Apostille Services California

Authentications: Apostille or Certification

The California Secretary of State only authenticates signatures on documents issued in the State of California signed by a notary public or the following public officials and their deputies:

County Clerks or Recorders
Court Administrators of the Superior Court
Executive Clerks of the Superior Court
Officers whose authority is not limited to any particular county
Executive Officers of the Superior Court
Judges of the Superior Court
State Officials

Some examples of documents submitted for signature authentication are:

Birth Certificates
Bylaws
Certificates of Non-Marital Status
Corporate documents such as articles, mergers, amendments, etc.
Deeds of Assignment
Distributorship Agreements
Marriage Licenses
Papers for adoption purposes
Powers of Attorney
School records such as diplomas, transcripts, letters relating to degrees, etc.
References and Job Certification
Trademarks

Documents submitted to the Secretary of State for signature authentication must have a current certification date by the appropriate public official or their deputy or must be notarized by a California Notary Public.

Customers requiring authentication of any school records (e.g., transcript or diploma) must obtain a notarized copy of the record from the high school, university, etc., before submitting the documents for authentication.

Any document executed by County Health Officers and County Local Registrars can be authenticated only if the document is first certified by the county clerk/recorder.

Note: The Secretary of State's regional office, located in Los Angeles, only authenticates public official signatures. Notary public signatures must be certified by the county clerk/recorder (on the notary public stamp) before submitting the document to the regional office for authentication. The regional office only processes documents dropped off in person.

To avoid delays that may result from out-of-date documents, a document certified by a county official (e.g. county clerk) should have a certification date within the last five years or a new certified copy should be obtained from the appropriate county official.

The customer must identify the country of destination when the documents are submitted.

Important Information

In 1961 many nations joined together to create a simplified method of "legalizing" documents for universal recognition in each other's countries. Members of the conference, referred to as the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement for Legalization of Foreign Public Documents (33 U.S.T 883), adopted a document referred to as an Apostille that would be recognized by all member nations.

Documents sent to member nations, completed with an Apostille at the state level, may be submitted directly to the member nation without further action.

Documents sent to non-member nations requiring a Certification of the signature of the state's public official at the state level, will need to be transmitted to the Office of Authentications of the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. for the authentication of the State Official's signature if requested by the receiving country

If your document is intended for use in a country which is a party to a treaty called the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents ("Hague Legalization Convention" HLC ), obtaining a special "apostille" certificate is generally all that is required.
APOSTILLE: If the document is intended for use in a foreign country it has to be legalized (another word is “authenticated”) for foreign use. This is a process in which various seals are placed on the document. The legalization procedure basically depends on one factor: whether the target country has joined the Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (“The Hague Convention”). In this case the only legalization required is an Apostille certificate. (Apostille is a French word which means a certification). A document bearing an Apostille is valid in all of the Hague countries .

The Hague Legalization Convention is in force in the following countries:

• ALBANIA
• AMERICAN SAMOA
• ANDORRA
• ANGOLA
• ANGUILLA
• ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA
• ARGENTINA
• ARMENIA
• ARUBA
• AUSTRALIA
• AUSTRIA
• AZERBAIJAN*
• BAHAMAS
• BARBADOS
• BELARUS
• BELGIUM
• BELIZE
• BERMUDA
• BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
• BOTSWANA
• BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS
• BRUNEI
• BULGARIA
• CAYMAN ISLANDS
• CHINA (Hong Kong SAR (Special Administrative Region) ONLY)
• CHINA (Macau SAR (Special Administrative Region) ONLY)
• COLOMBIA
• COMOROS ISLANDS
• COOK ISLANDA
• CROATIA
• CYPRUS
• CZECH REPUBLIC
• DENMARK
• DJIBOUTI
• DOMINICA
• ECUADOR
• EL SALVADOR
• ESTONIA
• FALKLAND ISLANDS
• FIJI
• FINLAND
• FRANCE
• FRENCH POLYNESIA
• GEORGIA*
• GERMANY
• GIBRALTAR
• GREECE
• GRENADA
• GUAM (TERRITORY OF)
• GUERNSEY
• HONDURAS
• HONG KONG SAR (China, Hong Kong SAR)
• HUNGARY
• ICELAND
• INDIA*
• IRELAND
• ISLE OF MAN
• ISRAEL
• ITALY
• JAPAN
• JERSEY
• KAZAKHSTAN
• KOREA, REPUBLIC OF
• LATVIA
• LESOTHO
• LIBERIA*
• LIECHTENSTEIN
• LITHUANIA
• LUXEMBOURG
• MACAU SAR (China, Macau SAR)
• MACEDONIA
• MALAWI
• MALTA
• MARSHALL ISLANDS
• MAURITIUS
• MEXICO
• MOLDOVA*
• MONACO
• MONTSERRAT
• MOZAMBIQUE
• NAMIBIA
• NETHERLANDS
• NETHERLANDS ANTILLES (Curacao, Bonaire, St. Martin, St. Eustatius and Saba)
• NEVIS
• NEW CALEDONIA
• NEW ZEALAND
• NIUE
• NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS (COMMONWEALTH OF)
• NORWAY
• PANAMA
• POLAND
• PORTUGAL
• PUERTO RICO
• ROMANIA
• RUSSIAN FEDERATION
• SAMOA
• SAN MARINO
• SERBIA
• SEYCHELLES
• SLOVAKIA
• SLOVENIA
• SOLOMON ISLANDS
• SOUTH AFRICA
• SPAIN
• ST. CHRISTOPHER (Kitts) AND NEVIS
• ST. GEORGIA AND SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS
• ST. HELENA
• ST. KITTS
• ST. LUCIA
• ST. PIERRE AND MIQUELON
• ST. VINCENT
• ST. VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES
• SURINAME
• SWAZILAND
• SWEDEN
• SWITZERLAND
• THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
• TONGA
• TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
• TURKEY
• TURKS AND CAICOS
• TUVALU
• U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS
• UKRAINE*
• UNITED KINGDOM
• UNITED STATES
• VANUATU
• VENEZUELA
• VIRGIN ISLANDS, BRITISH
• WALLIS AND FUTUNA
• YUGOSLAVIA