California Apostille FAQs

Apostille stamps for birth, death and marriage certificates issued in California can be obtained from the California Secretary of State in Sacramento or Los Angeles. To be eligible for an apostille, birth and death certificates must be signed by a country clerk (or deputy), a county recorder (or deputy) or the State Registrar. Birth or death certificates signed by a Health Officer or County Registrar (e.g. Local Registrar, Registrar of Vital Records) must be certified by the county clerk’s office in the county in which it was issued.

Certified copies of birth and death certificates can also be obtained from:

• California Department of Public Health
• California County Recorders

For further information, see:
Apostille California Vital Records

Apostilles on California Background Checks can be obtained from the California Department of Justice.
See: County Fingerprint Background Checks

Note, however, that many countries will require an FBI background check as evidence of a lack of criminal record for immigration or visa purposes, see:
FBI Background Checks

Original California university and high school diplomas can be authenticated by notarizing the signature of the school or university official in California. The notary's signature can then authenticated with an Apostille from the California Secretary of State in Sacramento.

For further information, see:
Apostille STATE University Diplomas

California university degree certificates, course transcripts and high school diplomas can also be authenticated as notarized copies. A true copy is certified by a notary (this can often be done from a scan without having to submit the original) and then authenticated with an Apostille Stamp from the Washington DC Secretary of State. Authenticated documents can also be attested by the embassies of Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates.

For further information, see:
University Degrees and School Records

We submit all California certificates needing a Hague Apostille personally to the Office of the Secretary of State in Sacramento. Apostilles are normally process in 1 business day

Documents requiring submission to a non-apostille country will then require legalization by the U.S. Department of State in Washington DC and attestation at the embassy of the destination country.

California apostille stamps issued from 2017 onwards can be verified online.
See: Verification of Authentication Certificate (Apostille)

Documents signed by California officials and notaries public can be certified in California for official use outside the United States, including vital record certificates (e.g. birth, death, marriage certificates), state police background checks, educational certificates, university diplomas and notarized private documents (e.g. power of attorney).

Documents signed by Federal officials including FBI Background Checks must be submitted directly to the Authentication Division of the U.S. Department of State.

If documents are required for submission to the authorities or consulate of a signatory country of the Hague Apostille Convention, an apostille stamp affixed by the Secretary of State of California will generally be recognized directly as confirming authenticity, although a certified translation may also be required if presenting to a country that does not have English as an official language.

If documents are required for presentation in a country that is not a signatory to the apostille convention (e.g. United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Taiwan, Vietnam), then an apostille stamp is not valid. Documents will need to be authenticated at State level in California, then by the State Department Authentication Division, and finally by the embassy or consulate of the destination country in the United States. A Certified Translation may also be required.

For further information about California apostilles and authentications or to obtain a quote for assistance submitting your documents, with free eligibility pre-check, international collection and delivery by courier, please contact us or send us your documents using our Online Quotation Form.

As long as the notary's certification of the documents is written in English, then the rest of the document can be in any other language and an apostille obtained. However, where original documents need to be translated, because they are required for submission to a country which does not have English as an official language, it is often more appropriate to obtain a certified translation after the original document is certified by apostille.

Note that translations certified n the United States are not necessarily valid for use abroad and that certifying a translation does not certify the validity of the original document. Please contact us for advice on how to proceed.

The easiest way to obtain a new certified copy of a California birth, death or marriage certificate is online via VitalChek. Alternatively, applications for new certificates may be mailed in to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH is not able to provide certified copies of marriage certificates for the years 2000-2007 or 2023) or made directly to the County Clerk's Office in the County where the event took place.

• California Department of Public Health
• California County Recorders
• Vital Records Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) - CDPH
• VitalChek (California vital records online)

Apostille California Vital Records

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