California Apostille Request Form
The real form is issued and hosted by the California Secretary of State. We link directly to the official PDFs — we don't host a copy, so what you download is always current.
Right now we only publish this reference for California, since California is the state we actually operate in. Other states have their own forms and addresses that we haven't verified end-to-end yet.
Download the official form
Pick the version that matches how you're submitting your document. All three are the California Secretary of State's own PDFs, hosted at notary.cdn.sos.ca.gov.
Mail-in request
Standard mail-in submission to the Sacramento office. 4-6 weeks. No special-handling fee.
Download PDFSacramento walk-in
In-person submission at the Sacramento counter. Same-day turnaround. $6 special-handling fee per signature.
Download PDFLos Angeles walk-in
In-person submission at the Los Angeles Regional Office. Same-day turnaround. $6 special-handling fee per signature.
Download PDFHow to fill it out
- 1Your contact infoFill in the name and mailing address where the apostilled document should be returned. Include a phone number so the SOS can contact you if there's an issue with the request.
- 2Destination countryWrite the exact country the document is going to (e.g. "Mexico", "Germany"). This matters — the certificate wording changes for Hague vs. non-Hague destinations.
- 3Number of documents and signaturesCount each document. If a document has multiple notary signatures (e.g. a POA notarized twice), count each signature separately — the fee is per signature, not per document.
- 4Payment$20 per signature, payable to "Secretary of State". Check or money order for mail-in. Add $6 per signature for walk-in special handling. Credit cards are accepted at the walk-in counters only.
- 5Return envelopeFor mail-in: include a self-addressed, tracked return envelope (USPS with tracking, FedEx, or UPS label). Untracked envelopes come back with no delivery confirmation and often get lost.
Important pre-step: vital records signed by a Local Registrar
If your California birth, marriage, or death certificate was issued by a county recorder and is signed by a "Local Registrar" (not the State Registrar), the California Secretary of State cannot apostille it as-is. It needs to be authenticated first by the County Clerk in the county that issued it — or, more commonly, you should just order the long-form certified copy directly from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), which is signed by the State Registrar and goes straight to the SOS for apostille.
We default to CDPH for California vitals because it's the reliable path — county copies frequently need the extra County Clerk authentication step before the SOS will touch them.
Where to send it
Mail-in (USPS)
For USPS mail only. 4-6 weeks. No special-handling fee. Include a tracked return envelope.
Walk-in / Courier — Sacramento
Same-day counter. Also accepts FedEx / UPS / DHL couriers (they can't deliver to a P.O. Box). +$6 per signature for walk-in special handling.
Walk-in — Los Angeles
Same-day counter, Southern California. +$6 per signature. Confirm hours before you go — the LA office has more limited hours than Sacramento.
Common reasons requests get rejected
These are the recurring rejection reasons we see and prevent for customers.
- Informational or wallet copy of a vital record. Only the full long-form certified copy (from CDPH for California vitals) can be apostilled.
- Laminated document. Laminated vital records and diplomas are rejected outright. You'll need an unlaminated copy or a notarized true copy of the original.
- Missing notary block elements. The notary's stamp, wet signature, commission expiration date, venue line ("State of California, County of ___"), and acknowledgment or jurat wording all have to be present and legible.
- Notary seal cut off at the page edge. Re-notarize on a clean page.
- Out-of-state notary. The California Secretary of State only apostilles California notarizations. Other states go to their own SOS.
- County-recorder vital record signed by a Local Registrar, with no County Clerk authentication attached. Either go through the County Clerk first, or (easier) order the CDPH long-form copy.
- Underpayment. Fees are per signature, not per document. Miscounting is a common return-to-sender reason.
- No return envelope, or an untracked one. Mail-in requests without a tracked return envelope regularly get lost on the way back.
- Federal documents sent to the state. FBI checks, USCIS, IRS 6166, and USPTO documents go to the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. — not the California SOS.
Not sure your document will be accepted?
Run the free pre-check quiz — a handful of yes/no questions using the same rejection rules the SOS applies.
Take the pre-checkWant to know the total cost first?
The free calculator gives you real numbers across all three service tiers. No email required.
Estimate my costRather have us handle it?
The intake walks you through every rejection-prevention step in about 5 minutes. Pick Self-Service Kit to get a personalized packet you mail in yourself, or Full Service to have us run it to the counter for you.