Apostille Finder

What an apostille is

An apostille certifies who signed the document, in what official capacity, and the seal or stamp on it. (source) It does not certify that what the document says is true.

Between countries in the Convention, the apostille replaces embassy legalization as the only certification that can be required. (source) Legalization is the certification done by the destination country’s diplomats or consuls. (source)

The Convention covers court documents, government documents, notarial acts and official certificates placed on privately signed papers, such as a notary’s acknowledgment. (source) Anyone holding the document can ask for the apostille; it does not have to be the person named in it. (source)

Apostille or authentication: it depends on the country

The Convention is in force for 128 countries and territories besides the United States (HCCH status table, checked October 24, 2026). A document going to any of them needs only the apostille.

Thailand (from February 28, 2027) has joined but the Convention is not yet in force there, so until that date a U.S. document needs authentication and legalization instead. The finder switches on the date automatically.

For a country outside the Convention, a state document gets a certificate of authentication from the state office, then the U.S. Department of State's authentication; a federal document goes straight to the State Department. The destination country's embassy or consulate then legalizes it. The embassy sets that last step, so ask it before you send anything. The full list is on our Hague apostille countries page.

13 states issue one certificate for every destination, in or outside the Convention: California, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Montana, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. For a country outside the Convention, that certificate still goes on to the U.S. Department of State and the embassy.

Who issues apostilles in the United States

• Documents issued in a state or DC are apostilled by that jurisdiction’s own designated office, usually the Secretary of State. (source)
• Documents issued by a federal agency get their apostille or authentication from the U.S. Department of State, Office of Authentications. (source)
• Documents issued by a federal court are apostilled by the clerk of that court. (source)
• Consular Reports of Birth, Death and Marriage Abroad are apostilled by the State Department’s Passport Services, Vital Records Section, not the Office of Authentications. (source)

"Usually the Secretary of State" has exceptions: in Alaska, District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Utah and Virginia, the office is another office (a Lieutenant Governor, a Secretary of the Commonwealth, the Treasury, a clerks' authority or the District's own office), and the table below names each one.

Apostille offices and fees by state

Each state links to its own page with how to send a request, what each kind of document needs first, and the steps for countries outside the Convention. Fees are as the office states them; check the office's page before paying.

Documents that need a step before the apostille

The state office can only certify a signature it has on file, such as a state registrar, a county clerk or a notary it commissioned. That is why some documents need another certification first.

• Notarized documents: in Hawaii, Kentucky, Maryland, New York and Tennessee, a county clerk or clerk of court certifies the notary first.
• Birth, death and marriage certificates: Alaska, New Jersey and Rhode Island ask for a copy issued by the state vital records office, or extra steps for a local copy.
• Recent copies: Alabama, Alaska, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia ask for a recently issued copy or one signed by the current registrar.
• Diplomas and transcripts: in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming, the school record goes in as a notarized copy or with a notarized statement from a school official.

Each state page lists the rule for every kind of document, with the office's own words linked.

Federal documents and the Office of Authentications

U.S. Department of State, Office of Authentications handles documents issued by federal agencies, including FBI background checks. The $20 fee is set by federal regulation for each basic authentication service. (source) The fee is charged even if the office sends back a letter instead of a certificate. (source)

• The form asks for the country where each document will be used. (source)
• Mail the form, the documents and a check or money order payable to the U.S. Department of State to the Office of Authentications in Sterling, Virginia (address on the form). (source)
• Do not send cash by mail. (source)
• Walk-in service takes at most 15 documents per customer. (source)

Form DS-4194, Request for Authentications Service