# Apostille in British Columbia

- **Source:** https://andrii.co/en/handbook/apostille/ca/british-columbia/
- **Title:** Apostille in British Columbia — Canada | Andrii Co.
- **Language:** en · also published as Markdown at /{lang}/handbook/apostille/ca/british-columbia/index.md for: en

> Apostille guide for British Columbia, Canada: the competent authority is Ministry of Attorney General of British Columbia. Verified 2026-08-09.

Everything below is transcribed from this office's own published sources and printed in its words. A value we could not confirm against an official page is marked "(unverified)" — but the absence of that marker is not a guarantee that a fact was checked, and the source's own doubts stay inside the notes reproduced here verbatim. Confirm fees, addresses and deadlines with the office before you send documents or money.

- **Jurisdiction:** British Columbia, Canada
- **Verified as of:** August 9, 2026

## Who issues the apostille

Ministry of Attorney General of British Columbia

Administered by the Order in Council (OIC) Administration Office, "BC Authentication Program." Covers "B.C. public documents, submitted in the format required, for use outside Canada" and "certain federal Canadian public documents that have been notarized in B.C." Verifies signatures/seals of BC officials, lawyers and notaries. Cannot authenticate foreign documents; non-BC Canadian documents are referred to Global Affairs Canada or the issuing province

## Which documents this office will accept

- **From the source:** Depends on document type — some documents must be notarized by a B.C. Notary Public or lawyer first; "Some types of public documents should not be notarized before authentication" (e.g., vital statistics originals are authenticated directly). Non-English content requires translation per BC's translation requirements. Since Dec 18, 2023, every request must identify the destination country per document. No ID required from the applicant. Apostille attached to all documents authenticated in B.C. on or after Jan 11, 2024

## Certifications you may need first

No additional certification step is required before the apostille.

## The request form

No paper form: the request is made through the online portal. Download: https://pay.gov.bc.ca/public/lsb/bcDocAuthRequest B.C. Document Authentication Request form (same PayBC URL as the online request)

## Requesting online

Part of the request is made online; the documents themselves still reach the office on paper. Portal: https://pay.gov.bc.ca/public/lsb/bcDocAuthRequest Online request form + payment (documents still sent by mail/courier); must be completed on desktop, not mobile

## What it costs

- **$20.00 CAD** per document — "There is a standard $20 fee for each document authentication"

## How to pay

- **By mail:** money order, certified cheque / bank draft, or cheque
- **Online:** card payment
- **Make it payable to:** Minister of Finance — copy that exactly as written.
- Online via PayBC form (Mastercard, Debit Mastercard, Visa, Visa Debit, American Express); by mail: money order, bank draft, personal or business cheque (CAD or USD) payable to "Minister of Finance" (bank draft represented under the cashiersCheck token)

## Where to send your documents

- **Mailing address:** Ministry of Attorney General, OIC Administration Office, Attention: BC Authentication Program, 1001 Douglas Street, Victoria, BC V8W 2C5
- **From the source:** HCCH lists a PO Box 9280 Stn Prov Govt variant

## How long it takes

- **By mail:** "2 to 4 weeks, not including mail time" (current published estimate)
- Fee includes return by regular Canada Post; courier return requires prepaid arrangements

## Checking status and verifying an apostille

- **Verification register:** https://apostille-gac.powerappsportals.com/en/eregister-eregistre/ — BC apostilles verifiable via the shared GAC tool (covers GAC, AB, SK, BC). No separate BC-run register found

## Remote online notarization

- Remote online notarization is permitted here.
- **Legal basis:** No BC statute expressly authorizes remote notarial certificates. Two pillars: (1) Attorney General's "Direction to Commissioners for Taking Affidavits" (originally COVID-19) — remote commissioning per the BC Courts' remote-commissioning direction; "The Provincial State of Emergency for COVID-19 ended... June 30, 2021. The direction continues until further notice" (page last updated Nov 26, 2025 — still active, no rescission). (2) Law Society of BC Code of Professional Conduct, Appendix A (annotated) — remote commissioning provisions added July 2024, amended Nov 2024 (permanent professional-conduct basis for lawyers)
- **How the signer is identified:** LSBC Appendix A, verbatim: "the deponent must show the lawyer the front and back of the deponent's valid and current government-issued photo identification"; "The lawyer must compare the video image of the deponent and information in the deponent's government-issued photo identity document to be reasonably satisfied." No KBA
- No maximum fee is recorded here for a remote act. A missing cap is not the same as "no cap" — the reason is in the notes below.
- **From the source:** Permitted, ongoing (no sunset) but framed as guidance rather than statute. LSBC Appendix A: "a lawyer may discharge the lawyer's ethical and professional obligations regarding commissioning an affidavit or solemn declaration where the lawyer and deponent are not physically together through the use of electronic and video technology." Affidavit must include a paragraph "describing that the deponent was not physically present before the lawyer as commissioner, but was in the lawyer's electronic presence linked with the lawyer utilizing video technology." Commissioner must "confirm that the recipient of the affidavit or declaration will accept a document that has been commissioned remotely." BC Land Title & Survey Authority separately allows remote witnessing of land title affidavits (Practice Bulletin 01-20, 2020). Who can do it: commissioners for taking affidavits (Evidence Act s. 56 appointees; lawyers and BC notaries are commissioners), BC notaries public (Society of Notaries Public of BC members), lawyers. Fee rules: no statutory cap; BC notaries set their own fees (Society publishes no mandatory tariff). Market rate (as of Aug 2026): Canada Notary (canadanotary.ca) offers BC virtual commissioning of affidavits/statutory declarations via video (fee via calculator). Apostille interplay: GAC and provincial competent authorities require original/wet-ink signatures and seals — remotely executed, purely electronic notarizations are generally unusable for apostille unless printed/wet-signed by the commissioner

## Other things the source says

In-person offices: none. "All authentication requests must be sent by mail or by courier." "Rush, walk-in, drop off and while-you-wait services are not available."

> **RCW 42.45.230(5):** I am not an attorney licensed to practice law in this state. I am not allowed to draft legal records, give advice on legal matters, including immigration, or charge a fee for those activities.

## Other Canada jurisdictions (Markdown)

- [Apostille in Federal](https://andrii.co/en/handbook/apostille/ca/federal/index.md)
- [Apostille in Alberta](https://andrii.co/en/handbook/apostille/ca/alberta/index.md)
- [Apostille in Manitoba](https://andrii.co/en/handbook/apostille/ca/manitoba/index.md)
- [Apostille in New Brunswick](https://andrii.co/en/handbook/apostille/ca/new-brunswick/index.md)
- [Apostille in Newfoundland and Labrador](https://andrii.co/en/handbook/apostille/ca/newfoundland-and-labrador/index.md)
- [Apostille in Northwest Territories](https://andrii.co/en/handbook/apostille/ca/northwest-territories/index.md)
- [Apostille in Nova Scotia](https://andrii.co/en/handbook/apostille/ca/nova-scotia/index.md)
- [Apostille in Nunavut](https://andrii.co/en/handbook/apostille/ca/nunavut/index.md)
- [Apostille in Ontario](https://andrii.co/en/handbook/apostille/ca/ontario/index.md)
- [Apostille in Prince Edward Island](https://andrii.co/en/handbook/apostille/ca/prince-edward-island/index.md)
- [Apostille in Quebec](https://andrii.co/en/handbook/apostille/ca/quebec/index.md)
- [Apostille in Saskatchewan](https://andrii.co/en/handbook/apostille/ca/saskatchewan/index.md)
- [Apostille in Yukon](https://andrii.co/en/handbook/apostille/ca/yukon/index.md)

## All jurisdictions (Markdown)

- [Apostille requirements, jurisdiction by jurisdiction](https://andrii.co/en/handbook/apostille/index.md)

## Other pages on this site (Markdown)

- [All international document services. One stop location in Washington state.](https://andrii.co/en/index.md)
- [Mobile notary and expedited apostille for Greater Seattle](https://andrii.co/en/notary/index.md)
- [Book a notary or apostille appointment](https://andrii.co/en/notary/booking/index.md)
- [Form I-9 verification, done in person and on time](https://andrii.co/en/notary/i9/index.md)
- [Washington State apostille](https://andrii.co/en/apostille/index.md)
- [Service of process, served right and proven on paper.](https://andrii.co/en/service-of-process/index.md)
- [We chase the record so you don't have to.](https://andrii.co/en/vital-records/index.md)
- [A real address that answers your mail and tells you about it.](https://andrii.co/en/registered-agent/index.md)
- [A local face in Washington](https://andrii.co/en/commercial-representation/index.md)
- [Privacy notice](https://andrii.co/en/privacy/index.md)
- [Terms of Service](https://andrii.co/en/terms/index.md)

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