We prepare your apostille request, submit it to the California Secretary of State, track it, and get your documents back to you. Notarization too, if your document needs it.
An apostille is a certificate that authenticates the signature of a public official on a document, so it can be used in another country. Specifically, it certifies three things:
An apostille does not validate the contents of your document. It speaks only to the signature, the signer's authority, and the seal. If the information inside the document is wrong, an apostille will not fix it.
The Secretary of State issues a single apostille for any destination country. The document itself has to qualify first: it must be an original notarized document, or a certified record signed by a California public official. Photocopies are never accepted.
Share the document and the country it is going to. We confirm whether it qualifies and what the Secretary of State will require, before you spend anything.
Some documents need to be notarized before they can be apostilled, and we can do that in person at your location. Others, such as vital records and court documents, are apostilled as issued and need a certified copy from the agency that holds them. We'll tell you which applies to yours.
We prepare the apostille request and send your original documents to the California Secretary of State in Sacramento by overnight shipping, with an overnight return label included so they come straight back to us. Overnight both ways is the most we can do to speed things along — the processing time in between is the state's.
Processing at the Secretary of State generally takes around 10 to 12 working days, depending on their current queue. As soon as your apostilled originals reach us, we get them back to you.
Our 24/7 availability covers notarization. An apostille is different: your original documents have to be physically shipped to the California Secretary of State in Sacramento, and the processing time there is theirs to set — generally around 10 to 12 working days. We use overnight shipping in both directions to keep the parts we control as fast as possible, but we can't speed up the state's queue. Tell us your deadline when you get in touch and we'll tell you honestly whether it's achievable.
We charge one flat fee per document, quoted upfront before any work begins. It rolls together everything getting the apostille takes:
Get in touch with your document and the destination country, and we'll give you the exact figure — no surprises, no hidden add-ons.
The state processing fee is set by the California Secretary of State and is subject to change.
The things clients ask us most about the apostille process.
It depends on the document. Some, such as powers of attorney and affidavits, are notarized first and the apostille then authenticates the notary's signature. Others, such as birth and marriage certificates, court records and some school records, already carry a California public official's signature and are apostilled as issued. Whoever is requesting the document is the best source on what they need — tell us what they've asked for and we'll handle it.
Sometimes. The Secretary of State authenticates a public official's signature, so what matters is who signed the certificate. It can authenticate the signatures of county clerks and their deputies, county recorders and their deputies, and the State Registrar at the California Department of Public Health. If a certificate was issued at the city or county level and is signed by a Health Officer or a County Registrar — titles such as Local Registrar or Registrar of Vital Records — it usually needs one extra step first: either being certified by the county clerk's office where it was issued, or obtaining a certified copy from the county recorder or the Department of Public Health. The signer's name and title are at the bottom of the certificate, and we check this before anything is shipped, so a request doesn't come back unprocessed.
Notarization happens as soon as we can meet you. After that, the documents are shipped to Sacramento and the Secretary of State processes them in the order received — generally around 10 to 12 working days. We use overnight shipping both ways to keep everything except the state's queue as fast as possible. It's not a same-day service, so share your deadline when you contact us and we'll give you a realistic estimate before you commit.
No. The California Secretary of State can only authenticate documents signed by California public officials or California notaries. A birth certificate from Texas, for example, has to be apostilled by Texas. Federal documents such as FBI background checks go through the U.S. Department of State instead. We're happy to point you in the right direction.
The California Secretary of State issues the same apostille regardless of which country the document is going to, so you don't need a different version for each destination. You do need to tell us the country, because it goes on the request form. Some receiving institutions ask for extra steps such as a certified translation — check with whoever is requesting the document.
Yes. The Secretary of State does not accept photocopies. Your original notarized document or certified record has to be physically submitted, which is why we ship it to Sacramento by overnight and include an overnight return label to bring it back.
We are a commissioned California Notary Public, available 24/7 across the Bay Area, and we can come to you. See our notary services →
Tell us what the document is and which country it is going to, and we will come back to you with the requirements, the cost and a realistic timeline.
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