Apostille birth certificate: start with the certified copy

What does apostille mean

An apostille is a certificate. The Hague Conference on Private International Law says the 1961 Apostille Convention replaces a long chain of certifications with one certificate from a competent authority. A competent authority is the office a country names to issue that certificate. The apostille checks the signature and the official’s role. It does not prove that the facts in the birth record are true.

The U.S. Department of State issues an apostille certificate for a document signed by a U.S. federal official, a U.S. consular officer, a foreign consul registered with the Office of Protocol, or a military notary or judge advocate. A state birth certificate is not on that list. On the same page, the Department says that a state document used in a Hague Convention country is certified by the state that issued it. You do not request that certificate from the Department of State.

The state offices below call their certificate an apostille. California says it authenticates the public official’s signature, the role that official held, and, when it applies, the seal on the document. Florida says only its competent authority can issue one. New York says an apostille is the Hague form, and a certificate of authentication is the form for a country that has not joined the Convention.

If the country has not joined the Convention, the path can add a step. The Department of State authentication page lists a birth certificate as a state document. It says to get the state authentication first, then request an authentication certificate from the Department. New York says that extra federal certificate may be required. Texas says countries outside the Convention need that added authentication. Florida says to send the document to the U.S. Department of State if that step is required. Ask the foreign office which certificate it wants before you pay either office.

The Hague Conference also describes an electronic apostille: an official apostille in digital form. It says a Convention country is not supposed to refuse that certificate only because it is electronic. This page does not say which U.S. state issues one. Read the state page for the birth.

How an apostille birth certificate is ordered

The job has an order. Skip a step and the foreign office, or the state desk, sends the document back.

1. Ask the office in the other country what it will accept, and whether that country is in the Apostille Convention. This site does not keep that country list. The Hague Conference does.
2. Order a certified copy from the vital-records office in the state where the birth was registered. A certified copy is the office’s own copy, with that office’s signature. A photocopy of a certificate you already have is a different thing. The states below say a photocopy is not enough.
3. Send that certified copy to the competent authority in the same state. That office is often the Secretary of State. It is not a notary public, a bank counter, or a video notary company.
4. If the country is outside the Convention, ask whether you still need the U.S. Department of State authentication certificate after the state step.

A birth in one state is not apostilled by another state. Washington says a birth certificate from another state goes to the state where the person was born. Illinois says it can authenticate only Illinois vital records. Florida says a document issued in another state goes to that state’s competent authority.

Can a notary apostille a document

No. A notary public does not issue an apostille. The state’s competent authority does.

Florida is direct. The Department of State says the Secretary of State is the only competent authority for apostille and notarial certifications in Florida, and the Division of Corporations issues them. The FAQ repeats that only the competent authority can issue an apostille. On the accepted-documents page, the Department says a Florida notary cannot attest to a copy of a birth certificate. That bar is in the same list as a death certificate and a marriage certificate. The birth record that Florida will apostille is a certificate signed by the State Registrar, from the Bureau of Vital Statistics or from a county health department.

Texas draws the same line in different words. The Secretary of State says it is the only Texas agency that can issue an apostille for a Texas public record used outside the United States. It puts birth certificates with recordable documents: records issued by a state or county official. Those records cannot be notarized, and a notary cannot turn them into a certified copy. A power of attorney is on the other list. That document can be notarized. The request page adds a time limit: a certified record must have been issued within the past five years, or the office may not be able to check it.

California’s apostille FAQ says the Secretary of State does not provide notarial services. If a document needs a notary, get that notarization before you request the apostille. The birth-certificate answer on that FAQ is not a notary signature. It is the signature of a county clerk, a county recorder, or the State Registrar at the California Department of Public Health.

A notarization still shows up in some orders, and it is easy to mix up with the apostille. In California, a mail request for an authorized certified copy of a birth record needs a notarized sworn statement from the person who is allowed to receive it. The Department of Public Health says that statement is only for the authorized copy. An informational copy is also a certified copy, and the authorized-copy page says the informational copy is marked so it cannot be used to prove identity. That notarized statement lets the vital-records office release the authorized copy. It is not the apostille. Ask the foreign office which certified copy it wants. This page does not guess.

Florida’s Bureau of Vital Statistics says an applicant who is not an eligible requester must include a notarized affidavit to release the birth certificate. That affidavit is for the order. It is not an apostille, and it does not change the rule that a Florida notary cannot attest a copy of the birth certificate itself.

Apostille in California

On California, the page on this site grades notaries. It does not grade the apostille office. The apostille office is the Secretary of State.

For a California birth or death certificate, the Secretary of State can apostille the signature of a county clerk or deputy, a county recorder or deputy, or the State Registrar. If the certificate was issued by a city or county office and the signature is a health officer or a local registrar, the FAQ says you may first need the county clerk in that county to certify it, or you may need a new certified copy from the county recorder or from the Department of Public Health. The name and title are at the bottom of the certificate. Read them before you mail it.

The request page says the document must be signed by a California public official, or be an original notarized or certified document. A photocopy is not acceptable. Mail requests need a cover sheet that names the country, a return address, and a way to reach you. The country cannot be the United States. The FAQ also says the office does not issue an apostille for Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, or another U.S. territory.

The fee on the FAQ is $20 for each apostille. An in-person request adds $6 for each different public official’s signature. That $6 fee is not charged on a mail request. Someone else may walk the document in for you. You do not have to be related to the person named on the record. The vital-records fee page lists $31 for a certified copy of a birth record, effective January 1, 2026. That fee is the copy. It is not the apostille fee.

Apostille in Florida

On Florida, this site’s page grades notaries, including who may perform a video session. It does not grade the apostille office. The apostille office is the Department of State, Division of Corporations, at 2415 N. Monroe Street, Suite 810, Tallahassee.

Send a birth or death certificate from the Bureau of Vital Statistics signed by the State Registrar, or a county health department certificate signed by the State Registrar. The Department says birth records from before 2004 contain limited information, and it tells you to ask the consulate whether those older records will be accepted. Vital-records fees are separate from the Department of State fee. The Department will check that the State Registrar’s signature was valid on the day the certificate was issued.

The filing steps ask for the request form, an original certified copy or certificate of status, and payment. A photocopy is not acceptable. The fee list is $10 per document, or $20 per document when a clerk of court certified it. The $20 line is $10 for the apostille and $10 for a certificate of incumbency. A birth certificate signed by the State Registrar is the State Registrar path on the accepted-documents page, not that clerk-of-court sentence. Walk-in requests are taken at the Tallahassee office on weekdays. The FAQ says the office does not offer a faster mail service.

A document notarized by a Florida notary is a different acceptable type. It needs a full notarial statement in English and the notary’s original signature and seal. A birth certificate is not in that notarized group. It is in the group a notary cannot copy and attest.

Texas, New York, Washington, and Illinois

These four pages on this site also grade notaries. None of them grades an apostille office. The apostille facts below are from each state’s own authentication page.

On Texas, the Secretary of State issues one universal apostille and says it works as an apostille for Convention countries and as an authentication for other countries. Countries outside the Convention still need the U.S. Department of State step. You submit the original Texas document, a Texas certified copy, or an original Texas notarized document. The office does not apostille a copy of a certified record. Mail and the request form use $15 per document. An adoption request uses a different form and $10 per document. The office will not apostille a document for use inside the United States or a U.S. territory. Because a birth certificate is recordable, the notarization path on that page is the wrong path for the birth record.

On New York, the Department of State authenticates public documents issued in New York and signed by a New York official or a county clerk. Birth certificates are one of the examples. A birth, death, or marriage certificate from the New York State Department of Health, signed by the Director of Vital Statistics or the New York State Registrar, can go in without a county clerk certification. A certificate issued by a local or county official, or by a county health department, must first be certified by the county clerk in the county that issued it. The Department warns that the words “New York State” on the certificate do not, by themselves, mean the Department of Health issued it. A New York City birth certificate has a further step: the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene record must be certified by the New York County Clerk, and you also request a letter of exemplification when you order it. The Department of State fee is $10 per document. A notarized document, such as a power of attorney, is a different item. That document is certified by the county clerk where the notary is qualified. The birth record from the Department of Health is not that item.

On Washington, the Secretary of State, not the Department of Licensing, handles apostilles. The Department of Licensing page on notaries says the same split. For a Washington birth certificate, send an original certified birth certificate. The office says an apostille or certificate of authentication can be issued only for an original, unaltered vital record or a certified copy. A personal document, such as a power of attorney, is the document you have notarized by a Washington notary before you request the apostille. A Washington driver license copy is also notarized first. The birth certificate instructions do not say to notarize it. Certificates from that office are not valid for use inside the United States, its territories, or its possessions.

On Illinois, the Secretary of State issues an apostille for a Hague Convention country and a certificate of authority for a country outside the Convention. An Illinois birth certificate must be a certified copy from the county clerk, a local registrar, or the Illinois Department of Public Health. The office says every document it authenticates must be an original, and it cannot certify an official from another state. The fee is $2 for each apostille or certificate. A transcript is a different document: the school official signs in front of an Illinois notary, and then you request authentication. The birth-certificate steps are the certified copy, the application, and the submission. They are not “have a notary copy the birth record.”

When a different document needs to be notarized

Some documents in an overseas packet do need a notary. A power of attorney, a translator’s statement, or another document the foreign office names can be notarized so the state can authenticate the notary’s signature. That notarization is not the apostille, and it is not a substitute for the certified birth record.

How to finish that notarization is on how to notarize a document. What to bring, including the ID, is on what do you need to get something notarized. Company letters for a video session live on the directory. Methodology explains the three letters. Those letters grade the notarization product. They are not a grade for an apostille office.

The buttons below are for a document that needs to be notarized. They do not order a certified birth record, and they do not issue an apostille.