Getting an apostille follows the same steps in every state: notarize or certify the document, find the state’s issuing office, submit it with the fee, and wait. California charges $20, Texas $15, and Florida $10 to $20. California and Texas offer same-day counter service; Florida needs at least five business days.
New to the terms? Start with apostille vs notarization vs authentication.
How Do You Get an Apostille in Your State?
Every state follows the same core sequence for issuing an apostille: notarize or obtain a certified copy of the document, identify your state’s issuing office, submit the document with payment, and wait for processing – the specific fee amount, submission channels, and turnaround time are what actually differ by state. Understanding this shared structure makes each state’s individual instructions much easier to follow, since you’re really just looking for the state-specific version of the same five steps. This guide covers California, Texas, and Florida in detail because they are among the most commonly searched, and the same steps show you what to look for on any other state’s website.
- Notarize the document or obtain a certified copy, depending on whether it’s a privately executed document or an official public record.
- Find your state’s apostille-issuing office – in nearly every state, this is the Secretary of State, though a few states route certain documents through a different office.
- Check whether in-person submission is available in your state; California and Texas offer same-day counter service, while Florida accepts walk-ins but does not offer expedited service.
- Submit your document with the correct fee, using the payment methods your state’s office accepts – some offices don’t take cash by mail, and a few don’t accept cash at every location.
- Confirm the destination country is a Hague Convention member before you submit, since an apostille only works for member countries.
How Much Does an Apostille Cost, and How Long Does It Take in CA, TX, and FL?
Apostille fees for these three states range from $10 to $20 per document, and turnaround ranges from same-day to several weeks. Each row below links to the state office that publishes the figures, and all were checked on September 29, 2026.
| State | Fee | Typical turnaround | Notable details | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | $20 per apostille; in-person requests add a $6 special handling fee for each additional public official’s signature | Same-day at the Sacramento counter; the Los Angeles office also serves walk-ins; mail takes longer | Cash accepted at the Sacramento office only, not Los Angeles | California Secretary of State |
| Texas | $15 per document; $10 per document for international adoption cases, capped at $100 per adoption | Same-day in person (appointment Tuesday to Thursday, walk-in Monday and Friday); about two weeks by mail | Payment by check, money order, card, or exact-change cash at the office | Texas Secretary of State |
| Florida | $10 per notarized document; $20 per document certified by a Clerk of Circuit Court | Allow at least five business days; no expedited service | Walk-ins accepted without an appointment; checks or money orders only, no cash | Florida Division of Corporations |
The fee itself is rarely the deciding factor in how long the whole process actually takes. Florida has the lowest headline fee of the three but no expedited option, so a same-day counter in California or Texas can finish sooner despite a higher fee. If your document is time-sensitive, prioritize finding out whether your state offers same-day service over comparing the headline fee amount alone.
Special-purpose fee reductions are also common and easy to miss: several states waive or reduce their standard fee for specific document types, such as international adoption paperwork, similar to how Texas charges $10 per document, capped at $100 per adoption, regardless of how many certificates the adoption requires.
Which State’s Office Handles Your Apostille Request?
The apostille must come from the state that actually issued or notarized the document, not the state where you happen to live now; a California birth certificate goes through California’s Secretary of State, even if you’ve since moved to Texas.
- State-issued documents (birth certificates, marriage certificates, state court records) go to that state’s Secretary of State.
- Federal documents (FBI background checks, USCIS records, documents from federal courts) go to the U.S. Department of State instead of any state office.
- Documents notarized through remote online notarization generally route to the Secretary of State in the notary’s commissioning state, not necessarily where the signer was physically located during the session.
This distinction matters most for people who’ve relocated or who used an out-of-state notary: sending a request to the wrong office doesn’t just delay things, it usually gets rejected outright and sent back. Someone born in Ohio but now living in Arizona still needs to request their Ohio birth certificate’s apostille from Ohio, not Arizona – the document’s state of origin controls, not the requester’s current address.
This same principle applies to corporate documents: a business incorporated in Delaware but headquartered in another state still routes its Delaware-issued formation documents through Delaware’s own Secretary of State for an apostille, regardless of where the company actually operates day to day or where its officers are currently based.
What Mistakes Delay an Apostille?
Most apostille delays trace back to a handful of avoidable errors rather than genuine processing backlogs – catching these before you submit saves real time, sometimes weeks of it if a mailed submission has to make a round trip before you even find out something was wrong.
- Submitting to the wrong state’s office, rather than the state that issued or notarized the document.
- Sending an unacceptable payment method – several offices don’t take cash by mail, and some locations don’t accept cash even in person.
- Skipping the required cover sheet many states ask for, stating which country the document will be used in.
- Assuming same-day service exists everywhere – Florida, for example, does not offer expedited service.
- Assuming a country is a Hague member without checking – submitting an apostille request for a non-member country results in automatic rejection.
- Using an old or expired certified copy – some states won’t apostille a document that’s aged past a certain point without a fresh certified copy.
A quick call or email to the receiving institution abroad before you start is often the fastest way to catch a mismatch – some schools, employers, and government offices have specific formatting or translation preferences that go beyond what the apostille itself requires, and finding that out after the apostille is already issued means starting the underlying document process over.
Can You Notarize Your Document Online Before Requesting an Apostille?
Yes, in most cases – you can notarize documents online before submitting for an apostille, though it’s worth confirming with your state’s Secretary of State that they currently accept electronically notarized documents for apostille processing, since not every state’s process has caught up yet.
If you already know which state will be issuing your apostille, it’s worth confirming their electronic-document policy before your notarization session rather than after – a handful of states still ask for a specific format or an additional cover document when the underlying notarization was completed remotely rather than on paper. Texas, for example, will apostille an online notarization if you include the notary’s ledger entry and a notarial certificate stating the document was notarized by two-way audio and visual communication (Texas Secretary of State).
BlueNotary’s remote online notarization sessions typically take about 10 minutes and start at $25 for one signer and one stamp, and businesses handling apostille-bound paperwork at volume can review bluenotary pricing for plans beyond the standard per-session rate.
See the full notarization process walkthrough if you already have a bluenotary login and want to start a session before your apostille request.
Not sure which office should handle your specific apostille request? Email BlueNotary directly at [email protected] and the team will help you out.
FAQ Section
Q1. How do I get an apostille in my state?
Notarize or certify the document, then submit it to your state’s Secretary of State (or the U.S. Department of State for federal documents) with the required fee.
Q2. Does every state charge the same apostille fee?
No. Fees vary by state. California, Texas, and Florida charge between $10 and $20 per document, depending on the state and document type.
Q3. Which state’s office handles my apostille if I’ve moved?
The state that issued or notarized the document, not your current state of residence, handles the apostille request.
Q4. Can I get an apostille the same day?
In some states, yes. California and Texas offer same-day in-person service at specific offices, while Florida does not offer expedited service.
Q5. Can a digitally notarized document still get an apostille?
Usually, yes, but confirm with your state’s Secretary of State that they currently accept electronically notarized documents before relying on it.
Q6. What’s the most common reason an apostille request gets rejected?
Submitting to the wrong state’s office, using an unaccepted payment method, or requesting an apostille for a non-Hague country are the most common causes.
