Apostille › California
Apostille in California
The California Secretary of State apostilles documents that California issued. It cannot apostille a federal document, and that distinction is where most people lose a month.
Verified 2026-08-04
| Fee | $20 per apostille |
| In person | About 30 minutes, Sacramento and Los Angeles. Arrive by 4:30pm. A $6 special handling fee applies in person. |
| By mail | Roughly 3 to 4 weeks, and it moves with the current backlog. |
| Mail to | Sacramento, and 300 South Spring Street, Room 12513, Los Angeles, CA 90013 |
Source: California Secretary of State. Checked 2026-08-04. Fees and backlogs change, so confirm before you send anything.
California cannot apostille an FBI background check. That is a federal document and goes to the U.S. Department of State, Office of Authentications in Washington instead. If you have already sent one to California, it will come back unprocessed. How to recover →
What California can apostille
- ✓Birth and death certificates issued by California
- ✓Marriage certificates recorded in California
- ✓California court records
- ✓Documents notarised by a California notary
What it cannot
- ×FBI background checks
- ×Naturalisation and citizenship certificates
- ×Federal court records and IRS documents
- ×Documents issued by any other state
Need the federal one instead?
If your document is an FBI background check, we handle the whole chain including the trip to Washington. About three weeks, $299 all in.