[❗After placing an order, you will receive an email with instructions on providing your original document to us for apostille or authentication, usually within 24 hours. If you haven’t received the instruction email after 24 hours, please check your spam or junk folder. For assistance, contact us at info@usnotarycenter.com. For orders placed on weekends or holidays, you will receive instruction emails on the next business day.]
 
(50 States & DC) Secretary of State: Authentication / Apostille Service
 
1. To apply for apostille or authentication, clients have the responsibilities to provide us with the original documents.
 
2. Before ordering the (50 states) Secretary of State's apostille or authentication service, please be sure that your documents have been properly notarized by the notary public in the state where the documents are from.
 
However, Vital Records, Court Documents, and Recordable company documents (such as birth/death/marriage certificates, divorce decrees, court decisions/orders, company's Articles of Incorporation, Good Standing Certificates, etc.) cannot be notarized. You'll need to provide certified copies of those documents. Certified Copies of Vital Records can be ordered here, court documents can be requested from the issuing court, and the company's recordable document can be requested at the corporate or business registration division of the state government.
 
3. In the notes section, please specify your document type, the issuing state and agency, and the country of use (or the relevant foreign embassies/consulates in the US). This information will help us provide you with accurate mailing instructions after you place your order.
 
You may put the document info in the notes section like this:
 
1. Birth Certificate, 2. from New York City, 3. to be used in Spain (or the Spanish Embassy).
1. Single Status Affidavit, 2. notarized in Maryland, 3. to be used in Mexico.
1. Passport Copy, 2. notarized in Virginia, 3. to be used in France.
1. Articles of Incorporation, 2. from Delaware, 3. to be used in Germany.

4. In a few states in the United States (such as Alabama, Hawaii, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, New York, and Tennessee), certain types of documents need to be certified by the County Clerk before sending them to the state offices to request an apostille or authentication. You'll be notified by our team if the county clerk certification service should be added to your case.

5. There are no expedited services available in most states. Please arrange in advance according to your schedule.
 
6. The Secretary of State certification is divided into two types: Apostille and Authentication. Your document's country of use will decide the certificate type.
 
Apostille is known as the Hague certification and can be used in the Hague Apostille countries. If your destination country is listed here, the certification type should be “Apostille”. No further authentication is needed.
 
If the country is not listed, the certification type should be “Authentication”.  In this case,  further authentication may be needed if your destination country is not a member of the Hague Apostille Convention. Besides obtaining the authentication from the Secretary of State in your state, the document should also be sent to the U.S. Department of State and the embassy of the destination country, which are both located in Washington D.C., for further authentication.
 
🕒 Processing Time: Vary by state. Check it out here.
 
⚠️ Check the current processing time here.