For more detailed information on legalisation of documents, please consult the FPS Foreign Affairs website.
Legalisation is the procedure by which an official document, issued by a foreign public authority, is rendered legally valid in Belgium.
The most common documents are certificates of civil status (marriage, birth, and death certificates), diplomas, police clearance certificates and affidavits.
These documents require only one legalisation (Apostille) by the Indian authorities. Additional legalisation by the Embassy / Consulate of Belgium is no longer required.
For information about procedures and locations for the Apostille please check the website of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi
Sri Lanka has not ratified the Apostille Convention: the procedure of additional legalisation is maintained. Subsequently, every official document issued by the public authorities of Sri Lanka has first to be legalised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka and then by the Honorary Consulate of Belgium in Colombo.
Please contact their services directly for the practical arrangements.
Bhutan has not ratified the Apostille Convention: the procedure of additional legalisation is maintained. Subsequently, each official document issued by the public authorities of Bhutan, has to be legalised by the Bhutanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and then by the Embassy of Belgium in New Delhi.
Please note that the Honorary Consulate of Belgium in Thimphu is not competent for legalisation of documents.
Bangladesh has not ratified the Apostille Convention: the procedure of additional legalisation is maintained. Subsequently, each official document issued by the public authorities of Bangladesh has to be legalised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh, and then by the Honorary Consulate of Belgium in Dhaka.
Please contact their services directly for the practical arrangements.
Nepal has not ratified the Apostille Convention: the procedure of additional legalisation is maintained. Subsequently, each official document issued by the public authorities of Nepal has to be legalised by the Nepalese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and afterwards by the Honorary Consulate of Belgium in Kathmandu.
Please contact their services directly for the practical arrangements.
You are requested to contact the Embassy of Belgium in New Delhi directly for the practical arrangements.
Most common are medical certificates issued by licensed physicians and formal obligations signed by financial guarantors in the framework of some visa applications. In this case, the legalisation will be done directly at the Embassy or at one of the Consulates General, according to the place where the documents were issued.
Please note that the Honorary Consulate of Belgium in Kolkata is not competent anymore for legalisation of documents.
a) Submission through VFS:
The Belgian VFS Visa Application Centres in New Delhi, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore are authorised to accept documents that need to be legalised. The documents will be forwarded to the Embassy or to one of the Consulates General and sent back to you through VFS.
b) Direct submission:
You have the option of submitting directly the documents to be legalised to the Embassy or to one of the Consulates General, during normal opening hours.