Apostille Your Vital Records Online

An apostille is a certificate issued by a designated U.S. authority — usually a Secretary of State for state documents, or the U.S. Department of State for federal documents — that authenticates a public document so it's legally recognized in another country. It was created by the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention (Treaty 12) and is now accepted by 127 member countries. Once a document is apostilled, you don't need any additional embassy or consulate legalization for use in those countries.

A notary verifies the identity of the person signing a document. An apostille verifies that the official (notary, registrar, or government issuer) who signed the document is legitimate. A notary stamp is recognized inside the United States; an apostille is what makes a U.S. document recognized abroad. In most states, a document must first be notarized or certified before the Secretary of State will issue an apostille on top of it.

Standard processing through our service typically takes 5–10 business days from when we receive your document. Federal documents (FBI background checks, IRS forms, Social Security letters) processed by the U.S. Department of State currently take 8–12 weeks unless you use the in-person window. Rush options are available for most state apostilles.

Cost depends on the issuing state and the type of document. State Secretary of State fees range from $5 (Pennsylvania) to $40 (Florida) per document. Our flat service fee covers preparation, courier handling between agencies, and return shipping — pricing is shown when you start an order so there are no surprises.

You need a state-issued certified copy of the birth certificate (a hospital souvenir copy will not work). The certified copy is sent to that state's Secretary of State, who attaches the apostille. With our service, upload a photo of your existing certified copy or order a new one through us — we handle the routing, signatures, and return shipping anywhere in the world. See our birth certificate apostille glossary entry for more detail.

A state-issued certified copy of the marriage certificate is required, from the county or state where the marriage was registered. Once we have it, we submit it to the issuing state's Secretary of State for apostille and ship the apostilled certificate back to you. Common reasons: spouse visas, name changes abroad, joint property registration, and international tax filings — see marriage certificate apostille for full details.

A certified state-issued death certificate is required. We submit it to the Secretary of State of the state of death for apostille. Common uses include foreign probate, life insurance claims, pension or social security claims overseas, and transferring real estate located in another country — see death certificate apostille for full details.

Because the FBI background check is a federal document, only the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. can apostille it (not a state Secretary of State). Current State Department mail-in turnaround is 8–12 weeks. We handle the submission, courier return, and shipping back to you to save you the trip. See FBI background check apostille for the full process, validity windows, and country requirements.

No. In the United States, only a designated competent authority can issue an apostille — that's a Secretary of State for state-issued documents, and the U.S. Department of State for federal documents. A notary's role is limited to notarizing the underlying document so it qualifies for an apostille.

An apostille certificate is a one-page document, usually attached or stapled to the back of your document. It carries the country name, the issuing authority, the signer's name and capacity, the date, an apostille number, and an official seal. The format is standardized worldwide under the Hague Convention, so it looks similar regardless of which country issued it.

Any U.S.-issued public document being used officially in a Hague Convention country: birth, marriage, divorce, and death certificates; FBI background checks; diplomas and transcripts; powers of attorney; corporate documents (including the Certificate of Good Standing); IRS Form 6166; adoption decrees; single status affidavits; and naturalization certificates. If your destination country is not on the Hague list, you'll need consular legalization instead — we can help with that too.

127 countries that are parties to the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention currently accept a U.S. apostille, including all of the EU, the UK, Mexico, Brazil, India, China (since 2023), Canada (since 2024), Japan, South Korea, Australia, and most of Latin America. Algeria joins on July 9, 2026 and Vietnam on September 11, 2026. Non-Hague countries (such as the UAE before 2024, Iraq, Cambodia, and most Gulf states) require consular legalization instead.