Welcome to the Central California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

Notary Public

Authentication Information Apostille or Certification

The California Secretary of State provides authentication of public official signatures on documents to be used outside the United States of America. The country of destination determines whether the authentication is an Apostille or Certification.

The most common types of documents submitted for authentication include:

marriage licenses,	references and job certification
birth certificates	patent applications
school records, including…	trademarks
…diplomas	deeds of assignment
…transcripts	distributorship agreements
…letters relating to degrees	bylaws
…home studies	corporate documents, such as…
powers of attorney	…Articles of Incorporation
papers for adoption purposes	…Merger Agreements
certificates of non-marital status	…Certificates of Amendment

The California Secretary of State can only authenticate documents issued in the State of California by the following public officials and their deputies:

County Clerks

County Recorders

Judges of the Superior Court

Court Administrators

Executive Officers

Executive Clerks

State Officials

Notaries Public

Any document that has been executed by County Health Officers and County Local Registrars can only be authenticated if the document is first certified by the county clerk's office. The only public officials our office can authenticate are the ones listed above.

These documents must be current certified copies or must have been notarized by a California Notary Public. For school records you must obtain a notarized copy of record from the high school, college, or university, etc. prior to forwarding to the Notary Public Section for authentication.

Any document requiring Authentication of a public official’s signature, may be mailed (include a cover letter listing the country of destination and a self-addressed stamped envelope), or hand delivered, to the Sacramento Main Office of the Secretary of State for processing. Additionally, documents requiring Authentication of a public official’s signature, but not including notaries public, may be hand delivered for over-the-counter service to any of the Secretary of State regional offices. Office locations are as follows:

MAIN OFFICE

Sacramento

Notary Public Section
1500 11th Street 2nd Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814

mailing address:

Notary Public Section
Post Office Box 942877
Sacramento, CA 94277-0001

Counter hours: 8:00 - 4:30
Monday - Friday
Approximate processing time:
- via mail 10 - 15 workings days**
- over the counter 10 - 30 minutes, dependent on the number of counter customers

**Authentication requests are processed as quickly as possible. However, processing time may be longer than the stated 10-15 working days, dependent on the volume of pending requests. Please submit documents as soon as possible to allow ample time for completion.

REGIONAL OFFICES

Over-the-counter service to any of the Secretary of State's regional offices. The Secretary of State's regional offices can only authenticate a notary public's signature if the document is first certified by the county clerk's office. To do this, follow the procedures below:

1) Take the document that has been notarized by a California notary public to the county clerk's office in the county as indicated on the notary public's stamp.

2) The county clerk will then certify to the notary's signature and place a county certification on the document.

3) Take the document to one of the Secretary of State's regional offices listed below for over-the-counter services:

Fresno*		1315 Van Ness Ave. Suite 203
		Fresno, California
		(559) 445-6900

Los Angeles*		300 South Spring Street, Suite 12513
		Los Angeles, California
		(213) 897-3062

San Diego*		1350 Front Street, Suite 2060
		San Diego, California
		(619) 525-4113

San Francisco*		Two Rincon Center 121 Spear Street, Suite 420 San Francisco, California (415) 904-2344

Please Note
Having a document certified at the county level is only required for authentication at our regional offices. The Secretary of State's Main office located in Sacramento can authenticate documents notarized by a California notary public without being certified at the county level.
*Please call the individual regional office for Authentication processing hours and approximate wait time.

Fees:

$20.00

Authentication (Apostille or Certification), per document

In addition to the Authentication fee, the following fee is applicable to documents hand delivered to the Sacramento Main Office for over-the-counter expedited processing or delivered for processing at any regional office.

$6.00

Special Handling Fee, per public official, per transaction

Please make all checks payable to the Secretary of State since cash or credit cards will not be accepted through the mail.

Fees collected at the Sacramento main office counter may be made by check, money order, cash or credit card (Visa or Mastercard).

Fees collected at the regional office locations are as follows:

Checks, money orders, cash or credit cards (Visa or MasterCard) are accepted at the San Francisco regional office.

Only checks, money orders and credit cards (Visa or MasterCard) will be accepted at the Fresno, Los Angeles and San Diego regional offices. Cash will not be accepted at these locations.

General Information:

In 1961 many nations joined together to create a simplified method of "legalizing" documents for universal recognition. Members of the conference, referred to as the Hague Convention, adopted a document referred to as an Apostille that would be recognized by all member nations.

Documents sent to member nations, completed with an Apostille at the state level, may be submitted directly to the member nation without further action.

Documents sent to non-member nations requiring a Certification of the signature of the state’s public official at the state level, then must be transmitted to the Authentication Office of the Department of State in Washington, D.C. for the Authentication of the State Official’s signature.