Foreign employers, universities, immigration authorities, and courts routinely refuse a Washington-issued document unless it carries an apostille. This is one of the records procedures covered in the reference on Washington name change and personal records. What follows is what the certificate does, which documents qualify, how to prepare and submit a request, and what the service costs at each processing speed.
What a Washington apostille certifies
Under RCW 43.07.032, the Secretary of State may attest to the authenticity of the signature of a Washington public official, and may certify or attest to the signature of a notary public. The certificate verifies that the notary public, court clerk, county recorder, or vital records administrator who signed the underlying document held the authority to do so. It does not verify that the contents of the record are accurate or reliable, a limit the Secretary of State’s apostille resource page states directly.
The administrative rule behind the program is WAC 434-112-110, which directs the Corporations and Charities Division to issue apostille certification under RCW 43.07.032 and the standard protocols of the Hague Conference 1961 Apostille Convention.
Washington issues one document for both destinations. A “universal certificate” serves as an apostille when the receiving country is a party to the Hague Convention of October 5, 1961, and as a certificate of authentication when the receiving country is not. The two used to be issued separately; they are now combined into a single certificate.
Which documents qualify
WAC 434-112-110 allows apostille certification for certified government documents from Washington and its political subdivisions, naming state agencies, courts, institutions of higher education, public school systems, and county and municipal government offices. The same rule allows certification of documents properly notarized by a licensed Washington notary, and bars certification of documents notarized by an out-of-state notary.
Records the office routinely certifies include Washington birth, death, marriage, and divorce certificates; letters of single status; business entity records on file with the Corporations Division; public and private school transcripts and diplomas; Washington State Patrol background checks; notarized photocopies of driver licenses and passports; and notarized personal documents such as powers of attorney, affidavits, and consents. The apostille program’s frequently asked questions list the document categories the division accepts.
Four categories of notarized documents are excluded by statute. RCW 43.07.032(3) bars the Secretary of State from certifying a notary’s signature on a document regarding allegiance to a government or jurisdiction, a document relating to the relinquishment or renunciation of citizenship, sovereignty, military status, or world service authority, a document claiming or implying immunity from Washington or federal law, or an individually created document that can or should be issued as a certified copy by a city, county, or state entity.
## Preparing the document before you send it
Most rejected requests fail on the underlying document rather than the request form. Three preparation routes cover nearly every situation.
**Personal documents** are notarized by a Washington notary public first. RCW 42.45.130 requires the notarial certificate to be executed at the same time as the notarial act, signed and dated by the notary in the same manner as the signature on file with the state, to identify the jurisdiction where the act was performed, to state the notary’s title of office, to be written in English or in dual languages including English, and to show the expiration date of the commission. A notarial act on a paper record also requires the official stamp. The Secretary of State asks that a separate notarial certificate be attached but not stapled to the document, and the office itself provides no notary service.
**Vital records** have to be an original unaltered certificate or a certified copy; photocopies and informational copies are returned. A vital record issued by another state is apostilled by that state, not by Washington. Certified Washington birth, death, marriage, and divorce records are ordered from the Department of Health. As of 2026, a mail order to the Department of Health starts at a nonrefundable $25 and ships 6 to 8 weeks after payment processes, while an online or telephone order through VitalChek starts at $40.50 and ships within 3 to 7 business days, according to the Department of Health’s ordering a vital record page.
**Court and county records** qualify when they are certified copies signed by the state or county official who holds the record, or by that official’s authorized representative. Certified Washington court documents are accepted without separate notarization.
## Submitting the request
Requests reach the Corporations and Charities Division by mail or in person. There is no online apostille filing; business entity documents that need an apostille cannot be ordered through the online portal and are requested on paper at the same time as the apostille.
Apostille or Certificate of Authentication Request Form
From Washington Secretary of State
URL verified September 2026 · 300 KB
Gather the qualifying document
Collect the original or certified copy, or have the personal document notarized by a Washington notary. Confirm the notarial certificate carries the stamp, the signature, the printed name, the title, the commission expiration date, and a Washington county and state as the jurisdiction.
Name the destination country
The request form asks which country the document is going to. That answer determines whether the certificate is issued as an apostille or as a certificate of authentication, and the division cannot process a request without it.
Calculate and enclose payment
As of 2026 the fee is $15.00 per document, plus $100 per ten documents for expedited handling, per the Secretary of State’s fee schedule for apostilles. Checks and money orders are made payable in U.S. dollars to “Secretary of State.”
Include a return envelope and mail the packet
Processed documents go back by regular first-class mail unless the request includes a prepaid traceable return label or envelope. Mail goes to the Corporations and Charities Division, PO Box 40234, Olympia, WA 98504-0234. In-person same-day service is handled at the Tumwater and Cheney offices.
Frequently asked questions
How long is a Washington apostille good for?
Washington places no expiration date on the certificate itself. The receiving institution sets the limit, and many foreign agencies will not accept an apostille or the underlying vital record if either is more than three or six months old. An abstract driving record is the one Washington-side record with a stated shelf life: the Secretary of State accepts it only if the Department of Licensing issued it within 30 days of the office receiving it, per the apostille document guidelines.
Can a document be apostilled if it was notarized in another state?
No. WAC 434-112-110 states that the division will not provide apostille certification for documents notarized by an out-of-state notary. The apostille is requested from the secretary of state in the state whose notary signed the document.
Does the Secretary of State translate documents or accept translations?
The office does not translate documents and does not certify the accuracy of a translation. A translation that needs an apostille is handled as a personal document: the translator signs a declaration in front of a Washington notary public, the notarial certificate meets the requirements of RCW 42.45.130, and the apostille then certifies the notary’s signature rather than the translation itself.
What is the difference between an apostille and a certificate of authentication?
The destination country, not the document. An apostille goes to a country that is a party to the Hague Convention of October 5, 1961; a certificate of authentication goes to a country that is not. Washington now issues both on a single universal certificate, so the request form asks for the destination country rather than asking the requester to choose a certificate type.
Can someone else submit the apostille request?
Yes. Washington does not restrict who may present a qualifying document for apostille, and requests arrive from attorneys, employers, relatives, and commercial courier services as well as from document holders. The division charges the same $15.00 per document regardless of who submits it, and returns the finished certificate to the mailing address written on the request form.
Sources
- RCW 43.07.032: Authenticity or certification of signatures, Attestation
- WAC 434-112-110: Apostille certification of documents
- RCW 42.45.130: Certificate of notarial act
- Washington Secretary of State: Apostilles Services & Information
- Washington Secretary of State: Apostille Frequently Asked Questions
- Apostille or Certificate of Authentication Request Form
- Washington State Department of Health: Ordering a Vital Record