Although this information leaflet has been prepared with utmost care, the Consulate General cannot accept any responsibility for inaccuracies contained herein.

Since the year 2000, Indian personal documents (e.g. birth, marriage and death certificates) are no longer valid in Germany as such. The former legalization procedure had to be suspended due to the high number of detected fraudulent documents. On the other hand, a legally valid personal document is the basis for obtaining a visa for family reunion for spouses and children. In order to enable holders of an Indian personal document to obtain this required legal validity for their documents in Germany, the 'verification process' was put into place. Public documents are verified by the German Consulate General in Chennai upon request by a German court or authority.

During the verification process, the content of the document as well as its legal format are being verified. If the verification process does not disclose any falsifications, a verification remark is attached to the document by the Consulate. The verification process is conducted by a local agency. The Consulate, however, co-ordinates the verification process and handles the communication between the verification agency and the authority in Germany. For legal reasons the Consulate needs a formal declaration by the German authority that the costs for the verification procedure are covered fully. The detailed report of the verification process will then be sent along with the invoice to the authority in Germany.

General information regarding procedure and costs::

1. The originals1 of the documents (eg. birth-, marriage certificates etc.) with photocopies in A4 format have to be submitted. German translations of documents in English are not required.

2. In the case of marriage certificates: 6 - 8 pictures of the wedding ceremony.

3. Copies of the relevant pages of the passport:

• For birth certificates: copies of the passports of both parents

• For marriage certificates: copies of the passports of both persons

On average, the verification process might take up to 4 months. In addition, there are postal and courier delivery times of about two weeks per route. In case the verification process takes longer, the Consulate will inform the concerned authorities in Germany. The fee for the verification process will be around 550,- EUR (depending on the case, the fee might be higher. The Consulate will then inform the authorities accordingly).

Note: German authorities can make use of the diplomatic courier service of the Federal Foreign office. However not applicable for private persons.

Courier Address: Auswärtiges Amt, für GK Chennai, Kurstr. 36, 10117 Berlin

1 The Consulate General's inspection mark can only to a limited extent be applied to laminated documents. It is therefore in the interest of the certificate holder to submit non-laminated certificates

Download as pdf.