE HELPING SO MANY INDIANS LIKE ME GOD BLESS. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.I WILL BE OF HELP IH CHENNAI, IF REQUIRED.
RAMKUMAR
Thank u very much. Cgisf website should include ur link.

regards
Sriram
Thank u very much. Website cgisf should include ur link.

Regards
Sriram
Santhosh Kumar said…
Hi Chandan,
Great work from your end. Here is my question, i am giving GPA to my brother-in-law who is in India to sell one of my property. Now my GPA has been prepared notorized in CA but without a foto. So what can be done do i need to stick both my foto and my brother-in-law and get it notrazied again. Please let me know asap.
Thanks
Santhosh
Santhosh Kumar said…
Hi Chandan,
Great work from your end. Here is my question, i am giving GPA to my brother-in-law who is in India to sell one of my property. Now my GPA has been prepared notorized in CA but without a foto. So what can be done do i need to stick both my foto and my brother-in-law and get it notrazied again. Please let me know asap.
Thanks
Santhosh
Santhosh Kumar said…
Hi Chandan,
Great work from your end. Here is my question, i am giving GPA to my brother-in-law who is in India to sell one of my property. Now my GPA has been prepared notorized in CA but without a foto. So what can be done do i need to stick both my foto and my brother-in-law and get it notrazied again. Please let me know asap.
Thanks
Santhosh
Re-ynd said…
Hi Santhosh,

This blog post was a narration of my personal experience.

Disclaimer: I do not work for Indian Consulate, nor am I a lawyer. So I do not know what needs to be done in your case.

Please refer to the indian cosulate website for details. You might be able to attach your photo on a white paper and get it attested. Once you have succeeded, please write a blog of your experience or post a comment here, so that others in your situation can also benefit.

Thanks!
Mali said…
Chandan, Thanks a lot for the information.. one question. can you point me to a sample of the cover letter for Apostille. It states "A cover letter stating the country in which the document will be used.".
Re-ynd said…
I did not use a cover letter. I went up to the office and they asked me which country it is going to. I replied and they gave me the documents. Perhaps rules have changed since I did it.
Unknown said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said…
Hi Chandan,

You didn't mention whether to notarize just the miscellaneous form or both misc form as well as photo on GPA before sending everything to Sacramento for apositlle?

Do we need to pay $10 separately for these notaries?

Thanks!
Mali said…
"You didn't mention whether to notarize just the miscellaneous form or both misc form as well as photo on GPA before sending everything to Sacramento for apositlle?

Do we need to pay $10 separately for these notaries?"

Unknown, you just need to send the Power of Attorney document notarized for apostille. The Misc Form, etc need to done for the attestation from Indian Embassy (after the apostille is completed). Since the notaries are not notarize the photo, it is be done at the Indian embassy, $10 for each photo. Hope it helps.
Unknown said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said…
Hi Mali/Chandan,

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

1. Print General power of attorney on plain paper. Affix photo on last page just before the signature & get this document notarized by public notary.

Now, do I need to notarize both document & photo (with notary partially on it). If so, where should we put the notary stamp for document? And do we need to pay $10 + $10 (Total $20) for this notary?

2. Send this notarized doc to Sacramento for Apostille. Pay another $20.

3. Once you received it, submit this apostilled GPA & Misc form to Indian Embassy.

Now, do I need to notarize photo on Misc form in Indian Embassy & pay another $10 there?

Also, does 2 witness need to be present in front of public notary?

Appreciate your response.

Thanks!
Rahul said…
Hi Chandan, Fellow bloggers,

There is a special requirement on CGISF site about "A photograph of the Executor of the Power of Attorney has to be pasted on the Power of Attorney and notarized" (I assume the person whom we are giving the rights). How did you go about this?
Rahul
Mali said…
There is a special requirement on CGISF site about "A photograph of the Executor of the Power of Attorney has to be pasted on the Power of Attorney and notarized" (I assume the person whom we are giving the rights). How did you go about this?
Rahul
--------------------------
Rahul, the executor is the person granting the Power of attorney, that is you..
Mali said…
Please correct me if I'm wrong.

1. Print General power of attorney on plain paper. Affix photo on last page just before the signature & get this document notarized by public notary.

Now, do I need to notarize both document & photo (with notary partially on it). If so, where should we put the notary stamp for document? And do we need to pay $10 + $10 (Total $20) for this notary?
[MALI] I was specifically told by the Notary that they are not supposed to notarize the photo. That is the reason I believe CGISF provides the option.
2. Send this notarized doc to Sacramento for Apostille. Pay another $20.

3. Once you received it, submit this apostilled GPA & Misc form to Indian Embassy.

Now, do I need to notarize photo on Misc form in Indian Embassy & pay another $10 there?
[Mali] Photo is notarized only at the Indian Embassy.
Also, does 2 witness need to be present in front of public notary?
[Mali] Notaries validate only your signature, but still it depends on the notary.. I had my witnesses sign in front of the notary just to be on the safer side.

My notary was http://nathannotary.com/
He can notarize at your door steps

Hope it helps.


Thanks!
kavi said…
Thanks for your post. Even though we are in Australia..the same procedure applied here also. It was very useful though..saving one day leave of my husband.
full of life said…
HI,

Good that you got it done in US. If u try attesting it in india, you will know how many days and extra money it requires ;)

Am struggling since so many days and not everyone is aware of the process.
Farooq Jiwani said…
Hi chandan,
I am glad I found your post and I am almost in similar situation as yours.

Couple of Question:
Does one has to use the local secretary of state or only San Francisco one. I live in Washington state so Secretary of State Washington ?

Second, does the people in India give trouble and ask so many questions with the GPA ?
Appreciate if you can send email to me at farooqjeewani@gmail.com
Re-ynd said…
@Farooq

1. I think you can do it at any secretary of state
2. Not sure. Have never done GPA in India
Mukesh s said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mukesh s said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mukesh s said…
Hi Chandan,

Recently I have received the POA from my parents. As you said I am gone paste my photo and get the sign from two of the witness with address at last page.

My doubts here:
1.The POA which sent by my parents doesn’t have any separate column for witness sign and address,It has only my sign column. What should I do for that?

2.I am getting individual home at my home town with help of BANK loan(LIC), bank has given me separate POA to fill and get it attested from Indian embassy, So I need to get attested from Indian embassy for two POA?

3.General process is POA – Get notarized (with my photo and two witness sign) – Get it apostilled – Get it attested from Indian embassy. My understanding is correct na ?
Re-ynd said…
@Mukesh

1. If you have some whitespace, you can write "witness" and ask some one to sign it. Or you can attach a white page with witness signatures
2. My bank did not require attestation on their POA. If they asked for it, then you have to get it done
3. Yes
Mukesh s said…
Chandan, Thanks a lot for the information.. one final question
In the POA given by Bank has the photograph in front page as per your previous comments you said a part of notary stamp should sealed in the photograph right ? can you guide me on this, should i get the seal on front page as well? . Highly appreciated!!!
Re-ynd said…
Don't think you need a stamp on the first page
Mukesh s said…
Thanks for your prompt answer,Hope this is my final question, In my POA i have executed day and date field. My question here is whether i need to enter the date and day, lets say today i am notarize doc then i shld mention today's date or i shld leave it as blank colunm and fill it while i am going to Indian embassy?
Re-ynd said…
You have to sign and date in front of the notary
Mukesh s said…
Thanks Chandan for your info.

One question:

How much time it takes to get the miscellaneous doc attested.lets say If i reach Indian consulate by 8:30 Am and submit the documents. How much time it takes to attested. what is time window i should wait ? Need this info as soon as possible. Depend upon your reply i will plan my trip.
Ashwin said…
This is so helpful. Thanks for a ridiculously detailed post. You are my savior and certainly saved me from a fruitless trip to the consulate.
Bose said…
Thanks so much dude, i was looking for GPA and the information was sufficient for all my needs.Simple Power of Attorney Form
Unknown said…
Hi Chandan,

Your blog is highly useful for novice people like me :)
Quick question, do I need to paste photograph of POA (my father in my case) before I go to Indian Consulate ?

Thanks
Alok
Re-ynd said…
Photograph of POA is not required
Amrish J Walke said…
Thanks a lot Chandan! This was very useful!
Akhil said…
Thanks a lot for this post. Very well written.
Animesh Pathak said…
hey chandan, one quick question. To notarize the GPA document, there are 2 options notary gave. One is 'Acknowledgement' and other is 'Jurat'. Do you know which one I need to get? Jurat to me makes sense but want to confirm before going to SoS office. Please let me know if u can...

best.
Anonymous said…
Hi Chandan

I tried searching but could not find answer, can you please answer this for me.

1. Do we need to notarize photocopies of passport, visa, Driving License also ?
2. If yes for above, notarize is $10 per page, it will be approx $100 + ?

Thanks
thanks for the post! very helpful
Ravi Gidwani said…
Has anyone done a power of attorney with both you and your wife mentioned on it ? If so do you know if after the process of "Apostille" when you take the documents to the Indian embassy (SFO), do both of them need to be present in person ? Or can one of them go and get it attested ?
Unknown said…
Chandan,

Thanks for the details...

I am applying for home loan in india and for that i need to notarized the GPA.

My question is for house loan purpose GPA also needs to be apostilled or i can

directly go to embassy for notarization.

Regards
Avinash
Hi Chandan,Thanks for this blog. I have a Question.

do witnesses need to sign in each page of POA ? or siging in last page will be sufficient?
Also what are the documemts do we need before going for apostilling ?

Thanks again!
LEARNING ... said…
Thank you so much for this information! I am looking to make a POA and the language on the State Department's website for getting the document apostilled had me a little confused. I wasn't sure if I would need to notarize the document first and then send it to them. Your blog has really helped me. Thanks!
Manoj said…
Hi, If the POA consists of u and ur wife (for registration purpose), are both requried to be present at the Indian Consulate ? or can i get the GPA notraized in the state, and can i go alone to the Indian Consulate ?

And all the payment that u did, $20, and then $10 etc.. did u do it by cash ??
Please let me know
Muhammad Karim said…
Nice post, Thanks for sharing this valuable post about notary public. I had also used this service recently. I got notary service from White Horse Notary Public London. This firm provides the best mobile, business, individuals, and legalisation service for private and corporate clients. If you want to notarise your document fast and friendly then this firm is the best option for you.
Anonymous said…
Nice blog! All the information provided is very helpful.

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Tips for you said…
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Babit said…
Thank you for sharing this good article.
Attestation of Power of Attorney
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This blog is very useful.
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Love Meditation said…
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Love Meditation said…
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