1. How do I prepare the documents?
2. Is an English translation required?
3. Can I mail the documents or do I need to make an appointment?
4. Where is the Authentication Office located?
5. What are the fees?
6. What are the procedures for obtaining a Certification for Apostille
or Authentication?
7. Can you authenticate or certify by Apostille a birth, death,
marriage, or divorce certificate from another state or country?
8. What happens if the document is rejected for issuance of an
Apostille or Authentication?
9. Why does the North Carolina Secretary of State affix the Apostille
to the document by gluing?
10.Why would an acknowledgement be rejected?
11.How do I get business entity documents authenticated?
12.What are the requirements for courier overnight envelopes?
1. How do I prepare the documents?
Before documents are sent to the NC Authentication Office, they must have the proper
signatures (original signatures only) and/or certificates attached. All correspondence
being sent to the NC Authentication Office should include a Cover Letter and the
appropriate fee. State issued certified documents should be current as of April
2000.
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2. Is an English translation required?
If a document is presented in a language other than English the NC Secretary of
State’s Office will require a certified or notarized English translation as allowed
in N.C.G.S. §66-274(a).
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3. Can I mail the documents or do I need to make an appointment?
So that we can accommodate our customers’ requests in a timely manner, we ask that
you either mail the documents or drop them off for processing. The drop-off/Pick
–up schedule is below. Make sure to include the cover letter and the appropriate
fee with all documents. There will be no appointments made after January 1, 2006.
DROP OFF
A cover letter with daytime phone
number must accompany documents to be authenticated.
8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Monday – Friday except Federal and State Holidays.
Pick Up Schedule
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Drop-off Day
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Time
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Pick-Up Day
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Time
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Monday – Friday
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Before 10 a.m. less than 31 documents
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Same Day
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4:30 p.m.
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Monday – Friday
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Before 10 a.m. more than 30 documents
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Next business day
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After 11 a.m.
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Monday – Friday
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After 10 a.m. less
than 30 documents
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Next business day
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After 11 a.m.
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Monday – Friday
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After 10 a.m. more than 30 documents
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Next business day
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Call for status after 11 a.m.
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To check status on documents being held for pick-up, please call 919-807-2225.
MAIL-IN The Authentication
Office will need 5 business days to process and return your document - please plan
accordingly. Include a cover letter with contact name, daytime telephone number,
the name and country where the document will be used, and a self-addressed, stamped
envelope to return documents. Documents submitted without a return envelope and
postage will be returned regular delivery by the United State Postal Service to
the person submitting the documents.
Authentication Office
NC Secretary of State
PO Box 29622 Raleigh, NC 27626-0622
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4. Where is the Authentication Office Located?
Our office is located in downtown Raleigh at 2 South Salisbury Street in the Old
Revenue Building Complex (see map).
The public entrance is on the corner of Salisbury Street and Morgan Street.
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5. What are the fees?
The processing fee is $10.00 (in US dollars) per document. For adoptions only the
processing fee for duplicate originals ordered with the first original is $5.00
(in US dollars.) Please make your payment payable to the "NC Secretary of State."
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6. What are the procedures for obtaining a Certification for Apostille
or Authentication?
For additional information on Apostilles or Authentications, click the appropriate
link to the left.
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7. Can you authenticate or certify by Apostille a birth, death, marriage,
or divorce certificate from another state or country?
No. We can only authenticate or certify those certificates issued by North Carolina
agencies.
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8. What happens if the document is rejected for issuance of an Apostille
or Authentication?
If you feel that you are being denied a substantial right by the refusal to authenticate
your document, then you may appeal this decision to the Office of Administrative
Hearings. Office of Administrative Hearings may be reached by calling 919-431-3000
or by mail to 6714 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-6714.
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9. Why does the North Carolina Secretary of State affix the Apostille
by gluing?
A Special Commission met 28 October to 4 November 2003 to discuss many issues regarding
practical operation of the Hague in connection to Apostille, evidence and service
conventions. The formal requirements of the Apostille were discussed and the Special
Commission concluded that there are a variety of means of affixing an Apostille
to a public document. These means may include rubber stamp, glue, (multi-colored)
ribbons, wax seals, impressed seals, self-adhesive stickers, etc. As to an allonge,
these may include glue, grommets, staples, etc. It is noted by the Special Commission
that all these means are acceptable under the Convention, and that, therefore, these
variations cannot be a basis for the rejection of Apostilles. North Carolina has
chosen the glue method of affixing the Apostille to the document.
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10. Why would an acknowledgement be rejected?
Each North Carolina Notary Public applicant is subject to educational requirements
and testing prior to being commissioned by the North Carolina Secretary of State
as a Notary Public and taking an oath of office. A Notary acknowledgement can be
rejected for a variety of reasons, including, but not limited to:
1) not having an acknowledgement on each document presented;
2) the State and county where the document is being executed is not indicated;
3) the expiration date is either missing or incorrect;
4) the notary stamp or seal is missing;
5) the notary did not sign his/her name exactly as represented in the commission
and/or stamp or seal;
6) the notary public has certified to statements within the document and/or was
party to a document, (i.e., the Notary Public’s name should only appear in the acknowledgement
and not in the document itself); and
7) the acknowledgement must be in English.
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11. How do I get business entity documents authenticated?
1. Call the Corporations Division Information Specialist at 919-807-2225 and tell
the Specialist you need to order a business entity document to be authenticated.
2. The Specialist will tell you over the phone the amount due for both the certified
document(s) and authentication fee(s), provide you with the invoice number to reference
on the check and e-mail you a copy of the invoice.
3. The Specialist will provide the certified documents to the Authentications Office.
4. The Authentications Office will hold the certified document(s) until payment
is received.
5. Please remit a copy of the invoice, a coversheet for Authentications and the
fee indicated on the invoice to The Authentications Office, PO Box 29622, Raleigh,
NC 27626-0622.
6. Once payment is received, the Authentications Office will remove the hold status
and process the document(s) using standard procedures and policies. The turn around
time is approximately two to three business days once payment is received.
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12. What are the requirements for courier overnight envelopes?
1. The Secretary of State’s Office is a scheduled Air delivery (not ground delivery)
pick-up location for UPS and FedEx.
2. If you wish to use ground delivery for either FedEx or UPS, we will contact you
when the documents are ready and you will have to schedule a pick up of those documents.
3. Either way you choose to have the documents returned (Air or Ground) you will
need to supply this office with a pre-paid shipping document if you wish to have
the document(s) returned via a courier service. a. FedEx:
www.fedex.com/us - 1-800-gofedex (1-800-463-3339) b. UPS:
www.ups.com – 1-800-pickups (1-800-742-5877) 4. If you do not supply
a pre-paid shipping document, the document will be returned via regular mail.
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