How to get an apostille: find the office that signed it first

What is an apostille

A document from one country is often not accepted in another until someone vouches for the official who signed it. Before 1961, that took a chain of certifications ending at the foreign country’s consulate. That chain is called legalization.

The Hague Conference on Private International Law says the 1961 Apostille Convention replaces that often long and costly process with a single apostille certificate, issued by a competent authority in the country the document comes from. A competent authority is the office a country names to issue apostilles. The Hague Conference lists 130 contracting parties to the Convention, and it says it does not issue or verify apostilles itself.

An apostille vouches for the signature. It does not vouch for what the document says. The California Secretary of State describes it as certifying the signature of a public official on a document for use in another country. If the birth date on the record is wrong, the apostille does not fix it.

An electronic apostille exists too. The Hague Conference says an e-Apostille is created and signed electronically, follows the same rules as a printed one, and cannot be refused simply because it is electronic. Whether your state issues one is a question for that state’s office.

Hague apostille or authentication certificate

The apostille only works between Convention members. For a country outside the Convention, the U.S. path is an authentication certificate instead, and the destination country’s embassy or consulate may add its own step.

The New York Department of State explains the split plainly. An apostille is for a country that is a member of the 1961 Hague Convention. A certificate of authentication is for a country that is not, and it may also need a further certification from the U.S. Department of State before it goes abroad. The Texas Secretary of State issues one universal apostille that it says serves as both, and still says non-Convention countries need the extra federal authentication.

Ask the office abroad which one it wants. This site does not keep the country list. The Hague Conference does.

How to get an apostille, step by step

1. Ask the receiving office abroad exactly which document it needs, whether it must be a certified copy or a notarized original, whether it needs a translation, and whether the country is in the Convention.
2. Find out who signed the document. A state or county official, such as a vital records registrar or a county clerk, means the state’s competent authority. A notary commissioned in a state also means that state. A federal official means the U.S. Department of State.
3. Get the right version of the document. Most states want an original or an original certified copy, not a photocopy. If the document is a private one, such as a power of attorney or a letter, the signer usually has it notarized first.
4. Do any county step the state requires. In New York, a notarized document goes to the county clerk first.
5. Send the request to the competent authority with its form and fee, and name the destination country.

The apostille goes with the state that issued or notarized the document, not the state where you live now. The Florida Department of State says a document issued in another state, or notarized by a notary in another state, goes to that state’s competent authority. Federal documents go to the U.S. Department of State.

Secretary of State apostille: four states

These are the offices most people searching “secretary of state apostille” end up at. Each row links this site’s state page, which grades notary products in that state. The state page does not grade the apostille office.

California. The FAQ lists $20 for each apostille and, for an in-person request, an extra $6 special handling fee for each different public official’s signature. One document with one signature in person is $26. The office handles requests in the order received. Overnight shipping speeds the mail, not the processing. California issues apostilles only for documents used outside the United States, and not for U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico or Guam.

New York. The fee is $10 per document. A notarized document goes through the county clerk of the county where the notary is certified before it comes to the Department. Mail goes to the Apostille and Authentication Unit in Albany. Walk-in same-day service is offered in New York City, Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo, and Utica, limited to 10 documents per customer.

Florida. The fee is $10 per document. A document certified by a Florida clerk of court is $20, which is $10 for the apostille and $10 for a certificate of incumbency. A photocopy is not acceptable. A Florida-notarized document needs the complete notarial statement and the notary’s original signature, stamp, and seal. Payment is by check or money order, mailed with the request form to the Apostille Section in Tallahassee.

Texas. The Secretary of State is the only Texas agency that issues apostilles for Texas public records used abroad. It splits documents in two. Recordable documents, such as birth and death certificates, marriage licenses, divorce decrees, and judgments, are recorded by an official. A notary cannot notarize them or make certified copies of them, and they must be less than five years old. Non-recordable documents, such as affidavits, powers of attorney, transcripts, diplomas, copies of passports, and translations, can be notarized by a Texas notary and then apostilled. Texas accepts a remote online notarization when it comes with the notary’s ledger and a certificate saying it was done by two-way audio-visual communication, and warns that some countries may not accept it.

Where a notary fits in

A notary does not issue an apostille. A notary’s signature can be the thing that gets apostilled.

That works for private documents: a power of attorney, a consent letter, an affidavit, or a translator’s statement. The signer signs in front of a notary. The state then authenticates the notary’s signature. The steps for the notary part are on how to notarize a document, and a power of attorney has its own guide at how to notarize a power of attorney.

It does not work for public records. A notary cannot turn a birth certificate into something the state will apostille. Texas says so directly for recordable documents. For a birth record, start with a certified copy from vital records. Our apostille birth certificate guide walks through that path in California, Florida, Texas, New York, Washington, and Illinois.

Use a notary in the same state as the apostille office. A Florida-notarized document goes to Florida. A New York-notarized document goes to the clerk of the county where that New York notary is qualified. If you use a video session, the notary’s commission state is the apostille state, wherever you sat during the call. Check that the destination country accepts a remote notarization before you book one.

Federal documents go to Washington, D.C.

The U.S. Department of State apostilles a document signed by a U.S. federal official, a U.S. consular officer, a foreign consul registered with its Office of Protocol, or a military notary or judge advocate. A state document is certified by the state that issued it. The Department’s request uses Form DS-4194.

The federal rule on notaries is the opposite of the state one. The Department says not to notarize a federal document, and warns that it will no longer be valid if notarized. If the destination country wants a translation, the Department says a professional translator should do it and the translation should be notarized.

Before you pay anyone

• Confirm the destination country and whether it is in the Convention.
• Confirm who signed the document: state, county, notary, or federal official.
• Get an original or a certified copy. Photocopies are refused by the offices above.
• If a notary is needed, use one commissioned in the state whose office will issue the apostille.
• Read the state office’s page for its current fee and form. The fees above are what each office printed when we read it in October 2026.

The buttons below are video notaries, for a private document that needs to be notarized before the apostille. They do not issue apostilles.