United States

Apostille in Federal courts

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.

About this entry's sources: One entry for all federal courts by design (handbook plan §3) — per-district variance stays in notes/documentRules; a district third level (subRef/parentId) is deferred

Who issues the apostille

Competent authority

Clerks and deputy clerks of U.S. federal courts

Per HCCH: "clerks and deputy clerks" of U.S. federal courts are competent authorities — Supreme Court of the United States, the U.S. Courts of Appeals (D.C. Circuit through Eleventh Circuit), all U.S. District Courts, U.S. Court of Claims [now Court of Federal Claims], U.S. Court of International Trade, and territorial district courts (Guam, Virgin Islands). An apostille on a FEDERAL COURT document can be obtained directly from that court's clerk — it does not have to go to the DoS Office of Authentications (though travel.state.gov also lists "Federal court documents" among documents it apostilles)

Which documents this office will accept

From the source: Each clerk apostilles only documents generated within that court. N.D. Tex. FAQ: the district clerk apostilles only "case documents, local rules, administrative orders, court plans, attorney admission certificates, etc."; the clerk (1) prepares a copy, (2) certifies it as a true copy, (3) issues the apostille on that certification; you pay copy cost + $12 certification + $50 apostille; bankruptcy documents: the bankruptcy court first supplies a certified copy to the district clerk. C.D. Cal.: "Apostille services are only provided for court documents pertaining to the United States District Court for the Central District of California"; requests online (Case Records Request Form), by mail, or in person at public windows 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. (closed 12:30–1:30), Mon–Fri. S.D. Ill. posts written apostille instructions: https://www.ilsd.uscourts.gov/sites/ilsd/files/ApostilleInstructs.pdf

Certifications you may need first

No additional certification step is required before the apostille.

The request form

The request form is not published online — confirm with the office whether it wants a form, and which one, before you send anything.

What the source does say about this office is in the notes at the end of this page.

Requesting online

The source publishes nothing about an online route for this office.

Where to go in person

The source lists no office for in-person service.

What it costs

Fee

Applies to

Details

$50.00 USD per apostille

All documents

Effective December 1, 2023.

District Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule (effective December 1, 2023), verbatim: "For the issuance of an apostille, $50."

$12.00 USD per document

certification of the underlying document (true copy)

Effective December 1, 2023.

Verbatim: "For certification of any document, $12." — paid in addition to the $50 apostille in practice (N.D. Tex.: copy cost + $12 certification + $50 apostille). Same schedule: "For exemplification of any document, $24."; copies "$.50 per page" (paper); records search "$34 per name or item searched."

How to pay

Accepted methods: The source does not itemize which payment methods this office accepts.
From the source: Payment methods vary by district — no nationwide rule published. Example (C.D. Cal. Records Dept.): cashier's/certified/business check or money order (no personal checks), card in person. Confirm accepted methods and payee with the issuing court's clerk

Where to send your documents

No mailing address is published for this office. Do not send original documents anywhere until you have confirmed the address with the office itself.

How long it takes

Processing time is not published for this office.

From the source: No nationwide processing time published — per-district practice; confirm with the clerk of the issuing court

Checking status and verifying an apostille

Verify an issued apostille: No public verification register is published for this office. That is not the same as an apostille being unverifiable — ask the office how it confirms one.
Check a request's status: No status-tracking page is published for this office.

Remote online notarization

This authority issues apostilles but commissions no notaries, so there are no remote-notarization rules at this level. They belong to the state or province where the notary holds their commission.

Other things the source says

Standard judiciary forms (Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts): AO 390 "Apostille (Convention de La Haye, 5 Octobre 1961)" — https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/ao390.pdf; AO 392 "Apostille Index Card" (clerk's internal register of issued apostilles; effective May 1, 1981) — https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/forms/apostille-index-card; AO 393 "Statement of Effect Apostille" (effective April 1, 2010) — https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/forms/statement-effect-apostille. Request procedure, submission channels, and payment vary per district — this ONE entry covers all federal courts

Every United States jurisdiction in this handbook

Other countries: Canada — Federal — Global Affairs Canada · Mexico — Federal — Secretaría de Gobernación (SEGOB)

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