A country in South America, Colombia is a vast nation filled with endless possibilities. Featuring natural wonders like the Amazon rainforest and enchanting deserts and beaches, the country is the second most bio-diverse country in the world.Offering a culturally rich heritage and enthralling historical architecture, Columbia continues to be the ideal destination for anyone to explore. This South American country is a diverse nation rich in natural resources and is becoming a highlight for people from across the world. Due to its growth in modern industries like tourism and electronics, the country holds the third-largest share in South America in terms of the emerging market economy. This developing nation is growing at a steady rate in all its sectors, as a result of which offers various thriving business opportunities for people from across the world. People are now more inclined to acknowledge the potential this nation holds in terms of business opportunities and therefore are eager to take advantage of it. In order to travelColombia, one has to adhere to the legal requirements of the Colombian authority. According to the Colombian government, one must get the attestation of all their commercial documents if they are visiting the country for any business purposes. This attestation of documents is carried on by the officials of the Columbia embassy without which no one will be permitted to travel to Columbia
Are you interested to take the advantage of the opportunities this developing nation holds?But before that, have you got your commercial documents certified by the Colombian Embassy? Or are you entirely unaware of the legal requirements to be fulfilled?
Don't you worry anymore because SPS has a solution for all your confusions. For your convenience, SPS brings you a comprehensive explanation of everything you must know before traveling to Colombia:
Before traveling to Colombia for any business purpose, one has to ensure that they comply with all the legal formalities specified by the authority of the respective country.In case a person wishes to expand your business or to export goods to the country, she has to get the necessary commercial documents attested by the Colombian embassy.
What is the attestation of the Colombian embassy and what does it lead to?
Attestation of various commercial documents by the Colombian embassy is the process to verify the status of your commercial certificates. It is a kind of legalization which grants your commercial documents a legal status. The attestation of commercial documents is carried on by the native authority as well as by the Colombian embassy. The documents are attested, once a stamp is issued at the back of the documents by a credible authority. One has to go through this verification process in order to display the authenticity of your documents.
The attestation of your commercial documents is mandated by the Colombian authority in order to verify the status of a person. It is important for the Colombian authorities to know that the person traveling to Colombia is visiting the country for a genuine reason. Also, attestation is important to know whether your business is a legal entity conducting legal operations. Once the documents are attested, the Colombian government becomes certain of your identity and therefore allows you to carry your business-related activities without any legal barrier.
Are you aware of the procedure of the embassy attestation?
Here is all you must know:
The attestation process of commercial document attestation for Colombia is carried on by the officials of the native country and the embassy of Colombia. It is carried out in the following stages:
Your journey to document attestation begins with the submission of your commercial documents at SPS. Once the client's original documents are submitted, it is the responsibility of the team at SPS to submit them to all the concerned authorities including the Chamber of commerce, MEA, and the embassy, and get them attested by all.
The most crucial and foremost step for commercial document verification is to get them attested by The Chamber Of Commerce. It is a local business association that verifies all your commercial documents and attests them with their stamp. The stamp by this credible authority is placed at the back of the documents that grant an authentic status to the documents.
Once the documents are verified by the local business association, they are sent to the Ministry of External Affairs to be attested. This is the last level of verification by the native government after which the documents go straight to the Colombian embassy. The documents at this stage get attested once the MEA issues their stamp at the back of the documents.
The last step of verification is the attestation by the Colombian embassy. The officials of the respective country verify the documents and after they are satisfied issue their stamp or signature on the documents. After this final embassy attestation, all your commercial documents are authenticated and can be treated as valid in the country. The embassy attestation gives a final green signal to travel to Colombia without any legal barriers.
Now that you are aware of the process of document attestation, it is time for you to complete the formalities before you finally are ready to travel.
What are you worried about?
At SPS we have a dedicated team in action who works tirelessly towards the single motto of our company- to make things easier for our clients. Our platform places the convenience of the customer as their top priority and focuses on providing flexible attestation to our clients. Like your personal guide, we will be there with you at every step of the attestation process and ensure that everything is taken care of by the team. The entire attestation process can be tiring for anyone to complete on their own therefore the team of SPS extends their support and get your documents verified on time without any delay.
Don't delay the flight to your dreams just because you haven't got your documents in order. Contact SPS and get your attestation services today itself.
An Apostille is a French word that means Certification and it’s Pronounce as “ah-po-style”. An Apostille is simply the name for a specialized certificate, issued by the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi. The Apostille sticker is pasted on the backside of original document to verify it is legitimate and authentic, so it will be accepted in one of the other countries who are members of The Hague Apostille Convention.
The Apostille Convention is an international treaty that simplifies the legalization procedure for foreign public documents. It allows a Government body to certify a document issued in its own country as valid for other countries without further certification by the destination state. The Convention has 126 contracting states as of November 2023, including the United States and Canada.
The Apostille Convention provides the simplified certification of public (including notarized) documents to be used in countries that have joined the convention. Documents destined for use in participating countries and their territories should be certified by one of the officials in the jurisdiction in which the document has been executed.
The Hague Convention requires that all Apostille be numbered consecutively, with individual numbers applied to each Apostille issued. The recognized standard Apostille contains a seal and 10 mandatory references: name of country from which the document emanates, name of person signing the document, the capacity in which the person signing the document has acted, in the case of unsigned documents, the name of the authority that has affixed the seal or stamp, place of certification date of certification, the authority issuing the certificate, number of certificate, seal or stamp of authority issuing certificate and signature of authority issuing certificate. Prior to the introduction of Apostille certificates the burden on international courts and authorities to judge foreign documents as authentic was quite considerable. On the October 5, 1961 the Hague Convention abolished the requirement of legalization for foreign public documents. The Convention reduces all of the formalities of legalization to the simple delivery of a certificate in a prescribed form, entitled “Apostille”, by the authorities of the Ministry where the document originates. This certificate, placed on the document, is dated, numbered and registered. The verification of its registration can be carried out without difficulty by means of a simple request for information addressed to the authority which delivered the certificate.
Apostille Process depends that if the documents are Educational, Non Educational or Commercial. Educational Certificate Apostille is required if you are going for Job or Study in any of The Hague Convention Countries. Non Educational documents like Marriage, Birth Certificate Apostille services are required for your dependents, if you want them to accompany you in that country. Commercial documents Apostille is required if you want to send shipment, open a branch in Hague country of have to do some business collaboration. We will try to explain process for you.
First step of the Process is getting the Notarization of document done. Notary can be done from anywhere in India. And it can be done from Delhi also. Doing Notary from Delhi will save some time, as documents has to come to Delhi only for Apostille.
After the Notary is done, next step in Sub Divisional Magistrate. SDM attestation is done in Delhi. It’s same for Educational and Non Educational documents. If you leave few countries, this SDM Stamping is valid in all the countries. Some countries Like, Italy, Switzerland and Austria might ask for State HRD for Educational Documents and State home Department/GAD for Non Educational documents. So, if you are planning for these countries please get complete knowledge from office HR or local bodies who are applying your case. SDM Stamping is done in 1 day and on the backside of the original Document.
Last and most important part is getting the document attested from Ministry of External affairs. After Notary and SDM Stampings are done Documents are submitted in Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi for Apostille. Just like Notary and SDM, Apostille Sticker is pasted on the back side of the document. Apostille sticker will have your name and current date. It also have unique number and contain name and designation of the person who have signed it. After Apostille sticker, the process is completed the documents are ready for use. When you receive the Apostille document, first please check that all the spellings and dates are fine. As sometimes there can be some mismatch in the spelling. If there is some spelling mistake then it has to submit in correction department. That will take another 1 day
If you are going through State Attestation Process then it might take more than a month. As for Educational documents, first stamp from University is required and then from State HRD Department. And for Non Educational Documents, First Stamp is required from Local DC office and then from State GAD/Home Department. If you go through SDM Apostille process then processing time is only 5 to 6 working. This Process takes less time and is less expensive as well.
Apostille Sticker has a validity of Six Months. Means you have to use this Apostille within 6 months, after that whole life you can stay in that country. But if you want to change the country after 6 Months then Apostille needs to done again. Don’t worry if there is no space on the backside of the document. New Apostille Sticker can be applied on the expired Sticker.
Original Documents are very important part of our Life. Sometimes it takes several months to obtain new documents. So security of documents is most important for us. You can do live tracking of the process daily. Currently document is in which city and in which department, you can check with just one click. Whenever you handover your documents to any of our office, a link is shared to you on mail. With that you can track the whole process, till documents are delivered back to you.
If you are travelling outside India to any of The Hague convention Country for Study or Work, then Apostille is required on your Educational documents. And if you are applying dependent visa for your spouse or children, then their Marriage and Birth Certificate will be required to get Apostille. Still if you have any query, you can get in touch with SPS Team @9920111362
