We are an apostille service, and this post will sometimes tell you not to use one. That is deliberate — we would rather lose an order than take money for something the government would have done free.
What e-Sanad actually is
e-Sanad is India’s platform for verifying documents digitally, straight from the issuing authority to the requesting authority abroad. No physical handling, no courier, no sticker, no fee to any agency.
It works by pulling the record from an issuing authority that has been onboarded to the platform. The receiving authority abroad then verifies it online. There is no piece of paper travelling anywhere.
When it fits your case, it is unambiguously the better option.
When e-Sanad works
All three of these have to be true:
- Your issuing authority is onboarded. Universities and some state boards are reasonably well covered. Check yours at
esanad.nic.inbefore assuming anything — coverage has expanded unevenly and varies by state and by body. - The receiving authority abroad accepts digital verification. Some do. Many still do not.
- You are not required to produce a physical document. If the checklist says “apostilled original”, a digital verification is not that.
When it cannot work
Your document has no issuing authority behind it. This is the big one. An affidavit is your own sworn statement. A power of attorney is an instrument you executed. An employer letter comes from a private company. None of these has a government record for e-Sanad to pull, so the platform has nothing to verify. These documents need a Notary Public, then the SDM, then a physical apostille — there is no digital path.
Your issuer is not onboarded. This covers most municipal bodies, which means most birth, marriage and death certificates in practice. Check yours rather than taking anyone’s word, including ours.
The receiving authority wants the sticker. Most still do. Foreign registries, employers and immigration authorities have their own document standards and a great many of them predate digital verification entirely.
The honest comparison
| e-Sanad | Physical MEA apostille | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free (nominal government charges) | ₹143 government + service |
| Physical document travels | No | Yes, both ways |
| Works for affidavits, PoAs, employer letters | No | Yes |
| Works if your issuer is not onboarded | No | Yes |
| Accepted where a paper original is demanded | No | Yes |
| Speed | Fast when it applies | 3–7 working days + transit |
How to decide in two minutes
- Is your document a government record, or something you made? Made it yourself — affidavit, PoA, employer letter — stop here, you need the physical route.
- Is your issuing authority listed at
esanad.nic.in? Not listed, physical route. - Ask the receiving authority abroad, in writing, whether they accept e-Sanad verification. This is the step people skip, and it is the one that decides. “They’ll probably accept it” is how documents get rejected after the deadline.
If all three land in e-Sanad’s favour, use e-Sanad. Genuinely.
Why we are telling you this
Because the alternative is worse for everyone. A customer who pays for a physical apostille they did not need is a customer who finds out later and is right to be annoyed. And a market where nobody explains the free option is one where the free option stays invisible.
There is also a US-side version of this same confusion, which we have written about separately: e-Sanad vs a US apostille service. Short version — e-Sanad handles Indian documents. It cannot touch a US document, and no Indian office can.
If the physical route is the one you need: how MEA apostille works · what it costs