Migration Certificate Apostille & Attestation

What a migration certificate does

A migration certificate is issued by a university or board when you move to another one. It confirms that the issuing body has no objection to your migration and that your records with it are complete. School boards such as CBSE issue them to students joining universities outside the board's system, and universities issue them to students moving on to another university.

It is different from a school leaving certificate, which a school issues, and from a transcript, which records your results.

When it is needed abroad

A migration certificate is essentially a domestic document, and many foreign authorities never ask for it. It tends to come up when:

• a foreign university or equivalency authority wants an unbroken record of how you moved between institutions;
• you are transferring to a university abroad part-way through a programme;
• an admission or employment checklist from abroad happens to list it.

Because it is not always needed, confirm that the receiving authority really wants it before you spend time on it.

How it is authenticated

The route mirrors other academic documents: verification by the issuing university or board where the state requires it, authentication by the State Education Department, and then submission to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). From there, countries where the Apostille Convention applies with India such as Australia or Japan accept an MEA Apostille, while destinations such as the UAE, Kuwait or Egypt need embassy attestation.

The common snag: you no longer have it

Indian universities usually keep the original migration certificate when you join them. If you went on to a second Indian university, your original may be in its admission file. Your options include:

1. asking that university whether it can return the original or issue a certified copy;
2. applying to the issuing university or board for a duplicate;
3. asking the receiving authority whether it will accept a certified copy.

Each issuing body has its own duplicate procedure, so allow time for this step.

Not sure whether you need it at all? Use the Service Finder or request a quote and we will review your document list.