Shorter than you think.
The paperwork, plainly.
What Seychelles asks for, what the apostille does, and how much time to leave. No step invented, and no step hidden.
Three pieces of paper, one stamp.
Seychelles asks for your passports and your birth certificates. If either of you has been married before, it also asks for the decree absolute or the death certificate of the former spouse. That is the list. There is no character reference and no bank letter to worry about.
Those documents have to be apostilled in India before they travel. An apostille is a single certificate attached by the Ministry of External Affairs, and it is recognised in Seychelles because both countries are parties to the same convention. India joined it on 14 July 2005. After the apostille there is nothing further on the Indian side: no embassy legalisation, no consular fee, no second queue.
On this end the documents go through the Seychelles attestation chain, and then to the civil status officer who will conduct your ceremony. We do that part. You will not stand in a Seychelles government office at any point.
What happens, and when.
- Three months out
- You write, we send the exact list for your two situations and hold the date.
- Six weeks out
- Your documents are apostilled in India. This is the only part that is yours.
- Two weeks out
- The apostilled originals reach us and go into the Seychelles chain.
- Seven days out
- You land. Everything is already settled and you have a week that is actually a holiday.
The one thing that goes wrong, and it goes wrong the same way every time, is a couple deciding in June to marry in July. The Indian apostille has its own queue and we cannot shorten it from here. Three months is comfortable. Six weeks is possible. Three weeks is a gamble with a wedding.
The certificate, and the apostille on it.
You are given a Seychelles marriage certificate. For most purposes in India, that certificate wants a Supreme Court apostille on it before an Indian office will work from it, which is why the supplementary document package exists in the builder: two certificates and two apostilles, so one set travels and one set stays at home.
We post them, or hold them for you to collect, or courier them to India. It is a line in the enquiry, not a separate decision.
Six questions, answered.
Do we need our documents apostilled?
Yes, and for India that is the whole of it. India has been a party to the Hague Apostille Convention since 14 July 2005, so an apostille from the Ministry of External Affairs is the final Indian step. No embassy stamp follows it and nobody should be charging you for one.
Which documents does Seychelles want?
Passports, birth certificates, and, if either of you has been married before, the decree absolute or the death certificate of the former spouse. Those are the pieces. We send you the exact list for your two situations when you write, because a first marriage for both of you is a shorter list than a second one.
How long before the wedding should we arrive?
A week. That is our own scheduling rule rather than a law, and it exists so that the attestation, the officer and the venue are all settled days before anyone puts on a sari. Couples who land two days early do get married. They also spend those two days doing paperwork instead of swimming.
Will the certificate be accepted in India?
The marriage certificate plus a Supreme Court apostille is the form Indian offices ask for, and the supplementary package in the builder is exactly that: two certificates and two apostilles. Take one set and leave one at home.
Can you handle the paperwork for us?
The Seychelles end, yes, entirely. That is what you are paying us for. The Indian end is yours, because the apostille has to be obtained where the document was issued, and no agent in Seychelles can do that for you. We tell you exactly what to ask for.
What if our documents are in a regional language?
Tell us at the enquiry. Certificates issued in a language other than English are routine and handled, but they are handled by starting early, not by arriving with them.
Send the date.
The builder is the same one as on the wedding pages. Choose the island and tell us your situation, and the document list comes back with the reply.