How to Obtain a California Apostille

There are basically three ways to obtain your California Apostille: 1. Use an Apostille Service, 2. Do-it-yourself, 3. Hybrid of #1 and #2. This article addresses the Apostille Steps so that you may understand the apostille process. (Please note that this article is not generated for or intended to serve as legal advice. Legal advice may only be obtained from a licensed attorney.)
You may only obtain a California Apostille for documents issued in the state of California. However, your document qualifies if it was issued by another state but notarized by a California Notary Public.
2

Determine the destination country for your document. If the country DOES NOT belong to the Hague Convention, you will need to obtain a U.S. Department of State Certification IN ADDITION to your California Apostille.
3

Confirm that the signature of your document is valid for a California Apostille. Documents to be authenticated via a California apostille must be signed by one of the following California officials: Notary Public, County Clerk/Recorder, Court Administrator of the Superior Court, Executive Clerk of the Superior Court, Officer whose authority is not limited to any particular county, Executive Officer of the Superior Court, Judge of the Superior Court or State Official.
4

Make sure that no more than 5 years has passed since the certification date of your document. Documents dated outside this time frame must be re-certified with a current date.
5

If your document is in a language other than English, it must be accompanied by a certified/notarized translation.
6

If your document was executed by a County Health Officer or County Local Registrar, it must first be certified by the county clerk/recorder. There is a fee for this certification by the county clerk/recorder.
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All documents
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Documents meeting the previous steps may be presented to the Secretary of State's main or one of it's region offices to receive an Apostille authentication.
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Regional Office: Documents presented to one of the region offices may only be presented in person and are addressed on a first-come first-served basis. A fee is charged by the regional office. Documents that have been certified by a California Notary Public must first be certified by the county clerk/ recorder of the notary before presentation to the region office.
10

Main Office: Documents may be mailed to the main office for processing. They must include the processing fees and a letter stating the country of destination for the document and should contain a self- addressed envelope for return of the document. Documents that have been certified by a California Notary Public are not required to have a certification by the county clerk/ recorder of the notary before presentation.
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If your document's county of destination is a country that DOES NOT belong to the Hague Convention, the Apostilled document must then be forwarded the Office of Authentications of the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C.