Authentication
Information
Apostille or Certification
|
The California
Secretary of State provides authentication of public official signatures on
documents to be used outside the United States of America. The country of
destination determines whether the authentication is an Apostille or
Certification. The most common types
of documents submitted for authentication include:
The California
Secretary of State can only authenticate documents issued in the State of
California by the following public officials and their deputies: · County Clerks · County Recorders · Judges of the Superior Court · Court Administrators · Executive Officers · Executive Clerks · State Officials · Notaries Public Any document that has
been executed by County Health Officers and County Local Registrars can only
be authenticated if the document is first certified by the county clerk's
office. The only public officials our office can authenticate
are the ones listed above. These documents must be
current certified copies or must have been notarized by a California Notary
Public. For school records you must obtain a notarized copy of record from
the high school, college, or university, etc. prior to forwarding to the
Notary Public Section for authentication. Any document requiring
Authentication of a public official’s signature, may be mailed (include a
cover letter listing the country of destination and a self-addressed stamped
envelope), or hand delivered, to the Sacramento Office of the Secretary of
State for processing. Additionally, documents requiring Authentication of a
public official’s signature, but not including notaries public,
may be hand delivered for over-the-counter service to any of the Secretary of
State regional offices. Office locations are as follows: |
REGIONAL OFFICES
Over-the-counter service
to any of the Secretary of State's regional offices. The Secretary of State's
regional offices can only authenticate a notary public's
signature if the document is first certified by the county
clerk's office. To do this, follow the procedures below:
1) Take the document that has been notarized by a
California notary public to the county clerk's office in the county as
indicated on the notary public's stamp.
2) The county clerk will then certify to the
notary's signature and place a county certification on the document.
3) Take the document to one of the Secretary of
State's regional offices listed below for over-the-counter services:
Fees collected
over-the-counter at the regional office locations may be made by check,
money order or credit card (Visa or Mastercard).
General Information:
In 1961 many nations
joined together to create a simplified method of "legalizing"
documents for universal recognition. Members of the conference, referred to as
the Hague Convention, 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, then must be transmitted to the Authentication Office
of the Department of State in Washington, D.C. for the Authentication
of the State Official’s signature.
http://www.ss.ca.gov/business/notary/notary_authentication.htm