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Finally i got my Bachelor's degree attested with the ministry of HRD on 23/03/2011. This is one area where information regarding the attestation is not at all available on the internet, may be only by word of mouth by friends or relatives.

So i thought about sharing the details here after i got my own degree attested by myself at the HRD office in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Here's the drill -

Documents Required:
1. 1 color photograph (preferably passport size and take a glue with you).
2. Appointment letter from a company abroad (original & 1 photocopy).
OR
Letter of acceptance from a foreign university (original & 1 photocopy).
3. Original passport and 1 photocopy.
4. Highest degree(or the one on the basis of which you were selected for the job or higher foreign education) in original and 1 photocopy.
5. An Affidavit (will be made in Lucknow).

The photocopies can be self attested. Remember that original documents are mandatory! Dont go without the original documents.


Location & Getting there:
Suppose you land at the Lucknow railway station, called "charbagh", you take an auto(which can also be shared by other passengers to cut the cost per passenger), ask the auto driver to drop you at "Vidhan sabha, gate no. 9". shared auto would be like Rs 6 per passenger, private auto would be like Rs 40-50. There's also a mini bus which goes towards the vidhan sabha, but i'd prefer to go with the auto. Vidhan Sabha is about 3 kms from charbagh(atleast the board mentions so).

If, unfortunately, the auto driver doesnt know gate no. 9, then just tell him to take you to vidhan sabha. Get down at vidhan sabha, you'll have to walk a bit, in a circular fashion around the vidhan sabha. Just ask anyone around there for gate no. 9. The gates are marked with numbers, so it wont be much of a problem.


Timings:
Try to be there at 10 AM, this is the best time. Although there's a notice pasted there that the timings are from 12 PM to 2:30 PM (submitting time) and 5:30-6:30 PM (receiving time). Ignore the Notice, atleast the opening timing.
From the station it hardly takes 10-12 mins, then another 10 mins to find the gate no. 9, for the first time of course.

The form is available at around 10 AM (I was lucky to get it at 9:30 AM) at counter no.5, which is just beside the counter 6.

The HRD attestation counter is the counter no. 6. The counters are located adjacent to the gate no. 9. You dont have to do anything with the gate no. 9, no need to enter it. The counters are located just beside it.


The procedure:
Grab the form at counter 5, the form is in tough Hindi! you can fill it in English. Phew! paste the photo and fill out the columns, mentioning the name, father's name, country going to, the reason, whether you're still a student, etc. and finally sign the declaration.

Now, get to the main road again, ask a rickshaw to take you to the Family Court(the smaller court) near the "jay bharat" cinema(you'll pass by Novelty cinema, its a landmark). Rs 5 per passenger. Get down at the Family court. Go to any advocate and ask him that you need an affidavit for the HRD attestation. The advocate would say that he will get the whole procedure done for you, but beware!! DONT let him do that! i heard students that they charge even something like 500 Rs!! The procedure is really easy, so you can do it by yourself.

ok, so tell him that you need ONLY the affidavit. Negotiate the price, the stamp paper is of only 10 Rs but they start with 100 Rs. I could only negotiate it at 70 Rs. They have the format ready with them. He will see the original passport and fill out the necessary details from it in the affidavit. Mention the country to him to which you are going, its written on the affidavit. He'll print it out and hammer out some stamps and signatures. Pay him the negotiated amount and take the affidavit and your documents back with you and head back to vidhan sabha, gate no. 9.

The person at the counter no. 5 can help you out with the procedure too. He can even check whether the documents are in order, but he cant submit them!

Now just take all the documents and put them into the original passport and hand it over to the officer at the counter no. 6. Documents that you should submit at counter 6:
1. original passport
2. Original degree
3. affidavit
4. copy of passport
5. copy of degree
6. copy of call letter

The officer at counter 6 would check whether all the documents are in place and keep these documents with him. Actually this officer came at about 1:20 PM when i submitted by degree. So i had to wait a lot - from about 11 AM to 1:20 AM! As the affidavit, form filling, getting from here to there, hardly takes an hour. Anyways, Your documents should be submitted by 1:30 PM

Now the counter 6 returns your documents at 5:30 PM sharp, upto 6:30 PM. Untill then, from about 1:30 PM to 5 PM, you can visit places in Lucknow or have lunch, etc. But be there at counter 6 at 5:30 PM sharp. Just tell your name and other details if the officer asks, officer will return you your passport and the attested degree.

Voila! Your Degree is attested by the Ministry of HRD, U.P.

© Zaki Khan