Panaji: August 05, 2026
The Government has formulated a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the pre-authentication of personal, commercial and educational documents intended for use abroad before they are submitted to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) for Apostille or Attestation.
The notification issued by Home Department informed that Regional Passport Officer (RPO) Goa has been authorized by the MEA to issue the Apostille on public documents in Goa, since India is a member of the Hague Apostille convention 1961 under which an Apostille certificate eliminates the need for further legalization of documents in member countries.
To ensure the authenticity and genuineness of documents submitted for Apostille/ Attestation, the MEA requires that such documents are pre-authenticated by the Documents Issuing Authorities (DIAs) in the concerned States / UTs. The DIAs appointed in the State of Goa are Director of Education for all educational documents up to HSSC, Director of Technical Education for all educational documents issued by professional colleges/Technical institutions affiliated to the Goa University/Goa Board of Technical Education, Director of Higher Education for All other educational documents issued by non-professional colleges/institutions affiliated to the Goa University, Director of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship for all educational documents issued by institutions affiliated to/ under purview of Directorate of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Under Secretary (Home-II) for all personal and commercial documents.
The signature of every authority/officer authorized to issue documents will be compulsorily registered with the Documents Issuing Authorities (DIA) by the relevant Head of Department/ Office with clear details as regards the type of document/s which they are authorized to issue.
The DIA shall on receipt of a document for pre-authentication, attest the signature of the concerned authority/ officer on the public document.
A Notary appointed under the Notaries Act, 1952 (Act 53 of 1952) and the rules framed there under will compulsorily register his signature with the Documents Issuing Authorities (DIA). The DIA shall however pre-authenticate only those document/s which the Notary is authorized to execute, namely, affidavits/ declarations/agreements/power of attorney, etc.
As regards Canonical documents signed by the Notary based at the Paco-Patriarchal, Archbishops house, Altinho, Panaji, the DIA shall on receipt of such document for pre-authentication, attest the signature of the Notary of Paco-Patriarchalon the canonical document, subject to the condition that the said signature is registered with the DIA.
As far as possible, it will be the endeavor of the DIA to pre-authenticate original documents or certified copies issued by the Government officers. In rare cases, where the certified copy issued by concerned Government Department/ office is not available for whatever reason, it will be the responsibility of the DIA to inspect the original document and pre-authenticate its photocopy.
Once the pre-authentication is completed by the DIA on the document, it may be submitted to the MEA outsourced service providers (OSP) for obtaining the Apostille/MEA Attestation on the document in Goa.
