Apostille in Tennessee
Which documents this office will accept
By document type
| Document type | What this office requires |
|---|---|
| vital records | Office of Vital Records can forward apostille requests with a second check to the SOS |
Certifications you may need first
Notarized documents
County clerk of the county of the notary's commission (certifies the notary's signature)
You can skip this step: State-issued certified vital records: send certified copy directly to SOS (no county clerk step)
Complete these before the apostille request itself.
The request form
- Form
A PDF request form.
- Form number
SS-4504
- From the source
Direct PDF returned 403 to automated fetch; linked from https://sos.tn.gov/businesses/guides/apostille-authentication-guide
Requesting online
- Online route
There is no online request route — this office takes requests on paper.
- From the source
Printable request form only
Where to go in person
Nashville
312 Rosa L. Parks Ave, 3rd Floor, Nashville, TN 37243- Access
Open for walk-in service.
No appointment is needed.
- Hours
Mon–Fri 8:00 a.m.–4:15 p.m. CT
- Same-day service
Available.
- Cut-off
same-day if in by 2:00 p.m.
- From the source
Walk-in, no appointment required
What it costs
- Fee
$2.00 USD per document
$2.00 per document
How to pay unverified
- By mail
Check.
- Make it payable to
Tennessee Secretary of State
Copy that exactly as written.
- From the source
Check payable to "Tennessee Secretary of State" (per vitalrecords.tn.gov); other accepted methods not stated on fetched official pages (unverified)
Where to send your documents
- Mailing address
- Office of Authentications, Tennessee Secretary of State, Business Services Division, ATTN: ATS Section, 312 Rosa L. Parks Ave, 6th Floor, Nashville, TN 37243
How long it takes
This office publishes no turnaround commitment. What it does say:
- In person
In person: same-day service if arriving by 2:00 p.m. Central
- From the source
Mail: not stated on official pages (unverified)
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
- Status
Remote online notarization is permitted here.
- Legal basis
Online Notary Public Act, Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 8-16-301 through 8-16-313, effective July 1, 2019
- In force since
July 1, 2019
- What the notary must register
Yes — a commissioned notary must apply to the Secretary of State to be commissioned as an online notary public (TCA 8-16-306(a)); $75 application fee
- How the signer is identified
Multifactor: (1) remote presentation of a government-issued ID credential, (2) credential analysis (automated verification of credential authenticity), and (3) identity proofing via KBA (minimum 5 questions, 80% correct); personal knowledge of the signer by the notary also permitted. Credible witness not listed for online acts (NNA extract)
- Fee caps
Remote act: $25.00 USD
No maximum fee is recorded here for a standard notarial act. A missing cap is not the same as “no cap” — the reason is in the notes below.
- From the source
Max RON fee: $25.00 per online notarization, "in addition to any other fees authorized under this chapter" (TCA 8-16-311). Max standard fee: no fixed statutory cap — "reasonable fees and compensation" (Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-21-1201, per SOS FAQ), so maxStandardFeeCents is omitted. Fee should be agreed with signer in advance; online notary commission is separate from and in addition to the traditional commission
Other things the source says
E-register: none found on official site
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