In the United States 

 

 

As part of "know your customer" banking regulations most financial institutions now require a certified copy of a passport when new accounts are opened. This would normally entail a copy of the pages containing one's name, photograph, passport number and date of birth.

 

If you are from United States, here are the State Authentication Authorities where you can get your apostille. There are some agent that can help you to get your apostille on your behalf with some fee. You mail them the documents and they will get the apostille for you and then mail them back to you.

 

Legalization in United States

What is a certification of documents

 

Legalisation of Documents in others countries

 

List of countries Member of the Hague Convention

 

Notarial Wording

 

Copy certification by U.S. notaries

Some states in the United States permit notaries public to certify copies; the laws or officials who regulate notaries should be consulted for details. The U.S. State Department in 2005 compiled a table summarizing the state laws and regulations. In the table below, notes from the State Department table have been omitted for states that do not authorize notaries to certify copies.

 
U.S. State Certification of true copies permitted? Notes
Alabama Yes Only register pages
Alaska No
American Samoa    
Arizona Yes  
Arkansas Yes  
California Yes Only powers of attorney and notary journal pages.
Colorado Yes Only with signed written request stating certified copy not available from the officer of any recorder of public documents or other custodian of documents in the state.
Connecticut No  
Delaware Yes  
District of Columbia Yes  
Florida Yes Only with supervised photocopying. A notary may supervise the making of a photocopy of an original document and attest to the trueness of the copy. F.S.A. § 117.05(15). A notary cannot attest to the trueness of a photocopy; only photocopies of original documents may be attested as to trueness F.S.A. §117.05(15)(a). A notary cannot attest to the trueness of a photocopy of a public record if a copy can be made by another public official. F.S.A. §117.05(15)a
Georgia Yes Only with supervised photocopying.
Guam    
Hawaii Yes Only protests and notary journal pages.
Idaho Yes  
Illinois No  
Iowa Yes  
Kansas Yes  
Kentucky Yes Only protests.
Louisiana No  
Maine No  
Maryland Yes Only register pages.
Massachusetts Yes[5]  
Michigan No  
Minnesota Yes  
Mississippi No  
Missouri Yes  
Montana Yes Only records issued or filed on the job.
Nebraska No  
Nevada Yes  
New Hampshire No  
New Jersey No  
New Mexico Yes  
New York No  
North Carolina No  
Northern Mariana Islands    
Ohio No  
Oklahoma Yes  
Oregon Yes Notaries are not permitted to certify copies of public documents, especially vital statistics. There is a regulation of the Health Records Division that specifically prohibits copying their records. The prohibition is not in the notary law, but in the law of the custodian of records. Oregon would allow an affidavit attesting to a true copy by the bearer, but the notary should encourage the bearer to get the real certified copy from the custodian of record.
Pennsylvania Yes  
Puerto Rico    
Rhode Island No  
South Carolina No  
South Dakota No  
Tennessee No  
Texas Yes A notary may not notarize a certified true copy of a recordable document. Birth certificates and marriage licenses are recordable documents. A recordable document is one that is recorded with some type of entity whether it be the Secretary of State's Office, a court of law, a county clerk, or the Bureau of Vital Statistics. Certified copies may be obtained by contacting such entities. A non-recordable document is one that has not been nor will ever be recorded with any type of entity. For instance, a letter is not recorded with anyone but there are times the sender of the letter would like to obtain a certified copy of that letter for his or her file.
Utah Yes Only if custodian of original appears.
Vermont Yes  
Virgin Islands    
Virginia Yes Virginia notaries are not authorized to certify true copies of birth, death, or marriage certificates. Only the Division of Vital Records/Statistics may perform such a certification.
Washington Yes  
West Virginia Yes  
Wisconsin Yes  
Wyoming No  

Notaries in many states keep journals of all their notarial acts. The table shows that in some states notaries may make certified copies of their journals but may not make any other kind of certified copies.

 

 

 

Alabama
Office of the Secretary of State
Authentication Section

State Capitol, Room E-204
600 Dexter Ave.
Montgomery, AL 36104
334-242-7210
http://www.sos.state.al.us/authenticate/index.htm
Fee: $5.00
Designated Authority: Secretary of State

Alaska
Notary Administrator
Office of the Lieutenant Governor

P.O. Box 110015
Juneau, AK 99811- 0015
907-465-3509
http://www.gov.state.ak.us/ltgov/notary/authentications.htm
Fee: $2.00
Designated Authority: Lieutenant Governor; Attorney General; Clerk of the Supreme Court

Arizona
Office of the Secretary of State
Business Services Division, Notary Section

1700 W. Washington, 7th Floor
Phoenix, AZ 85007-2888
602 542-4086/ 602 542-4758
http://www.sosaz.com/notary
Fee: $3.00
Designated Authority: Secretary of State; Assistant Secretary of State.

Arkansas
Office of Secretary of State
Corporations Division

State Capitol
Little Rock, AR 72201-1094
501-682-3409
http://www.sosweb.state.ar.us/business.html
Fee: $10.00
Designated Authority: Secretary of State; Chief Deputy Secretary of State.

California
Office of the Secretary of State
Business Programs Division
Notary Public Section

P.O. Box 942877
Sacramento, CA 94277-0001
916-653-3595
http://www.ss.ca.gov/business/notary/notary.htm
Fee: $20.00
Designated Authority: Secretary of State; any Assistant Secretary of State; any Deputy Secretary of State.

Colorado
Office of Secretary of State

1560 Broadway, Suite 200
Denver, CO 80202
303-894-2680
http://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/info_center/2001fees.htm
Fee: By Mail: $2.00 While You Wait: $17.00
Designated Authority: Secretary of State; Deputy Secretary of State.

Connecticut
Office of the Secretary of State
Authentication Unit

30 Trinity St.
Hartford, CT 06106
860-509-6135
http://www.sots.state.ct.us/recordslegislativeservices/authen.html#orders
Fee: $20.00
Designated Authority: Secretary of State; Deputy Secretary of State.

Delaware
Office of Secretary of State
Notary Division

401 Federal St., Suite 3
Dover, DE 19901
302- 302/739-4111
http://www.state.de.us/sos/sos.htm
Fee: $10.00
Designated Authority: Secretary of State; Acting Secretary of State.

District of Columbia
Office of the Secretary, D.C.
Notary Commissions & Authentications Section

441 4th St. N.W. (One Judiciary Square)
Washington, D.C.
202-727-3117
http://os.dc.gov/info/notary/notary.shtm#document
Fee: $10.00
Designated Authority: Executive Secretary; Assistant Executive Secretary; Mayor's Special Assistant and Assistant to the Executive Secretary; Secretary of the District of Columbia.

Florida
Department of State
Office of International Affairs
Notary Certification/Apostille Section

The Capitol Building
Suite 1902
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0250
804-488-7521
http://notaries.dos.state.fl.us/notproc7.htm
Fee: $10.00
Designated Authority: Secretary of State

Georgia
Georgia Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority
Notary Division

1875 Century Boulevard, Suite 100
Atlanta, GA 30345
404-327-6023
http://www2.gsccca.org/projects/apost.html

or

Office of Secretary of State
Administrative Procedures Unit

2 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive
Suite 820 - West Tower
Atlanta, Georgia 30334
404-656-2885
http://www.sos.state.ga.us/administration/notary.htm
Fee: $3.00
Designated Authority: Secretary of State; Georgia Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority.

Hawaii
Office of the Lieutenant Governor

State Capitol, 5th Floor,
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813
808-586-0255
http://www.state.hi.us/ltgov/page8.html
Fee: $1.00
Designated Authority: Lieutenant Governor of the State of Hawaii.

Idaho
Office of Secretary of State
Notary Department

Box 83720
Boise, ID 83720
208- 332-2810
http://www.idsos.state.id.us/notary/apostill.htm
Fee: $10.00
Designated Authority: Secretary of State; Chief Deputy Secretary of State; Deputy Secretary of State; Notary Public Clerk.

Illinois
Office of the Secretary of State
Index Department, Notaries Public Division

111 E. Monroe St.
Springfield, IL 62756
217- 217-782-7017
http://www.sos.state.il.us/departments/index/division.html
Fee: $2.00
Designated Authority: Secretary of State; Assistant Secretary of State; Deputy Secretary of State.

Indiana
Office of Secretary of State

Statehouse
Suite 201
Indianapolis, IN 46204
317-232-6532
http://www.in.gov/sos/notary/seal.html
Fee: no charge
Designated Authority: Secretary of State; Deputy Secretary of State

Iowa
Office of Secretary of State

Lucas Building
First Floor, Public Service
Des Moines, IA 50319
515-281-5204
http://www.sos.state.ia.us
Fee: $5.00
Designated Authority: Secretary of State; Deputy Secretary of State

Kansas
Office of Secretary of State

State Capitol
Second Floor
Topeka, KS 66612
913-296-2744
http://www.kssos.org
Fee: $5.00
Designated Authority: Secretary of State; Assistant Secretary of State; any Deputy Assistant Secretary of State.

Kentucky
Office of Secretary of State

Capitol Building
P.O. Box 718
Frankfort, KY 40602-0178
502-564-7330
Fee: $5.00
http://www.kysos.com
Designated Authority: Secretary of State; Assistant Secretary of State.

Louisiana
Office of Secretary of State

P.O. Box 94125
Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9125
504-342-4981
Fee: $5.00
http://www.sec.state.la.us/comm/comm-index.htm
Designated Authority: Secretary of State.

Maine
Office of Secretary of State
Bureau of Corporations
Elections and Commissions

101 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333-0101
207-624-7650
http://www.state.me.us/sos/cec/rcn/notary/authapos.htm
Fee: $10.00
Designated Authority: Secretary of State; Deputy Secretary of State.

Maryland
Office of Secretary of State

Statehouse
Annapolis, MD 21401
410-974-5520
http://www.sos.state.md.us/sos/certif/html/certif2c.html#apos
Fee: $5.00
Designated Authority: Secretary of State.

Massachusetts
Secretary of the Commonwealth
Public Records Division
Commissions Section

McCormack Building, Room 1719
One Ashburton Place
Boston, MA 02108
617-727-2832
http://www.state.ma.us/sec/pre/precom/comidx.htm
Fee: $3.00

Michigan
Department of State
Office of the Great Seal

7064 Crowner Boulevard
Lansing, MI 48918
517-373-2531
http://www.michigan.gov/sos/1,1607,7-127-1638_8734---,00.html
Fee: $1.00
Designated Authority: Secretary of State; Deputy Secretary of State.

Minnesota
Secretary of State's Office

180 State Office Bldg.
St. Paul, MN 55155
651-296-2803
http://www.sos.state.mn.us/uccd/authinfo.html
Fee: $5.00
Designated Authority: Secretary of State; Deputy Secretary of State.

Mississippi
Office of Secretary of State

P.O. Box 136
Jackson, MS 39205-0136
601-359-1615
http://www.sos.state.ms.us/busserv/notaries/notaries.html
Fee: $5.00
Designated Authority: Secretary of State; any Assistant Secretary of State.

Missouri
Office of Secretary of State
Commission Division

600 West Main, Room 367
Jefferson City, MO 65102
573-751-2783
http://www.sos.state.mo.us/business/commissions/certify.asp
Fee: $10.00
Designated Authority: Secretary of State; Deputy Secretary of State.

Montana
Office of Secretary of State

Room 225
Box 202801
State Capitol
Helena, MT 59602
406-444-5379
http://sos.state.mt.us/css/index.asp
Fee: $2.00
Designated Authority: Secretary of State; Chief Deputy Secretary of State; Government Affairs Bureau Chief.

Nebraska
Office of Secretary of State
Notary Division

Box 95104
State Capitol
Lincoln, NE 68509
402-471-2558
http://www.sos.state.ne.us/Notary/notauth.htm
Fee: $10.00
Designated Authority: Secretary of State; Deputy Secretary of State.

Nevada
Secretary of State

101 N. Carson Street, #3
Carson City, NV 89701-4786
775-684-5708
http://sos.state.nv.us/notary/apostille.htm
Fee: $20.00
Designated Authority: Secretary of State; Chief Deputy Secretary of State; Deputy Secretary of State.

New Hampshire
Office of Secretary of State

Statehouse
Room 204
Concord, NH 03301
603-271-3242
http://www.state.nh.us/sos/certific.htm
Fee: $5.00

Designated Authority: Secretary of State; Deputy Secretary of State

New Jersey
Department of State
Notary Public Unit
Division of Commercial Recording

PO Box 452
Trenton, NJ 08625
609-530-6421
http://www.state.nj.us/treasury/revenue/dcr/programs/notary.html
Fee: Regular Service: $25.00 Expedited Service: $35.00
Designated Authority: NJ Department of the Treasury, Division of Revenue

New Mexico
Office of the Secretary of State

State Capitol North Annex, Suite 300
Santa Fe, NM 87503
505-827-3600
http://www.sos.state.nm.us/notary-cert.htm
Fee: $3.00
Designated Authority: Secretary of State

New York

  • Upstate Counties
    Miscellaneous Records

    162 Washington Ave.
    Albany, NY 12231
    518-474-4770
    http://www.dos.state.ny.us
    Fee: $10.00
    Designated Authority: Secretary of State; Executive Deputy Secretary of State; any Deputy Secretary of State; any Special Deputy Secretary of State.
  • Down State Counties
    New York authorities in Albany advise that documents issued in the nine down state counties are authenticated under the Convention by the New York City office. The nine down state counties are New York, Kings, Queens, Bronx, Westchester, Nassau, Suffolk, Rockland and Richmond. The address of the New York Department of State, Certification Unit is 6th Floor, 270 Broadway, New York, New York 10007, tel: 212-417-5684. Fee: $10.00

North Carolina
Office of Secretary of State
Authentication Division

PO Box 29622
Raleigh, NC 27626-0622
919-807-2140
http://www.secretary.state.nc.us/authen
Fee: $10.00
Designated Authority: Secretary of State; Deputy Secretary of State

North Dakota
Office of Secretary of State

Capitol Building
600 E Boulevard Ave., Dept 108
Bismarck, ND 58505
701-328-2900
http://www.state.nd.us/sec
Fee: $10.00
Designated Authority: Secretary of State; Deputy Secretary of State.

Ohio
Office of the Secretary of State

30 East Broad St.
15th Fl.
Columbus, OH 43266-0418
877-767-6446
http://www.state.oh.us/sos/authentication_of_documents_stat.htm
Fee: $5.00
Designated Authority: Secretary of State; Assistant Secretary of State.

Oklahoma
Office of Secretary of State

2300 N. Lincoln
Room 101
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
405-521-4211
http://www.sos.state.ok.us
Fee: $25.00 (cashiers check or money order)
Designated Authority: Secretary of State; Assistant Secretary of State; Budget Officer of the Secretary of State.

Oregon
Office of Secretary of State

255 Capitol St.
Suite 151
Salem OR 97310
503-986-2200.
http://www.filinginoregon.com/notary/index.htm
Fee: $10.00
Designated Authority: Secretary of State; Deputy Secretary of State; Acting Secretary of State; Assistant to the Secretary of State.

Pennsylvania
Department of State
Bureau of Commissions
Elections and Legislation

North Office Building
Room 304
Harrisburg, PA 17120
717-787-5280
http://www.dos.state.pa.us/bcel/certifications/certifications.html
Fee: $15.00
Designated Authority: Secretary of the Commonwealth; Executive Deputy Secretary of the Commonwealth.

Rhode Island
Office of Secretary of State
Notary Division

100 N. Main St.
Providence, RI 02903
401-277-1487
http://www.corps.state.ri.us/notaries/notaries.htm
Fee: $5.00
Designated Authority: Secretary of State; First Deputy Secretary of State; Deputy Secretary of State

South Carolina
Office of Secretary of State

P.O. Box 11350
Columbia, SC 29211
803-734-2119
http://www.scsos.com/notariesbc.htm
Fee: $2.00
Designated Authority: Secretary of State

South Dakota
Office of Secretary of State

500 East Capitol
Pierre, SD 57501-5077
605-773-5004
http://www.state.sd.us/sos/Notaries/apostilles_and_authentications.htm
Fee: $2.00
Designated Authority: Secretary of State; Deputy Secretary of State

Tennessee
Office of Secretary of State
James K. Polk Building
Division of Business Services

312 Eighth Avenue North
6th Floor, William R. Snodgrass Tower
Nashville, TN 37243
615-741-3699
http://www.state.tn.us/sos/service.htm#apostilles
Fee: $2.00
Designated Authority: Secretary of State.

Texas
Office of Secretary of State

P.O. Box 12079
Austin, TX 78711
512-463-5705
http://txsos-7.sos.state.tx.us/authfaqs.shtml
Fee: $10.00
Designated Authority: Secretary of State; Assistant Secretary of State

Utah
Office of the Lieutenant Governor

210 State Capitol
Salt Lake City, UT 84145-8414
801-538-1040
http://governor.state.ut.us/lt_gover/internationaltemplate.html
Fee: Certifying Notary's Seal: $10.00 Apostille: $5.00
Designated Authority: Lieutenant Governor; Deputy Lieutenant Governor; Administrative Assistant.

Vermont
Office of Secretary of State

109 State St.
Montpelier, VT 05609-1103
802-828-2308
http://www.sec.state.vt.us
Fee: $2.00
Designated Authority: Secretary of State; Deputy Secretary of State.

Virginia
Office of Secretary of Commonwealth
Authentications Division

830 East Main Street, 14th Floor
Richmond, VA 23219
804-786-2441
http://www.soc.state.va.us
Fee: $10.00
Designated Authority: Secretary of the Commonwealth; Chief Clerk, Office of the Secretary of Commonwealth.

Washington
Office of the Secretary of State
Corporations Division
Apostille and Certificate Program

PO Box 40228
Olympia, WA 98504-0228
360-586-2268
http://www.secstate.wa.gov/apostilles
Fee: $15.00
Designated Authority: Secretary of State; Assistant Secretary of State; Director, Department of Licensing.

West Virginia
Office of Secretary of State

Capitol Building
1900 Kanawha Blvd. East
 No. 157-K
Charleston, WV 25305-0770
304-558-6000
http://www.wvsos.com/execrecords/other/authentication.htm
Fee: $10.00
Designated Authority: Secretary of State; Under Secretary of State; any Deputy Secretary of State.

Wisconsin
Office of Secretary of State

P.O. Box 7848
Madison, WI 53707-7848
608-266-3159
http://badger.state.wi.us/agencies/sos/authen.htm
Fee: $10.00
Designated Authority: Secretary of State; Assistant Secretary of State.

Wyoming
Office of Secretary of State

The Capitol
Cheyenne, WY 82002-0020
307-777-5342
http://soswy.state.wy.us/authenti/authenti.htm
Fee: $3.00
Designated Authority: Secretary of State; Deputy Secretary of State.

American Samoa
Office of the Governor

Pago Pago, AS 96799
011-684-633-4116
http://www.amsamoa.com
Designated Authority: Secretary of American Samoa; Attorney General of American Samoa.

Guam (Territory of)
Office of the Governor

P.O. Box 2950
Agana, GU 96910
011-671-472-1537
http://www.admin.gov.gu/doa
Designated Authority: Department of Administration

Northern Mariana Islands (Commonwealth of the)
Designated Authority: Attorney General; Acting Attorney General; Clerk of the Court, Commonwealth Trial Court; Deputy Clerk, Commonwealth Trial Court

http://www.saipan.com/gov

Puerto Rico (Commonwealth of)
Supreme Court of Puerto Rico
Office of Notarial Inspection

P.O. Box 190860
San Juan, PR 00919-0860
787-763-8816
http://www.lexjuris.com/lexnotaria.htm
Designated Authority: Supreme Court of Puerto Rico

U.S. Virgin Islands
Office of the Lieutenant Governor

7 & 8 King St.
Christiansted, St. Croix, USVI 00802
340-774-2991
http://www.ltg.gov.vi/Departments/Administration/index.html
No authority designated: refer requests to the U.S. Department of State, Authentications Office, 2400 M Street, NW, Washington, DC 20520. 202-647-5002

 

 

 

Legalization in United States

What is a certification of documents

 

Legalisation of Documents in others countries

 

List of countries Member of the Hague Convention

 

Notarial Wording

 

 

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