Apostille San Francisco
Taking new files today(415) 439-0289
Apostille for Italy · from California documents
Italy.
Italy.
Hague since 1978.
No consulate step.
A California Secretary of State apostille is accepted directly for jure sanguinis, marriage at the comune, residency and court filings. What fails is the certified copy underneath it: issuing office, signature on file, issue date. We check that before the fee.
At a glance
RouteHague apostille · California Secretary of State
ConsulateLegalization not required
DocumentsBirth, marriage, death certificates · divorce decrees · criminal record letters · powers of attorney
TranslationItalian translation required with the certificate; the apostille itself is not translated. Court documents need a certified translator’s certificate of accuracy.
Price$180 mail-in · $450 same-day · $650 for 3
Before you send anything
What the counter accepts for Italy.
Each line is a real rejection we screen for in the $45 Document Check.
01Certified copy from the county recorder or CDPH, not a hospital or informational copy.
02Current signing official. The Secretary of State authenticates only signatures it has on file.
03Notarized first if it is a power of attorney, affidavit or copy certification.
04Long-form original, issued recently. The San Francisco consulate wants long-form certificates showing full parent names and places of birth; its six-month validity rule applies to certificates issued by an Italian comune. Comuni and courts set their own recency expectations, so we confirm the window with your receiving office.
$6503 documents · one emergency trip · filed together
Jure sanguinis sets
Birth, marriage and death across generations, filed together in one Sacramento trip.
Returned tracked, with status updates, to Italy or wherever you are. Price confirmed before any work begins.
Asked on nearly every Italy call.
01Does the Italian consulate in San Francisco still need to legalize it?
No. Italy has been a party to the Hague Apostille Convention since 11 February 1978, so a California Secretary of State apostille replaces consular legalization. The consulate’s own checklists ask for U.S. records “legalized with Apostille” and an Italian translation; there is no separate consular stamp on the certificate.
02Does the apostille go on the original or on the translation?
On the original certified copy. The Secretary of State authenticates the county or state official who signed it, so the apostille is attached to that document. The Italian translation travels with it as a separate sheet; the consulate states that apostilles do not need to be translated. For court documents such as divorce decrees, the translation must come from a certified translator with a signed certificate of accuracy. Translation is Quoted per document by page and language before anything starts; delivered certified with a signed certificate of authenticity.
03My birth certificate is from another state. Can you handle it?
The apostille must come from the state that issued the record, so a New York certificate is apostilled in Albany, not Sacramento. Our own counter work is California; for another state, call us with the document and we tell you the fastest correct route before any fee is taken. California documents in the same file are still handled here, and we can assemble the complete set for shipping to Italy.
04I live in Italy already. Can you do the whole thing without me?
Yes. Order the certified copy from the county or the state and have it shipped to our office at 416 Bryant Street, San Francisco, CA 94107, or mail us what you already hold. We check it, file it, and ship the finished apostille tracked to your address in Italy. International delivery is quoted per destination before we start, and we can keep you updated by WhatsApp if you prefer.