Legalisation of Documents - R R Padmanabhan, Director - Exim Academy

Legalisation of Documents



Legalisation of documents mean document issued with correct stamp in order to be recognised in another country.  In India, whenever, goods are shipped to Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)member states, the importers require trade documents to be legalised before sending to them.  The member countries of GCC are Kuwait, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain.  While Legalisation can be sought by any country, GCC countries are more specific and demand the same.  These are the countries that are not part of Hague Convention, 1907.  

According to Wikipedia, “The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, the Apostille Convention, or the Apostille Treaty, is an international treaty drafted by the Hague Conference on Private International Law” 

Since these countries are not in the Hague Convention, the documents from India are to be attested or legalised by their respective consulates/embassies in India. The challenge in Legalisation of documents is the time required. The embassies of these GCC countries are in Mumbai and in New Delhi.  If the exporter is in south of India or in other parts of India other than these two cities, sending the documents, getting them legalised and receiving back takes a minimum of 5 working days.  You need to add two more days for getting the documents from the client and sending it back to him.  With the result, the total time take in 5 to 7 working days. 

The legalised document is required at the other end by the time the cargo reaches the port and presented to customs to be offered at the time of customs clearance.  Since this is a mandatory requirement at the other end, any delay in presenting the same would entail demurrage. 

Legalisation is also required whenever a party offers his service to government contract in these countries.  Recently, I have come across a case where a client of mine wanted himself to be registered with an authority over there for participating in tender process.  The template containing information about him had to be legalised. 

Similarly, I have also come across a situation in the case of procurement of dual-purpose goods from China needed Legalisation from the country’s embassy in India. China is not a member of Hague Convention.  Dual purpose goods refer to goods that are capable of being utilised for both civil and military purposes.

R R Padmanabhan,

Director - Exim Academy


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