Skip to main content
Apostille Near Me
Browse all guides+
Apostille basics

What documents need an apostille?

By Frank MetayerUpdated August 16, 2026

Almost any U.S. document can be apostilled — a birth certificate, a diploma, a power of attorney, an FBI background check, your company's articles of incorporation — as long as it's headed to a country in the Hague Apostille Convention. (For a country outside that treaty, the document goes through embassy legalization instead, not an apostille.) What changes from one document to the next isn't whether it qualifies, but two things: which authority issues the apostille, and what has to happen to the document first — a certified copy, or a notary's signature — before that authority will touch it.

This checklist groups the documents people apostille most often by type, and maps each one to its issuing authority and its prep step. Get those two right and the process is routine. Get them wrong — the most common mistake being sending a federal document to a state office — and your paperwork comes back unauthenticated, costing you the one thing an apostille order can't give back: time.

Key takeaways

  • Two routing rules decide everything: state-issued or notarized documents go to the issuing state's Secretary of State; federal documents go only to the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C.
  • Vital records — birth, marriage, death, divorce — need a certified copy carrying the official's signature and seal, never a plain photocopy or a hospital keepsake certificate.
  • Private documents like powers of attorney, single-status affidavits, diplomas, and bank or employment letters usually must be notarized first, so the state has a signature to authenticate.
  • FBI background checks, Certificates of Naturalization, and Social Security letters are federal documents — no state Secretary of State can apostille them.
  • The physical green card is not itself apostilled — a different record usually is — and in some states corporate documents route through a different office than notarized ones, so confirm the specifics before you file.

First question: state or federal?

Before you think about your specific document, answer one question, because it decides where everything goes. The United States runs two parallel authentication systems. A document issued by a U.S. state — or a private document notarized inside that state — is apostilled by that state's Secretary of State (a few states assign the job to another office, such as a Lieutenant Governor). A document issued by the federal government is apostilled only by the U.S. Department of State's Office of Authentications in Washington, D.C.
This is the mistake that sends more orders back than any other. An FBI background check mailed to a state office is rejected because no state can authenticate a federal seal; a state birth certificate mailed to Washington is returned because the federal government didn't issue it. There's a second routing rule inside the state system, too: a document has to be apostilled by the state that created it. A California birth certificate can't be apostilled in Texas — it goes back to California, every time.

Vital records: birth, marriage, death, divorce

Vital records are the documents apostilled most often — usually for dual citizenship, marriage abroad, or visa and residency applications. The detail that trips people up: you need a certified copy issued by the record-keeping office, bearing the registrar's signature and raised or printed seal — not the keepsake certificate from the hospital, and not a home photocopy. That certified copy is what the Secretary of State authenticates, in the state where the event was recorded.
Divorce decrees follow a slightly different path because they're court records: the copy has to be certified by the clerk of the court that granted the divorce, and some states add a step where a court official's signature is authenticated before the Secretary of State issues the apostille. Many receiving countries also want a recently issued copy, so if your certificate is years old, order a fresh certified copy before you start.

Education documents: diplomas and transcripts

Diplomas and transcripts are in constant demand for teaching jobs abroad, further study, and skilled-worker visas. A diploma is a private document, so it's usually apostilled one of two ways: a notary attests to a true copy, or a school official signs a statement that's then notarized — and in both cases the Secretary of State authenticates the notary. Transcripts more often need a registrar-certified, sealed copy pulled straight from the school.
Which method a school and a destination country will accept varies, so it's worth confirming both before you notarize anything — redoing a diploma authentication because the wrong copy was certified is a common, avoidable delay. As of 2026, some universities also issue electronic diplomas, which change the prep steps; confirm your school's process before filing.

Federal documents: FBI, naturalization, Social Security

These are the documents only Washington can handle. FBI Identity History Summaries (background checks), Certificates of Naturalization and Citizenship, Social Security benefit and earnings letters, and IRS or FDA certificates all carry a federal seal, so they're apostilled exclusively by the U.S. Department of State — never a Secretary of State. Federal processing runs on its own timeline, which tends to be longer than the states', so it's usually the piece that sets the pace for a mixed order — and, as of 2026, the federal backlog fluctuates, so confirm current timing before you commit to a deadline.
A precise note on immigration documents, because it's widely misunderstood: the physical green card (Permanent Resident Card, issued by USCIS) is a government-issued ID and is not itself apostilled. If a foreign authority asks you to prove status, ask exactly which document they need — it's often a different record, or a notarized statement, that actually receives the apostille. Certificates of Naturalization and Citizenship can be authenticated federally, but handle them with care: federal law prohibits altering or defacing them, so never write on or modify the original.

Corporate records and anything that must be notarized first

State-issued corporate documents — articles of incorporation, a certificate of good standing (existence), certified formation records — come pre-certified from the state's business division and go to the Secretary of State for the apostille. Worth knowing: in some states the office that issues and authenticates business records is separate from the desk that handles notarized documents, so a corporate order and a notarized order can take different internal paths even within one state.
Everything else in the business world — bylaws, operating agreements, board resolutions, commercial contracts, and letters from an employer or a bank — is a private document with no government seal, which means it has to be signed before a notary before the state can authenticate it. The through-line for this entire checklist: a document needs either an official certification (a vital record, a court copy, a state corporate record) or a notarization before any apostille authority will act. A plain, unsigned photocopy can't be apostilled — that's the starting point people most often skip.

Not sure where your document goes?

Tell us what you're authenticating and where it's headed — we'll confirm the right authority, the prep each document needs, and send a flat, all-in quote before any work begins, with no obligation.

Get a free quoteCall 1-800-889-7850

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to get a document apostilled?+

It depends on the document and the authority, and timelines shift, so confirm before filing. As of 2026, many state Secretary of State offices turn documents around in anywhere from the same day to a few weeks, while federal documents processed by the U.S. Department of State typically take longer and their backlog fluctuates. If you're on a deadline, plan around the slowest document in your order — usually the federal one.

How much does it cost to apostille a document?+

It depends on the document, the issuing authority, and how fast you need it. You get a flat, all-in quote before any work begins — with no hidden fees, and no obligation.

Which authority issues the apostille for my document?+

It comes down to who issued or notarized the document. Anything issued by a U.S. state or notarized inside a state — vital records, notarized affidavits, diplomas, most corporate records — is apostilled by that state's Secretary of State (a handful of states use a different office, such as a Lieutenant Governor). Anything issued by the federal government — FBI background checks, Certificates of Naturalization, Social Security letters — is apostilled only by the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. Match the document to the government that created it and you have the right authority.

Does my document need to be translated too?+

It depends on the destination country's rules, so confirm with the receiving office. In most cases the sequence is apostille first, then translate — but some countries want the translation itself certified, notarized, and apostilled as its own document. Because the order matters and a wrong sequence means redoing the work, it's worth confirming before you begin.

My order has both a federal document and a state document — do they go to the same place?+

No, and this is one of the most common and costly mix-ups. Say you're apostilling an FBI background check and a marriage certificate together: the FBI check is a federal document that only the U.S. Department of State can authenticate, while the marriage certificate goes to the Secretary of State of the state where it was filed. They travel on two separate tracks, with different processing times. Sending both to one office gets the misrouted document returned unauthenticated.

Keep reading

State vs. federal apostilleFBI background check apostilleBirth certificate apostillePower of attorney apostilleCertificate of good standingDiploma apostille