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Power of attorney from the US for use in India
How to sign a power of attorney in the US so a parent or sibling can sell property, run a bank account or deal with an office in India: notary, witnesses, consulate attestation or apostille, and stamping within 3 months.
A power of attorney (PoA) lets someone in India act for you: sell or rent a flat, deal with a bank, appear at a land or municipal office. Use a specific PoA (one property, one task) where you can; a general PoA gives very wide powers.
Steps
- Draft it in India’s format. Ask the lawyer, registrar or bank in India for their wording. Registrars reject documents that don’t describe the property exactly.
- Sign before a US notary with two witnesses who aren’t your relatives. Your signature should match your passport.
- Get it attested:
- Indian passport or OCI holders: send it to your Indian consulate (by mail or through a VFS Global centre) for consular attestation. About $20 per signer plus a $2 welfare fund fee, roughly 10 working days. Find yours with the consulate finder.
- US citizens without OCI: first get an apostille from the Secretary of State of the state where it was notarized. India is part of the Hague Apostille Convention.
- Send the original to India. It must be stamped (adjudicated) within 3 months of arriving in India at the sub-registrar or collector’s office, paying that state’s stamp duty. For property sales it usually also has to be registered.
Tips
- Make the PoA end on a date or after the task is done.
- Keep a scan; banks and registrars often ask for the attested original, so plan for more than one.
- You can revoke a PoA, but you need to tell everyone who received it.
The good
- The Indian consulate attests a PoA in about 10 working days for $22
- You can apply by mail or through a VFS centre
- Apostille works for US citizens without OCI
The hard
- Two witnesses who are not your relatives are needed
- It must be stamped in India within 3 months of arriving there
- Rules and stamp duty differ by state
Recent from immigration lawyers
From independent law firms, newest first. Not reviewed by h1b-life, not legal advice and not an endorsement.
- I have a valid H1B visa stamp showing my former employer’s name, and my new employer’s H1B petition has been approved. Do I need a new visa stamp before traveling?Murthy Law Firm · Nov 3, 2026
- My application under the company’s blanket L approval was denied at the consulate. Can the employer still file an individual L-1 petition with USCIS?Murthy Law Firm · Oct 27, 2026
Sources
- Embassy of India, Washington: Attestation of power of attorney
- Consulate General of India, Chicago: Power of attorney (attestation vs apostille)
- Consulate General of India, Seattle: Power of attorney
- MEA: Apostille
- Telangana Registration Department: stamping documents executed abroad (3 months)
Rules change often. If something here looks out of date, it probably is; check the official source and talk to an immigration attorney about your own case.