United States

Apostille in California

Verified as of August 9, 2026

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 carries an unverified marker — 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.

Who issues the apostille

Competent authority: California Secretary of State — Notary Public Section (Apostille), Sacramento and Los Angeles

Which documents this office will accept

Copies: "The document must be signed by a California public official or be an original notarized and/or certified document. A photocopy is not acceptable."
From the source: No county-level pre-certification of notaries required

By document type

Document type

What this office requires

vital records unverified

must be certified copies signed by the authorized official (county recorder/clerk or CDPH State Registrar)

unverified — not itemized on request page

“Unverified” marks a value we could not confirm against an official page. Facts without the marker are not therefore audited — always confirm money and addresses with the office before you send anything.

Certifications you may need first

No additional certification step is required before the apostille.

The request form

Form: A PDF request form.
Where to get it: https://notary.cdn.sos.ca.gov/forms/apostille-request-form.pdf
From the source: Mail cover sheet; Sacramento in-person cover sheet: https://notary.cdn.sos.ca.gov/forms/apostille-request-sac.pdf ; Los Angeles in-person cover sheet: https://notary.cdn.sos.ca.gov/forms/apostille-request-la.pdf

Requesting online

Online route: There is no online request route — this office takes requests on paper.
From the source: Mail or in person only

Where to go in person

Sacramento

1500 11th Street, 3rd Floor, Sacramento, CA 95814

Access: Open for walk-in service.
Hours: Not published for this office.
Same-day service: Available.
From the source: Walk-in public counter, no appointment, same-day (~30 min), +$6/signature special handling

Los Angeles

300 South Spring Street, Room 12513, Los Angeles, CA 90013

Access: Open for walk-in service.
Hours: Not published for this office.
Same-day service: Available.
From the source: Temporarily operating 1st Floor, Suite 1215 due to elevator outage; walk-in, no appointment, same-day (~30 min), +$6/signature special handling, no cash

What it costs

Fee	Applies to	Details
$20.00 USD per document	All documents	"$20.00 per Apostille"
$6.00 USD per signature	special handling (in-person delivery)	In-person delivery adds "$6.00 Special Handling fee ... for each different public official's signature" being authenticated

How to pay

By mail: Check or money order.
In person: Card payment, check, money order, or cash.
Make it payable to: Not published. This office accepts a mailed check or money order but prints no payee name — confirm the payee on the official request form before you write it.
From the source: Sacramento in person: credit card (Visa/Mastercard), check, money order, or cash; Los Angeles in person: credit card (Visa/Mastercard), check, or money order — "Cash is not accepted at the Los Angeles office."; mail: check or money order only. Payee string not printed in the source block — confirm on the request cover sheet before mailing

Where to send your documents

By U.S. Mail: Notary Public Section, P.O. Box 942877, Sacramento, CA 94277-0001
By courier: Notary Public Section, 1500 11th Street, 2nd Floor, Sacramento, CA 95814
From the source: Courier address is for FedEx/UPS/DHL

How long it takes

This office posts a queue position rather than a turnaround: when this page's source was checked on August 9, 2026, it was processing requests received on July 28, 2026. That date moves as the queue does — check the office's own page for the current one before you plan around it.

By mail: Mail: office "currently processing Apostille requests received: 07/28/2026" (last updated Aug 7, 2026 — i.e., ~1.5-week backlog)
In person: In person: "typically processed within 30 minutes after submission" (same day), both offices

Checking status and verifying an apostille

Verify an issued apostille: http://apostille-search.sos.ca.gov/
Check a request's status: No status-tracking page is published for this office.

Remote online notarization

Status

Enacted but not yet operative — and the date it becomes operative is conditional.

Legal basis

Online Notarization Act added by SB 696 (Ch. 291, Stats. 2023); operative on the earlier of January 1, 2030 or the date the Secretary of State certifies completion of its technology project (NAP 2.0). Current SOS handbook (2026): "current California Law does not provide the authority for California notaries to perform a remote online notarization using audio-video communication."

What the notary must register

Will be required when operative — "A notary public shall not provide online notarization for any principal prior to registration with the Secretary of State or prior to completion of the Secretary of State's technology project" (Gov. Code § 8231(b))

How the signer is identified

When operative: credential analysis plus identity proofing performed at least at Identity Assurance Level 2 per NIST SP 800-63A (June 2017) (Gov. Code §§ 8231.3(a)(5), 8231.9); personal knowledge plus oath/identification elements also referenced in § 8231.9. Until then, no remote identity-proofing regime exists

Fee caps

Standard notarial act: $15.00 USD

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

Max RON fee not yet set — SB 696 establishes no RON-specific dollar cap; fee treatment pending SOS rules (unverified). Standard fees, Gov. Code § 8211: acknowledgment $15 per signature; jurat $15 per signature; oath/affirmation $15; deposition services $30 plus $7 (oath to witness) and $7 (certificate to deposition); certifying copy of power of attorney $15; immigration forms $15 per individual per set. Out-of-state notarizations (including RON performed lawfully in other states) are generally recognized for acknowledgments under Civ. Code § 1189(b) (unverified on SOS page); SB 696 will require audio-video recording, electronic journal, separate online-notary surety bond when operative

Other things the source says

SOS also holds periodic county-partnered "Apostille Pop-Up Shop" events (e.g., Kern County 2026, San Diego County 2024)

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