This is in continuation of my previous post Apostille by MEA (Ministry of External Affairs), India [PART 1].

This information is current as of April 2nd 2014 and applicable for educational documents ONLY.

The following is true for Maharashtra State Government. State attestation can be completed in one day, in official work hours.

State Attestation:

I.                   After completing the previous step, collect the following documents:

  • One Xerox copy of your passport, make sure that the Xerox has both the pages of your passport. The address page and the identification page. This Xerox copy must be self-attested. Be sure to also carry your passport.
  • All the original documents with due stamps from university and notary stamp.
  • One written application to Joint Secretory stating why you seek state-attestation.  Be sure to attach all relevant information in it for e.g. the name of the program and university which seeks apostille etc. The application must be signed by applicant.
  • Two passport size photos.
  • 1 blue pen and 1 black.
  • One nice book or perhaps portable video player to pass time (trust me it would be life saver).
  • Attestation is free of charge but be sure to carry change cash as you will need to pay for some Xerox.

II.               Travel to Mumbai. It is highly recommended that you travel as early as possible (on weekdays and non-national or state holidays only). 

  • The address one needs to travel first is:

Higher & Technical Education Department, Government of Maharashtra, Room No. 422, 4th floor,  Mantralaya, Mumbai – 400032. Tel No.: 022-22043018.

  • There are two ways you can travel there, by local bus, which runs every day during morning from every major bus stop or by local train. My city has bus daily directly till Mantralaya so I cannot provide accurate information about local trains, but from the enquiries I did with people around Mantralaya, local trains for Church gate were ideal option for reaching there.
  • Once you have reached there, from 9:30 the distribution of gate pass begins. First task is to secure a gate pass, fill up all the relevant information on it. Once filled up, queue for getting your pass authorized. You need to furnish original identification card to get your pass authorized. ID card can be: Driving License, PAN Card, and Passport.
  • Your gate pass would provide you the entry time as after 14:00. For now, keep the pass secured with you.
  • The reason to secure the gate pass earlier is due to the huge influx of people that gather for securing pass at later time.

III.            Around 13:20, line up for entry to Home department.

  • The Home Department of Maharashtra Government is situated in another building. The complete address is:

Section officer, Home Department, Government of Maharashtra, 9th floor, New Administrative Building, Opp. Mantralaya, Mumbai – 400032. Tel No. 022-22022688

  • This building in directly behind the one where you secured the gate pass. The other building does not require gate pass.
  • You need to note down purpose of visit with the security person. Additionally you need to furnish ID proof as well. Just write down 9th floor in place of department you wish to visit.
  • Once inside you can either take elevator or stairs to reach 9th floor. When I reached inside, there were queues (!) to use the elevator. I took up stairs rather than wasting time waiting for my turn.
  • On 9th floor the Home Department is exactly to the left side, if you arrived from staircase.
  • Go inside the first compartment of the Home Department.
  • Inside, the first table would provide you with first set of stamps and the other tables with signatures.
  • You will be asked for ID proof (if presenting the documents yourself, in case of proxy, a signed consent letter is required)

IV.             After completing with Home Department

  • Head back to the road where you sought the gate pass. Now head down the road, you will find yourself at a ‘T’ junction. Head left to find some Xerox shops.
  • Take two copies of all the original documents. Take Xerox of both sides.

V.                Head back to Mantralaya

  • Go to 4th floor of the Mantralaya building. On that floor ask anyone to point you towards Higher and Technical Education Department.
  • Inside, seek the lady (as of now) sitting at the desk which is infront of the cabin in the department.
  • Ask her to provide form for state attestation.
  • Fill the form in Black ink only. You will need to note down all the documents and its associated unique number on the form, which you seek attestation for. Also specify contact details of two persons in you locality to vouch for your behavior.
  • Paste you passport size photo to the application form.
  • Staple the written application and passport Xerox to the form.
  • Submit all the above along with Originals and Xerox of the same.
  • It will be checked and stamped in an hour or so.
  • For me it took 2 hours since the Joint Secretory was busy in meetings.

That’s all with state attestation. Final apostille procedure will be detailed in next post.

TIPS :

  • The toilets and wash rooms are 2 minutes distance from Mantralaya building (You cannot use the one available inside the building). It is near the bus stop.
  • There are some good places for having lunch or light snacks nearby. Be sure to ask the police force in case of any assistance in finding right place.
  • When you receive your documents back, be sure to double check if all the documents are stamped and signed. It happened with me that one document was unsigned.
  • You can use the free time in between taking gate pass and queuing for Home department by reading nice book or listening music etc.