PIO - Apostilled US passport Copy

[sonymathur]

Hi All,

This has been answered differently by different ppl in this forum, but If any one have personally applied for PIO at SFO consulate recently without submitting their kid's Original US passport, Please share your expereiences or please let me know how did you Apostille the US Passport copy? Or can we just Ignore the Apostillation just submit Notarized photo copy of US passport?

Thanks a lot.

[itsamaronly]

I applied for it

Hi friends..

I applied PIO card today at SFO consulate.
I was not aware that, if you go in person, appostille is not required. However, if you want to send through mail, then you have send notarized copy of "appostille USA passport".

My experience: Better go to consulate...

Thanks
Amar

[shank74]

Apostille is must

I have heard consulate is requesting Apostille copy of the apssport if you did not submit apostille first time. You can get the appostille yourlself or notary can get you one.

[legalrights]

PIO - Apostilled US passport Copy

Hi All,
I am a US citizen and I am trying to apply for Person of Indian Origin (PIO) card. However I could not find a separate group for PIO so I am posting this in OCI,sorry about that. So, I was ready with all my documents and suddenly I find that the checklist says mail the apostilled copy of the US passport and then notarize it.
What is "apostilled" copy of the US passport ? Is it not a regular copy? Interestingly,I google'd it and not many links are there to clearly explain it. Can some one please clarify the same.

Apart from the Original Indian Passport I am sending all other copies.

I also have few other questions, if someone could clarify that would be great.

Do we need to send birth certificate (or passport copy should be enough)?
Do we need to send the marriage certificate?
Proof of address :I am sending drivers licence, is it enough or something else is required ?
If there are any other things that I need to be particularly aware of or careful about, please do let me know.

Sorry again and thanks in advance.

[curtdfw]

Apostille is somewhat like a notarized copy except that it's validated by state authorities. Search the site for 'apostille' and you'll find several threads including the one below:

http://www.immihelp.com/forum/showthread.php?t=60580&highlight=apostille

Note that one of the threads involving the SF consulate indicates the person was issued a PIO card without going through the apostille hoop.

As far as documents, here's what I sent to the Houston Consulate last year, and everything worked OK. Keep in mind that each of the consulates seems to do things a little differently, so there can be a little guesswork involved.

http://www.immihelp.com/forum/showthread.php?t=51948&highlight=houston+consulate+spouse

[AntGue]

Apostille and Notarization is two different words and processes.
Notarization in the United State is the process when Notary Public sees you sign the document and authenticates that you did in fact signed that document in front of the Notary. This can be used confirm the signature validitity in your country.
Apostille on the other hand is used to legalize the document which will be used outside your country. There’s a confusion going around that you need an apostille to use a document from one state in another, well you don’t. Furthermore, not all countries accept the apostille, some require foreign certification. Also, apostille is not a stand alone document it is affixed to your documents in the United States in order to authenticate it. (Same goes for Foreign Certification).
In order to determine which legalization process you need to undertake please refer to the list of countries who signed the Hague Convention of 1961 in regards to the Apostille. Also, be advised that list of countries is constantly changing and that not every country may be reflected in the list such as Dominican Republic, who has joined the Convention just recently.

Regards.