California Apostille Document Guides

How to pick the right guide

California apostille works differently depending on the kind of document. Vital records (birth, marriage, death) are certified copies from the California Department of Public Health or a County Clerk / Recorder. Court records come from the Superior Court that issued them. Notarized private documents (affidavits, powers of attorney, consent letters) route through a California notary before authentication. Corporate records may need a certified copy from the California Secretary of State's Business Programs Division. Academic records usually need school or notary certification first.

Every route ends at the same office — the California Secretary of State authenticates the signature of the California official (notary, court clerk, or Health Officer) attached to the document. The California Secretary of State fee is $20 per apostille. California notarization typically adds $15 per signature. Federal documents (FBI background checks, IRS letters, USCIS records) do not use the California route — they go to the U.S. Department of State in Washington.

Pick your document below to see the exact route, preparation steps, and common mistakes to avoid. If your document is not listed, contact us and we will confirm the correct route.

How to use this directory

Start by identifying who signed or issued the document. If a California notary public signed it, the document routes through the California Secretary of State's Notary Public Section. If a Superior Court clerk signed the certification, it routes through the same office but must be certified by that court first. If the California Department of Public Health issued a certified long-form vital record, it can go directly to the Secretary of State. If a federal officer signed it, it does not belong on this page — federal documents are authenticated by the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., not by California.

Every apostille from California carries the same legal weight regardless of which category the underlying document falls into. What changes is the preparation path: notarized documents need a current California notary acknowledgment or jurat, court documents need a court-clerk certification with the clerk's raised or color seal, and vital records need a certified copy issued within a window most destination countries will accept (commonly six months, though some require three). Reading the correct guide before you mail anything to Sacramento is the single biggest way to avoid a rejection and a wasted round trip.

Common rejection reasons repeat across categories: photocopies instead of originals, expired notary commissions, missing county-clerk certifications on Local Registrar birth records, unsigned acknowledgments, wrong fee amounts, and packets that reach the wrong Secretary of State office. Each guide below flags the specific traps for that document type. If a document has been sitting in a drawer for years, the notary who signed it may have retired or been decommissioned — the California Secretary of State can only authenticate signatures that were on file with them at the time of notarization, so an old notarization sometimes has to be redone from scratch.

Fees are consistent: $20 per apostille payable to Secretary of State, plus any upstream fee for notarization (typically $15 per signature), county-clerk certification (varies by county, usually $10 to $26), certified court copies (varies by court), or California Department of Public Health certified copies ($29 birth or death, $32 marriage, plus a mandatory sworn statement for authorized copies). Processing time at the Secretary of State is currently in the range of a few business days once your packet arrives; walk-in service adds a $6 special-handling fee but is only available for in-person requests, not by mail.