California Apostille FAQ

The California Secretary of State charges $20 per document by mail and $26 per document at the walk-in counter in Sacramento or Los Angeles. Underlying documents (California Department of Public Health vital records, notarizations, translations) carry their own fees separate from the apostille itself.

Same-day at the Sacramento or Los Angeles walk-in counter when the document is prepared correctly. Mail-in service is typically 1 to 5 business days at the Secretary of State once received, plus shipping in each direction.

If you are within driving range of Sacramento or Los Angeles and the document is fully ready, walking in is fastest and cheapest. If you are anywhere else in California, mail is almost always the better choice — Sacramento and Los Angeles are the only two counters in the state.

Sacramento headquarters at 1500 11th Street, Sacramento, CA 95814, and the Los Angeles regional office at 300 South Spring Street, Room 12513, Los Angeles, CA 90013. These are the only two locations that issue California apostilles at the counter.

County Recorder copies do not always include the certification format the California Secretary of State requires for apostille. The California Department of Public Health issues the certified long-form copy that is reliably accepted on the first submission. County copies signed by the County Clerk / Recorder are accepted; copies signed only by the Local Registrar must go through the California Department of Public Health or be re-certified by the County Clerk first.

Wrong version of the underlying document. Short-form, informational, or wallet vital record copies are not eligible; only certified long-form copies are. Powers of attorney and affidavits that were pre-signed before reaching the notary cannot be properly notarized and will be rejected. Diplomas need a notarized copy, not the original.

No. California notary law requires the signer to be physically present and to sign in front of the notary. Documents that arrive pre-signed cannot be properly notarized, and an improper notarization cannot be apostilled.

No. California notaries are not authorized to perform remote online notarizations, so a RON cannot be apostilled by the California Secretary of State. The signer must appear in person before an in-person California notary.

Non-Hague destinations require embassy legalization instead of an apostille — a multi-step process through the United States Department of State and the destination country's embassy or consulate. We route non-Hague documents through the correct legalization chain rather than a straight apostille.

No. FBI Identity History Summaries are federal documents and are apostilled by the United States Department of State in Washington, D.C., regardless of what state the requestor lives in.

No. The California Secretary of State apostilles any California-issued document regardless of where the requestor lives. Vital records still have to originate from California and be issued in the correct format.

Some destination countries require a certified or sworn translation to accompany the apostilled document. We add certified or sworn translation as an option when your destination country calls for it.