Apostille checker. Your document, your country, your deadline.
Last reviewed October 20, 2026
Pick your document, destination and deadline. The apostille checker shows whether you need a California apostille, a federal apostille or embassy legalization, and the price.
Your route
California apostille, Secretary of State
$180Mail-in, no rush, per document
Filed and returned tracked, usually 2–4 weeks.
- · Must be a certified copy from the county recorder or CDPH, not a hospital or informational copy.
THIS PRODUCT OR SERVICE HAS NOT BEEN APPROVED OR ENDORSED BY ANY GOVERNMENTAL AGENCY, AND THIS OFFER IS NOT BEING MADE BY AN AGENCY OF THE GOVERNMENT.
- We prepare and file documents. Acceptance of an apostilled document by a foreign authority, consulate, or institution is outside our control and is not guaranteed.
- Timeframes depend on the California Secretary of State, the US Department of State, county offices, couriers, and carriers. Stated timeframes are estimates, not commitments.
Nothing is charged yet. We confirm the route and price in writing.
How the checker routes your document
Three questions. One route.
Who issued the document decides the office: California records go to the California Secretary of State in Sacramento, federal records to the U.S. Department of State. Where it is going decides the certificate: a Hague country takes an apostille, a country outside the Convention needs embassy legalization on top. How fast you need it decides the service: mail-in, usually 2–4 weeks, or same-day filing in person when the counter allows.
Every price the checker shows comes from our published price list, and every Hague answer from the Hague Conference status table as kept in our own records. Recent changes are already in it: Vietnam takes an apostille from 11 September 2026, and Thailand needs legalization until 28 February 2027.
Before anything is filed, the Document Check confirms the certified copy underneath, and the country pages list what each consulate asks for alongside the apostille.
Asked on this page
Questions about this route.
It reads the destination against the Hague Conference's list of contracting parties, counting a country only once the Convention has entered into force for it. A member country takes an apostille: from the California Secretary of State for a California document, or from the U.S. Department of State for a federal one. A country outside the Convention needs state and federal authentication followed by embassy or consulate legalization. If you pick Other / not listed, it does not guess; we confirm the route by hand.
It is the route our published prices are built on, not a guarantee of acceptance. What the receiving office abroad wants alongside the apostille (a translation, a recent certified copy, a long-form record) is set by that office, and a document can still fail on the certified copy underneath. The Document Check confirms both before anything is filed.
Viet Nam's membership of the Apostille Convention entered into force on 11 September 2026, so California documents for Vietnam now take an apostille. Thailand has acceded, but the Convention does not enter into force for Thailand until 28 February 2027; until then, documents for Thailand follow the legalization route.
Federal records are apostilled by the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., not by the California Secretary of State. Sending a federal record to Sacramento is a rejection. The checker routes FBI, USPTO, IRS and federal court records to the federal path, and to the legalization path when the destination is outside the Convention.
$45 Document Check · $20 credited
Send the details. We answer within one business day.
The route, anything that would get it rejected, and a fixed price for the speed you need.