A California apostille authenticates the signature of a public official on a document so a foreign government will accept it. The California Secretary of State issues apostilles for California-issued documents and, as of 2026, charges $20 for each one. Authenticating documents for use abroad is one part of handling California vital records and personal documents; this article covers which documents qualify, what an apostille costs, and how to request one by mail or in person.
What a California apostille is
An apostille certifies three things: the authenticity of the signature of the public official who signed the document, the capacity in which that official acted, and the identity of any seal or stamp the document carries. It does not validate the contents of the document. As the California Secretary of State’s apostille FAQ puts it, the certificate confirms a signature is genuine, not that the underlying facts are true.
The apostille exists because of the 1961 Hague Convention, a treaty that lets member countries accept a single standardized certificate instead of a longer chain of authentications. California issues one apostille for a document going anywhere outside the United States, regardless of the destination country. That is a point of state procedure worth knowing, because the federal government treats non-member countries differently, a distinction covered in the last section.
Which documents can be apostilled
The document you submit must be signed by a California public official, or it must be an original notarized or certified document. A photocopy is not accepted.
Notarized documents make up a large share of apostille requests: powers of attorney, affidavits, business agreements, and school records that a notary has acknowledged. For the Secretary of State to authenticate the notary’s signature, the notarial certificate has to meet California form requirements. Under Cal. Civ. Code § 1189, a California certificate of acknowledgment must carry a specific boxed notice stating that the notary verified only the identity of the signer, not the truthfulness of the document. A certificate missing that language can be rejected.
Vital records follow a narrower rule. For a birth or death certificate, the Secretary of State can apostille the signatures of county clerks and their deputies, county recorders and their deputies, and the State Registrar at the California Department of Public Health. If your certificate was issued by a city or county agency and carries the signature of a local registrar or health officer, you first obtain a certified copy from the county recorder or the State Registrar, or have the copy certified by the county clerk, before the document can be authenticated.
What a California apostille costs
The fee is $20 for each apostille. For requests made in person, the Secretary of State also charges a $6 special handling fee for each different public official’s signature being authenticated. The $6 fee applies to in-person requests only and does not apply to requests submitted by mail.
The two fees stack per document and per signature. One document with one official’s signature costs $26 in person, or $20 by mail. Two documents signed by two different officials cost $52 in person. Payment at the counter can be made by credit card, check, money order, or cash in Sacramento, though the Los Angeles office does not accept cash. A mailed request includes a check or money order for $20 per apostille, payable to Secretary of State.
How to request a California apostille
Three routes are available: by mail through the Sacramento office, in person at the Sacramento or Los Angeles offices, or at a Pop-Up Shop the Secretary of State runs with county partners around the state. The request process and current addresses are published by the Secretary of State.
Get the document into apostille-ready form
Confirm the document is an original signed by a California public official, or an original notarized or certified document. For a vital record, order a certified copy from the county recorder or the State Registrar. A photocopy will be returned unprocessed.
Prepare a cover sheet
Every request includes a cover sheet stating the country where the document will be used, along with a return address and contact information. The Secretary of State provides a fillable cover sheet, or you can write your own with the same information.
Include payment
Enclose a check or money order for $20 per apostille, payable to Secretary of State. In-person requests add the $6 special handling fee per official’s signature. Mailed requests do not.
Submit by mail or in person
Mail requests go to the Notary Public Section, P.O. Box 942877, Sacramento, CA 94277-0001, and are processed by the Sacramento office only. In-person, same-day service is available at 1500 11th Street in Sacramento and at 300 South Spring Street in Los Angeles.
A mailed request also includes a self-addressed return envelope. If you want tracking, you provide pre-paid postage; otherwise the office returns the document by regular mail. Anyone can submit a request on another person’s behalf, and the requester does not have to be related to any person named in the document.
Processing times and urgent requests
Apostille requests are processed in the order the office receives them. Because of the volume of mail, the Secretary of State’s office cannot pull a mailed submission out of the queue for faster handling. Mailing documents overnight through a courier speeds the delivery to the office, not the processing once they arrive.
For a request that cannot wait, same-day service is available in person at the Sacramento and Los Angeles offices and at Pop-Up Shops. Current processing times shift with demand, so the office maintains a processing-times page that reflects the queue at any given time.
Federal documents and countries outside the Hague Convention
Not every document goes to the state. Documents issued by a federal agency are apostilled by the U.S. Department of State, not the California Secretary of State. The U.S. Department of State issues apostilles for records such as FBI background checks, certificates of naturalization, and IRS certifications of U.S. tax residency, and it processes those requests using Form DS-4194.
The destination country also matters. For a country that belongs to the 1961 Hague Convention, a state-issued document needs only the state apostille. For a country that is not a member, the federal process issues an authentication certificate rather than an apostille.
Frequently asked questions
Does California issue a different certificate for a country that is not in the Hague Convention?
For documents it handles, the California Secretary of State issues a single apostille for use in any country outside the United States, regardless of destination. The distinction between an apostille and an authentication certificate arises at the federal level: for federal documents used in a non-member country, the U.S. Department of State issues an authentication certificate instead of an apostille.
Can someone else submit my apostille request for me?
Yes. Any individual can request an apostille on behalf of themselves or anyone else, and the requester does not need to be related to any person named in the document. A neighbor, friend, or courier can take the document to the office and submit it on your behalf.
How much does an apostille cost for several documents at once?
The charge is $20 per apostille, plus a $6 special handling fee for each different public official’s signature when the request is made in person. Under the Secretary of State’s fee schedule, five documents signed by one official cost $106 in person, and five documents signed by five officials cost $130. Mailed requests are not charged the $6 fee.
My birth certificate has a local registrar’s signature. Can it still be apostilled?
It may need an extra step first. The Secretary of State authenticates the signatures of county clerks, county recorders, and the State Registrar. A certificate signed by a local registrar or health officer is often certified by the county clerk, or replaced with a certified copy from the county recorder or the State Registrar, before it can be authenticated.
Can I get a California apostille the same day?
Same-day service is available for in-person requests at the Sacramento and Los Angeles offices and at Pop-Up Shops. Mailed requests are processed in the order received and cannot be pulled from the queue for expedited handling.