Hague Convention of 5 October 1961
Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents

Apostille Certificates

The Apostille Convention facilitates the circulation of public documents executed in one State party to the Convention and to be produced in another State party to the Convention. It does so by replacing the cumbersome and often costly formalities of a full legalization process with the issuance of an Apostille Certificate. (www.hcch.net)

The Convention only applies to public documents. These are documents emanating from an authority or official connected with a court or tribunal of the State (including documents issued by an administrative, constitutional or ecclesiastical court or tribunal, a public prosecutor, a clerk or a process server); administrative documents; notarial acts; and official certificates which are placed on documents signed by persons in their private capacity, such as official certificates recording the registration of a document or the fact that it was in existence on a certain date and official and notarial authentications of signatures. The main examples of public documents for which Apostilles are issued in practice include: birth, marriage and death certificates; extracts from commercial registers and other registers; patents; court rulings; notarial acts and notarial attestations of signatures; academic diplomas issued by public institutions; etc. Apostilles may also be issued for a certified copy of a public document. On the other hand, the Convention neither applies to documents executed by diplomatic or consular agents nor to administrative documents dealing directly with commercial or customs operations (e.g., certificates of origin or import or export licenses). (www.hcch.net)

Once an Apostille is obtained, the document may be delivered directly to the country of intended use and bypass further certification from the US Department of State.

Process for obtaining Apostille

1. If the document is in a language other than English, this office will request a certified or notarized translation of the document into English as permitted in N.C.G.S. §66-274(a).

2. Appear before a Notary Public for execution of the document(s): Documents must be notarized by a North Carolina Notary Public, unless they were issued by one of these agents:

  • Register of Deeds
  • Clerk of Superior Court
  • Department of Agriculture
  • Department of Health and Human Services
  • Vital Records
  • Department of Motor Vehicles (Raleigh, NC office ONLY)
  • North Carolina Attorney General's Office

Documents (transcripts, report cards, diplomas) issued by a North Carolina university, college, community college or high school must be notarized by a North Carolina Notary Public. A school seal applied to the document by the school registrar is not acceptable.

Please note in all cases that the document for which you wish to receive an Apostille must be current, preferably issued within the last 1 or 2 years.

3. Submit documents to the NC Authentication Office with a cover letter, money order or check, the original document(s) with all certifications attached and a return paid carrier envelope. Should you wish the documents to be directed to a third party, please include that information and the paid carrier envelope addressed to the third party. Any documents received without a paid return envelope and/or a third party address will be delivered by regular mail to the person submitting the documents.

4. The processing fee is $10.00 (in US currency) per document. For adoptions only, the processing fee for a duplicate original is $5.00 (in US currency) when requested at the same time as the first original.

5. Make payment to the “NC Secretary of State.”

6. The document requires no further authentication by the US Department of State and may be submitted to the country of its intended use.

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