attestation & legalisation
A Nepali certificate is a piece of paper until a chain of offices has vouched for it. Nepal cannot issue an apostille, so that chain is what foreign institutions get instead — and every link only stamps what the previous link already stamped.
Nepal is not a contracting party to the Hague Apostille Convention — no Nepali authority can issue an apostille, and any service claiming to is selling you MoFA attestation under another name.
The Hague Apostille Convention lets member states replace a chain of legalisations with a single certificate. Nepal is not a party to it, so no office in Nepal — not a notary, not a ministry, not a service that advertises "apostille in Nepal" — can issue one.
What Nepal issues instead is consular attestation: a stamp from the Department of Consular Services at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, confirming that the signature and seal already on your document are genuine. Most countries accept this in place of an apostille, some then add their own embassy step, and a few have their own quirks.
If a foreign office insists on the word "apostille", the honest answer is that Nepal's equivalent is MoFA attestation, and that is what you supply. Nobody is being obstructive; the option does not exist.
Four links, in this order. Skipping one doesn't save time — the next office simply refuses the document.
Translate and notarise, if needed
A Nepali-language document usually needs a certified English translation, notarised, before anything else will touch it. Do this first or you will repeat the whole chain.
Verification by the issuing body or its ministry
The board, university or ministry that issued the document confirms it is theirs. For academic documents this means your board or university first, and then the Ministry of Education where the destination asks for it.
Attestation by MoFA
The Department of Consular Services in Tripureshwor attests the document — the closest thing Nepal has to an apostille. The counter closes hours before the office does, so arrive in the morning.
Legalisation by the destination's embassy, if required
Some destinations want their own mission to countersign after MoFA. Whether this applies to you depends entirely on the country — check the mission's own page, not a general checklist.
Each office only stamps a document the previous office has already stamped — there is no way to shortcut the sequence.
MoFA attestation: NPR 500 per document
Turnaround at the consular department: commonly 1–3 working days
The full chain, end to end: depends on the document
The fee is genuinely small. The cost of this step is time and sequencing — and the risk that you attest a document you then have to reissue, which means paying and queueing all over again. Attest last, once your academic set is final.
Department of Consular Services, MoFA
MoEST — Foreign Study Approval (NOC) section
The consular department publishes online pre-submission portals for attestation and for police-certificate authentication. Use them if they work for you — but the counter visit is still how most files finish.
A great deal of attestation gets done that nobody asked for. Before you start the chain, work out which of these is true for you:
University application
Usually scans or certified copies are enough at this stage. Very few foreign universities require MoFA attestation to make an offer.
Visa file
This is where it bites. Several missions want attested academic and civil documents, and some want their own embassy stamp on top.
Regulated professions
Nursing, medicine, pharmacy, engineering, teaching — registration bodies abroad usually want a verified set sent directly from the issuing body, which is a different process again.
Coming home
Bringing a foreign degree back into Nepal runs the chain in reverse, through the Nepali mission abroad. Keep everything.
A service is advertising apostille in Nepal. Are they lying?
They are usually selling the MoFA attestation chain under a name their customers search for. The service can be real; the word is not. What you will receive is consular attestation, because that is the only thing Nepal can issue.
Can I get documents attested from abroad?
Partly. A Nepali diplomatic mission in your host country can attest some documents, and documents can be couriered back to Nepal for the chain. Both are slower and more expensive than doing it before you fly. Do it before you fly.
Do photocopies get attested, or originals?
Generally the chain runs on originals or on copies certified by the issuing body — a plain photocopy is not enough. Ask the office at the first link what form they want, because the rest of the chain follows it.
How long is an attestation valid?
The attestation itself does not usually expire, but the document underneath it can be superseded — a provisional certificate replaced by a formal one, for example. Attest the version you will actually submit.
My destination doesn't mention attestation at all. Should I do it anyway?
No. Do what your specific mission and institution ask for. Attesting a document nobody wants costs time you will need elsewhere.