How Apostilles and International Document Authentication Work

To get an apostille, confirm that your destination country belongs to the Hague Apostille Convention, prepare your document in the correct form (notarize private documents; leave original government records untouched), and submit it with the required fee to the Secretary of State in the state where the document was issued, or to the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Authentications if it is a federal document.¹ The apostille is a single certificate that verifies the signature and seal on your document so a foreign government will accept it without further proof.²

Step 1: Confirm Your Destination Country Is a Convention Member

An apostille only works for countries that have joined the 1961 Hague Convention. More than 120 countries participate.² The United States has been a member since October 15, 1981.³ The Hague Conference on Private International Law maintains an official status table at hcch.net where you can look up any country.⁴

If the country is not a member, an apostille alone will not be accepted, and you need to follow the chain authentication process described later in this article.

Step 2: Prepare the Document Correctly

Government-Issued Documents

If your document was issued by a government office or court — a birth certificate, marriage license, court order, or diploma from a state institution — it already qualifies as a public document under the Convention. You do not need to notarize it. In fact, the U.S. Department of State warns that notarizing an original government document will make it invalid for apostille purposes.⁵

The document must be an original or a certified copy with original seals and signatures, and it must show a date of issuance. A plain photocopy will be rejected.⁵

Private Documents

Private documents — contracts, powers of attorney, personal affidavits — cannot be apostilled as-is. They must first be notarized. The notary’s certificate is the “public document” that the apostille actually authenticates.²

Notary fees for the signature usually run $5 to $10, though they vary by state and can run higher for remote online notarization. Watch the notary’s work carefully before you leave. Common notary errors cause a large share of apostille rejections:

The name on the notary certificate must match the name on the notary’s official commission exactly.
The certificate must state the correct venue — the location where the notarization actually occurred.
The date must be the day the document was signed in the notary’s presence.
The seal impression must be clean and complete. Blurred, partial, or upside-down seals are rejected, and the seal cannot cover any text or signatures.

Step 3: Send It to the Right Office

The correct office depends on where the document originated.

State-issued documents go to the Secretary of State (or equivalent office) in the state that issued them. A California birth certificate must be apostilled in California, even if you now live in Texas.⁶ The same applies to state court orders, notarized documents (because the notary holds a state commission), and diplomas from state-regulated schools.

Federal documents go to the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Authentications. This covers FBI background checks, documents certified by federal courts, and paperwork from federal agencies.⁶ The Office of Authentications issues either an apostille or an authentication certificate based on whether the destination country is a Convention member.¹

Sending a state-issued document to the federal office (or vice versa) is one of the most common reasons submissions come back unprocessed.

Fees and Processing Times

State Secretary of State fees range from $3 to $20 per document according to the Hague Conference.⁷ State processing typically takes a few business days to two weeks, plus mail transit. Many states offer expedited service for an extra fee, and a growing number accept online submissions.

The U.S. Department of State charges $20 per document for either an apostille or an authentication certificate.⁸ Mail-in requests are processed within five weeks of receipt.¹ If you are in the Washington, D.C. area, the Office of Authentications also accepts in-person drop-offs between 8:00 AM and 9:00 AM on business days, which is much faster.⁶

Payment is generally by check, money order, or credit card authorization form. When mailing, use a trackable service and include a pre-paid, self-addressed return envelope.

Translation, If the Destination Country Requires It

If the foreign authority needs the document in another language, hire a professional translator and have the translation notarized separately. The U.S. Department of State’s guidance is that the original document should not be notarized; only the translation receives the notary’s seal.⁹ The notarized translation may then need its own apostille. Some countries accept English documents without translation; others require a sworn translator certified in that country. Ask the receiving authority before spending money on the wrong kind of translation.

What to Do If the Destination Country Is Not a Convention Member

An apostille will not satisfy authorities in a non-member country. Instead, you go through chain authentication, which typically involves three offices:

The state Secretary of State certifies the document.
The U.S. Department of State’s Office of Authentications verifies the state official’s signature and issues an authentication certificate. The federal fee is $20 per document.⁸
The embassy or consulate of the destination country reviews the federal seal and applies its own legalization stamp. Each embassy sets its own fees and requirements, some of which change without much notice.

Without the final embassy stamp, government offices and courts in the destination country will almost certainly reject the document. Contact the specific embassy early because some also require the document to be translated into their official language before they will legalize it.

Common Reasons Apostille Requests Are Rejected

Most rejections come from the same handful of mistakes:

Submitting a plain photocopy instead of an original or certified copy with original seals.⁵
Notarizing an original government document, which invalidates it for apostille purposes.⁵
Sending a state document to the federal office, or a federal document to a state office.
Notary certificate errors: mismatched names, wrong dates, illegible seals, or missing venue information.
Failing to tell the issuing office which country the document is bound for, so the wrong certificate type gets issued.

Rejected documents come back with an explanation, but you lose all the processing time. For federal submissions that means restarting the five-week clock. An extra hour spent checking the document before it goes in the envelope is almost always worth it.

A Note on Timing

The apostille itself does not expire. However, many foreign authorities require the underlying document to be recent — often issued within six months or a year, depending on the type of proceeding. An older apostilled birth certificate proving identity is generally fine; an older apostilled background check for an immigration application usually is not. Confirm with the receiving authority before assuming an existing apostille will still be accepted.

1
U.S. Department of State. Office of Authentications
2
Hague Conference on Private International Law. Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents
3
U.S. Department of State. Apostille Requirements
4
Hague Conference on Private International Law. HCCH Status Table – Convention 12
5
U.S. Department of State. Preparing a Document for an Apostille Certificate
6
National Association of Secretaries of State. Apostilles and Document Authentication Services
7
Hague Conference on Private International Law. United States of America – Competent Authority
8
U.S. Department of State. Requesting Authentication Services
9
U.S. Department of State. Preparing a Document for an Authentication Certificate