Apostille San Francisco
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Apostille by country · from California documents
Seventeen destinations.
Seventeen destinations.
Sixteen take the apostille.
One needs the embassy.
Every country below has been checked against the Hague status table and its own consulate’s published rules. Pick the destination for the exact route, the consulate’s translation and validity rules, and what fails at the counter. What we check before the fee is the certified copy underneath: issuing office, signature on file, issue date.
At a glance17 countries
Hague routeCalifornia record → California Secretary of State apostille · federal record → U.S. Department of State apostille
Legalization routeUAE only: state authentication → U.S. Department of State → UAE Embassy (VFS Global) → MOFAIC
DocumentsBirth, marriage, death certificates · degrees and transcripts · FBI background checks · powers of attorney · corporate documents
TranslationNever flat. Each country page states what its consulate publishes; where the consulate is silent, the receiving office sets the rule and we confirm it.
Price$180 mail-in · $450 same-day · $650 for 3
Pick the destination
Sixteen Hague countries and the one that is not.
Each page quotes the consulate or ministry in its own words and lists what fails at the counter for that country.
Italy — Hague since 1978. Consulate asks for the apostille plus an Italian translation; the apostille itself is not translated.
Mexico — Hague since 1995. Consulmex does not apostille; the issuing state’s Secretary of State does.
Spain — Hague since 1978. No further consular procedure; the apostille has no expiry of its own.
China — Hague since 7 November 2023. Consular authentication ceased; acceptance is set by the receiving authority.
Brazil — Hague since 2016. Apostille from the issuing state; translation set by the receiving office.
Germany — Hague since 1966. German missions do not legalize; translations cannot be apostilled.
France — Hague since 1965. Consulate wants certificate and apostille each under six months; English records not translated.
Portugal — Hague since 1969. Consulate’s citizenship file: long-form certificate with apostille, issued within six months.
Ireland — Hague since 1999. DFA does not legalise foreign documents; Foreign Births Register wants originals with parental details.
Japan — Hague since 1970. MOFA treats the apostille as the equivalent of consular legalization; the receiving office sets the form.
South Korea — Hague since 2007. Consulate states it does not apostille; state records to the state, federal to the Department of State.
Philippines — Hague since 2019. No red ribbon: apostilled documents no longer need consular authentication.
Australia — Hague since 1995. Only the issuing country can legalise; the receiving authority decides the form.
Argentina — Hague since 1988. Consulate refers U.S. documents to the apostille; citizenship certificates within six months, Spanish translation.
India — Hague since 2005. Consulate attests certain U.S. documents only after notarization and apostille.
United Kingdom — Hague since 1965. FCDO legalises only UK documents; a California record is apostilled in California.
United Arab Emirates — Not a Hague country. Secretary of State, then U.S. Department of State, then UAE Embassy via VFS Global, then MOFAIC.
$180per California document · mail-in · $450 same-day
Country not listed?
Tell us the country and the document. We confirm the route before quoting.
Hague status checked against the HCCH table, consulate rules read before filing, finished documents shipped tracked anywhere. Price confirmed before any work begins.
Asked before the country is even named.
01How do I know whether my destination takes an apostille or needs legalization?
The Hague Conference keeps the list of contracting parties, and every country on this page except the United Arab Emirates is on it. For those, a California record is finished with the California Secretary of State apostille, and a federal record with the U.S. Department of State apostille. For the UAE, and any other country outside the Convention, the Department of State issues an authentication certificate instead and the destination’s embassy legalizes it. Call with the country and the document and we confirm the route before any fee.
02Does the consulate still need to stamp it?
For a Hague destination, no: the apostille replaces consular legalization, and several consulates in San Francisco say so in their own words (Korea, the Philippines, Mexico, Spain, Germany, India). What consulates do still set is what they want alongside it: a translation, a certificate issued within a window, a long-form copy. Each country page quotes its consulate’s rule.
03Can you handle a document from another state?
The apostille must come from the state that issued the record, so a New York certificate is apostilled in Albany and a Texas one in Austin. Our counter work is California and federal; for another state, call us with the document and we tell you the fastest correct route, and we still assemble the complete set with your California and federal documents for one shipment.
04What if my country is not listed?
Call. The route is the same question for every destination: is the country a Hague party, and what does its receiving office want with the apostille. We check the Hague status table and the consulate’s published rules before quoting, and the Document Check covers that screening.