Apostilles are one of the certifications that sit on top of North Carolina records, alongside the certified copies and court orders covered in North Carolina name change rules and the records that follow. This article covers which office issues the certificate, what condition the underlying document has to be in, what it costs, and what changes when the destination country is not a Hague Convention member.
When a North Carolina document needs an apostille
Foreign governments do not take a U.S. document at face value. The Hague Convention of October 5, 1961 replaced full consular legalization with a single certificate, the apostille, for documents traveling between member countries. North Carolina’s Secretary of State issues that certificate for North Carolina documents. Once it is attached, the document can be delivered directly to the country where it will be used, without further certification by the U.S. Department of State.
The federal government’s role is narrower than most people expect. The U.S. Department of State apostilles documents signed by federal officials, such as FBI background checks, IRS certifications of tax residency, and certificates of naturalization. For anything issued or notarized inside North Carolina, the certification comes from the state that issued the document rather than from Washington.
The requests that reach the Authentication Office tend to cluster around a few situations: marrying abroad, claiming citizenship through a parent or grandparent, enrolling in a foreign university, taking a job that requires a criminal record check, registering a business in another country, and completing an intercountry adoption.
Which North Carolina documents the Authentication Office certifies
The Authentication Office issues apostilles, authentications, and authority certificates for a wide range of North Carolina records, including birth, marriage, and death certificates, statements of marital status, articles of incorporation, corporate bylaws, certificates of merger, powers of attorney, patent and trademark applications, diplomas, school transcripts, deeds, and assignments of interest.
What the office does not do is create the underlying record. It certifies that the signature and seal already on the document belong to a North Carolina notary or a North Carolina public official whose signature is on file. A document that arrives without that signature and seal is rejected, no matter how legitimate the content is.
Getting the document into acceptable form
Everything submitted has to be in English. A document in another language needs a certified or notarized English translation attached to it before the Authentication Office will act.
Private documents, meaning anything not issued by one of the agencies listed above, are signed in front of a North Carolina notary public. Under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 10B-31, the maximum a notary may charge is $10 per notarized principal signature for an acknowledgment, jurat, verification, or proof, $15 per signature for an electronic notarization, and $25 per signature for a remote notarization. Mileage may be added only if the principal agreed to it in writing before the travel.
School records carry an extra trap. Transcripts, report cards, and diplomas issued by a North Carolina university, college, community college, or high school must be notarized by a North Carolina notary public; a school seal applied by the registrar is not accepted. The same page notes that all North Carolina agency documents submitted for an apostille must have been certified since April 1, 2000.
Obtain the underlying record
Order a certified copy from the agency that holds it, or produce the original private document. Vital records come from North Carolina Vital Records or a county register of deeds; corporate filings come from the Secretary of State’s business registration division; court records come from the clerk of superior court in the county where the case was heard.
Notarize, or use a true copy affidavit
Sign a private document in front of a North Carolina notary public. When only a photocopy is available, a notarized “true copy” affidavit stating that the copy is a true copy of the original can be attached instead. A template is published on the Authentication Office’s cover letters and templates page.
Write a cover letter
The cover letter names the country where each document will be used. That is what tells the office whether to issue an apostille or an authentication certificate, and the two are not interchangeable. If the finished documents go to a third party, the cover letter says so and the return envelope is addressed to that party.
Assemble the package
The submission is the cover letter, payment by check or money order, the original documents with every certification attached, and a prepaid return envelope or barcoded courier label. A handwritten label with an account number on it is not a prepaid courier label.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 130A-93, certified copies go only to the person named on the record, that person’s spouse, sibling, direct ancestor or descendant, stepparent or stepchild, someone seeking the record for a legal determination of personal or property rights, or an authorized agent or attorney of one of those people. A certified copy has the same evidentiary value as the original.
The fees are capped by statute. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 130A-93.1 sets a maximum of $24 for the first copy of a vital record or for a routine search when no copy is issued, and $15 for each additional copy from the same search. Expedited service adds up to $15 for in-state requests and up to $20 for out-of-state requests, on top of shipping charges. Those amounts are separate from the $10 the Secretary of State charges to attach the apostille.
## Sending the request to Raleigh and getting it back
The Authentication Office accepts mail at Post Office Box 29622, Raleigh, North Carolina 27626-0622, and walk-in deliveries at 2 South Salisbury Street in Raleigh. No appointment is required to hand-deliver documents.
Payment is made to the “North Carolina Secretary of State.” The processing fee is $10 per document, with a $5 fee for a duplicate original in adoption matters requested at the same time. As an exception to the agency’s general refund policy, a $10 authentication fee can be refunded when a document is rejected, is not processed, and a refund is requested.
Turnaround is published on the division’s front page and moves with the office’s workload rather than a fixed statutory clock. The office states that mailed documents generally take about five business days longer than hand-delivered ones. Genuine emergencies are reviewed case by case when documentation of the emergency is included with the request.
## When the destination country is not a Hague member
A country outside the Convention will not accept an apostille. For those destinations the Secretary of State issues a certificate of authentication or a certificate of authority instead, at the same $10 per document, and the document then needs a second layer of legalization.
That second layer runs through the U.S. Department of State Authentications office at 600 19th Street NW, Washington, DC 20006. Many countries then require a third step at their own embassy or consulate in the United States. Each layer has its own fee and its own processing time, so document preparation for a non-Hague country starts considerably earlier than for a Hague member.
Frequently asked questions
How long is a North Carolina apostille good for?
North Carolina does not put an expiration date on the certificate. The receiving country sets the limit, and many foreign registries refuse an apostille or an underlying vital record issued more than a few months earlier. Because the certificate is tied to the specific document it is attached to, a fresh certified copy usually means a fresh apostille.
Can an apostille be requested online in North Carolina?
No. The Authentication Office works from original paper documents with original signatures and seals, and payment arrives as a check or money order rather than a card. Documents are mailed or hand-delivered to the Raleigh office. Some source documents, including vital records, can be ordered online first and then sent on for the apostille.
Does a notarized copy of a passport or driver’s license work?
A North Carolina notary cannot certify that a copy of a government-issued identification document is accurate, so the usual route is a signed “true copy” affidavit in which the document holder swears the attached copy is a true copy of the original and the notary acknowledges that signature. The affidavit, not the identification document, is what carries the notarial act the apostille certifies.
What does an apostille cost in total?
The Secretary of State’s share is $10 per document. Getting the document ready usually costs more than the certificate itself: a notarization is capped at $10 per signature under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 10B-31, and a certified vital record is capped at $24 for the first copy under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 130A-93.1. Return shipping is paid by the requester.
Can a company or a third party submit the documents?
Yes. Nothing requires the person named on the document to appear. Courier services and expediting companies routinely file these requests, and the cover letter can direct the finished documents to a third party as long as the prepaid return envelope is addressed to that party. The fee and the document requirements are identical either way.
Sources
- N.C. Secretary of State: Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 (apostille process and fees)
- N.C. Secretary of State: Authentications Division
- N.C. Secretary of State: Authentication and Authority Certificates (non-Hague countries)
- N.C. Gen. Stat. § 10B-31 (fees for notarial acts)
- N.C. Gen. Stat. § 130A-93.1 (fees for vital records copies)
- U.S. Department of State: Prepare a Document for an Apostille Certificate