How to Get an Apostille in the United States

Educational information, not legal advice. Fees, offices and processing times vary by state and document type and can change. Confirm current details with the issuing office before you mail anything.

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US apostille state finder

Search your state to see its apostille fee and open the full guide with the office, processing time and a cost calculator.

What is an apostille?

An apostille is a certificate that authenticates a public document so that another country will accept it as genuine, and it exists because of the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention, a treaty that lets member countries recognize each other's documents through this single standard certificate. Instead of a long chain of stamps ending at an embassy, one apostille makes a birth certificate, a diploma, or a power of attorney usable abroad. The apostille does not verify that the content of your document is true; it verifies that the signature, seal, or stamp on it belongs to a genuine official, notary, or agency. In the United States, that verification is split between state and federal authorities depending on what kind of document you have, which is the first thing to get right.

Who issues an apostille in the United States?

In the United States, a state document is apostilled by the state that issued it, through its Secretary of State or an equivalent office, while a federal document is apostilled by the U.S. Department of State. This split is the single most common source of mistakes. A birth, marriage, or death certificate, or a document notarized by a state notary, goes to the relevant state, and it must be the issuing state, not the state where you happen to live now. A federal document, most often an FBI background check, goes only to the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., and no state office can touch it. A handful of states use a different office than a Secretary of State: Utah, Hawaii, and Alaska use the Lieutenant Governor, and Virginia uses the Secretary of the Commonwealth, but the state-versus-federal rule holds everywhere.

How much does a US apostille cost?

A US apostille costs between about $1 and $25 at the state level, with Michigan the cheapest at $1 per document and states like Oklahoma and South Dakota at the top around $25, while most states sit between $5 and $15. Federal documents such as an FBI background check have a flat federal fee of $20 per document. These are the government charges only; a certified copy from vital records, a notarization, or an expedite or hand-carry service each cost extra, and the flat rates advertised by private companies are mostly their own service fee stacked on top of the same government fee. The state finder above shows the exact apostille fee for each state, and each state guide breaks down the full cost picture. Always confirm the current fee on the official page before paying, since fees change.

What is the difference between an apostille and an authentication?

The difference comes down to whether the destination country belongs to the Hague Apostille Convention. For a member country, such as Mexico, Spain, Italy, Germany, or Canada, the office issues an apostille, and the document is then ready to use with no further steps. For a country that is not a member, the same office issues an authentication, sometimes called a certification, and the document must then be legalized by that country's embassy or consulate before it will be accepted. This is why every apostille request asks for the destination country: the office needs to know which certificate to attach. Getting the country right, and knowing whether it is a Hague member, prevents the frustrating situation of receiving the wrong certificate and having to start over.

How do you get an apostille step by step?

Getting an apostille follows the same five steps regardless of document, and working through them in order avoids nearly every common delay. First, identify your document type, because that decides whether it is state or federal. Second, prepare the document: order a certified copy for a vital record, or have a private document notarized, and never send a plain photocopy or a hospital or funeral-home souvenir. Third, complete the request, naming the destination country and including a cover letter with your contact and return details. Fourth, pay the correct fee and enclose a prepaid return envelope. Fifth, submit to the correct office by mail, drop box, or in person where allowed. The document-specific guides below walk through each of these for FBI checks, birth and marriage certificates, diplomas, and powers of attorney, and each state guide adds the local office, hours, and quirks.

Apostille guides by document type

These document guides cover the most common apostille needs, each with its own step-by-step process and a free tool. Start here if you know your document but not your state, then use the finder above to confirm the office and fee.

By the Trámites Notariales US editorial team. Sources: U.S. Department of State; state Secretary of State and vital records offices; Hague Conference on Private International Law. Confirm current fees and requirements before relying on this.