San Francisco SFO Indian Embassy Power of Attorney Attestation Experience

Power of Attorney
1

I just wanted to share my experience on POA doc attestation which was specific to San Francisco(CA) Indian Consulate. It was done on 21st March 2018. Currently I am on H1B.

  1. I have prepared 1 copy of General POA doc.

  2. Then took 2 persons as a Witness to Notary. They have written their address and signed it in front of Notary (Notary asked them to show their DL as a ID proof).

  3. Then Notary asked me to sign the doc with my DL as a ID proof. Finally Notary has put seal and signed the doc and collected $15 as as Notary charge.(for each sign $5).

  4. Next step will be getting Apostille. For this we should go to California Secretary of State which is located in Sacramento, CA.
    Since I cannot go to here on weekdays also it is totally 5 hrs drive from my location, I just mailed the document through USPS ($26 for Apostille and $7 for return USPS mail).
    Finally I got Apostilled POA doc after 5 days. (If you go directly it would be only 30 mins job).

  5. Then I took BART (local train) and reached SFO city then took UBER to reach Indian Consulate. (If you drive then quite easy but there is no parking area at consulate, may be you have to park on road side with parking charge).

  6. I reached around 9.45am. no one was there apart from consulate officials. I approached one counter, one lady has verified all docs then told me to go next counter.

Completed and Photo pasted on the Miscellaneous Service Application
Apostilled Original document to be attested (1 photocopy)
Current Original Passport and Old passport in case your VISA on it. photocopy of all pages one set.
Proof of status doc (I-797(Original and 1 photocopy) and I94(Original printout))
Proof of residence - Your Driving License as a ID proof. (Original and 1 photocopy)

$22 Money order or Cashier’s check as a fee in favor of CONSULATE GENERAL OF INDIA, SAN FRANCISCO. ($20 for attestation and $2 for welfare fee)

  1. After submission they verified my VISA docs. Then I got receipt for fee and they told me to come again around 4 to 4.45pm to collect the passport and POA doc.
    8.So I return back to my office and again went there after 4pm to collect my final POA document. (totally I have spent around $100 for this POA doc - including travel exp).

Hope this will help someone. Thanks.

2

Thanks for sharing the feedback. It will definitely help other people.

3

hi @Anil_Gupta,

thanks for posting this great starting guide.
What i found out going through this process myself is some procedures are different based on where u live. For anyone doing this in CA state, i would like to add my experience:

  1. I had my witnesses sign my 2 page POA, but the notary didn’t sign anywhere on my 2 page document. He attached 2 additional sheets of paper (which is the norm in CA). One is for me to sign and he notarized that and the other is where the 2 witnesses sign and he notarized their signatures. Some sites mention to sign using blue pen. I had all my signatures in black and i had no issues.

  2. I then stapled this 4 page document and took to Sacramento to get the doc apostilled. Since the state only verifies the notary signature, they didn’t certify anywhere on my original document. They added their own 2 pages in such a way that their seal covers part of their page and the part of the notary page. So in all now my POA document has 6 pages. ($20 per notary sign that they are apostilling: which came to a total of $40). Again after this apostille process, there is no signature or stamp anywhere on the original 2 page document i created.

  3. I then went to the consulate with the following:

– original passport
– copy of DL
– copy of 1st 5 pages and last 2 pages of the passport

– 1 copy (color copy not needed) of this 6 page bundle
The consulate also stamps the notary’s signature whihc they charge $20 for. They charge an additional $10 for attesting your photo. I did this so that my original 2 page document would have some kind of stamping on it.

Hope this helps

4

POA – Got it drafted from India.
Notary was simple . Used Public Notary
Apostille – I drove to LA Secretary of state office ( Tip : Make sure you reach before lunch hours… Lunch hour is very slow… Used Public Parking )

Applied for attestation of POA by mail

  1. Complete Miscellaneous Services Application ( used pdfescape.com)
    • Paste a photo in Miscellaneous Services Application
    • Sign Miscellaneous document
  2. Original
    • Attach all previous passports in original
    • Current Passport
    • Original apostilled Power of Attorney to be attested
    • Paste a photo on Power of Attorney document
  3. Photo copies ( Notarized )
    • First 5 and last 2 pages of current passport
    • Valid visa
    • Proof of status: original green card/visa/EAD. For me it is a valid visa and I94 copy ( Notarized )
    • Proof of residence: Driver’s License/Electricity/Water/Telephone bills/lease agreement. For me it is SDGE bill ( Notarized)
    • Photo copy of apostilled Power of Attorney document ( Not Notarized)
  4. Cashier’s check of 33$.
  5. Return USPS priority mail Envelope labeled and paid for with tracking number.

Now keeping my fingers crossed. Not sure about processing time for miscellaneous cell if applied by mail… Please let me know if someone knows about it.

5

You should get it within a week. Embassy processes it the same day that they receive.

They even mail the documents back the same day in evening. So, it should be fast.

6

Hi,

How much time did it take for them to send your documents back. I sent mine on friday and they received it on monday, but i don’t see any activity on return shipping label I created.

7

Where do I get “Miscellaneous Services Application” .

8

Hi @kanth_n
Miscellaneous service form is available on each Indian embassy’s website.

9

Yes. Just got it Thanks

10

Thanks for quick reply. I have one more questions.

Can we Apostilled the Indian Id Proofs such as Driving License, Pan Card, Adhara card then can we get Attestation on them from Embassy

11

There is no need to apostille Indian ID proofs. Only notary is needed.

12

So apostille is needed only POA Document rt?

13

Yes. Only PoA need to be apostiled.

https://www.am22tech.com/attestation-of-power-of-attorney-at-indian-consulate/

14

Thank you So much carlifying

15

Final Question , Do we need to create POA with Lawyer or Can we create our self

16

You can create yourself. Check the sample PoA given in the link I shared above.

17

Hi,
First of all, thanks for the helpful post; this was great. Had a query on the process specific to my situation. I have a 3 page POA with the section for the witness signatures on the last page. I will be getting the attestation of the POA in California.
When I get it notarized at the bank, it seems the official will be notarizing the witness signatures on 2 separate sheets of paper. It looks like the State office will not certify anything on the main document either. Is attaching a photo on the main page the only way to have some stamping on the main document?
Thanks.

18

Hi @guy_nyc
I am not sure I understand your question correctly.
Can you elaborate?

The photo is mandatory to be pasted on POA.
The sign should be on the PoA and not separately on separate paper.

19

The POA document I have does not have a photo; it was sent by a lawyer in India. Will the apostille authorities or the Indian consulate insist on this?
With regards to the separate sheets of paper; I was merely referring to one of the earlier posts where the person said they ended up with 6 pages; 2 for the POA, 2 for the notary and couple more from the apostille office. My notary signed on the main POA document so I should be fine there.

20

Was the POA on letter size (8.5 x 11) paper or legal size (8.5 x 14)?