State Apostille vs. Federal Apostille
The most common mistake in apostille processing is sending your document to the wrong authority. Here is how to determine which one you need.
Who Issued Your Document?
Start here: Who issued the document?
A state or county agency
State vital records, county clerk, state court, state-commissioned notary, university
Your state's Secretary of State
State-level apostille authority
A federal agency
FBI, USCIS, U.S. Department of State, federal courts, Department of Defense
U.S. Department of State
Office of Authentications, Washington, D.C.
Source: USAGov confirms this routing. The Hague Conference (HCCH) lists each U.S. state Secretary of State and the U.S. Department of State as separate competent authorities under the Apostille Convention.
State Documents
These documents are apostilled by a state Secretary of State. Under the True Copy method, the apostille may come from a different state than the one that issued the document. Under Original Protocol, the apostille comes from the same state.
| Document Type | Issued By | Apostilled By | Typical Processing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Birth Certificate | State vital records office | State Secretary of State | 1-6 business days (varies by state) |
| Marriage Certificate | County clerk / recorder | State Secretary of State | 1-6 business days |
| Death Certificate | State vital records office | State Secretary of State | 1-6 business days |
| Diploma / Transcript | College or university | State Secretary of State | 1-6 business days |
| Divorce Decree | State court | State Secretary of State | 1-6 business days |
| Power of Attorney | Notary (state-commissioned) | State Secretary of State | 1-6 business days |
| Corporate Documents | State agency | State Secretary of State | 1-6 business days |
Federal Documents
These documents must be apostilled by the U.S. Department of State, Office of Authentications. State offices cannot process them.
| Document Type | Issued By | Apostilled By | Typical Processing |
|---|---|---|---|
| FBI Background Check | FBI | U.S. Department of State | 7-9 business days |
| Certificate of Naturalization | USCIS | U.S. Department of State | 7-9 business days |
| Consular Report of Birth Abroad | U.S. Department of State | U.S. Department of State | 7-9 business days |
| Federal Court Documents | Federal courts | U.S. Department of State | 7-9 business days |
| Military Records | Department of Defense | U.S. Department of State | 7-9 business days |
What Happens If You Send to the Wrong One?
The wrong authority will not process your document. They will return it unprocessed, often with a brief rejection letter. The consequences are significant:
- You lose the weeks already spent in transit and waiting for a rejection decision.
- You must restart the process from the beginning with the correct authority.
- If your document has an expiration window (such as an FBI background check required within 3 months), you may need to obtain a new document entirely.
- Federal processing cannot be expedited, so a routing mistake on a federal document costs you a minimum of several additional weeks.
We Handle the Routing
When you submit documents through Apostilles.us, we review each document to determine whether it requires a state or federal apostille. We route your documents to the correct authority automatically, so you never have to worry about sending to the wrong office.
State apostille service starts at $149 per document, which includes document review, correct routing, and tracked return shipping. Federal documents are routed to the U.S. Department of State on your behalf.
Frequently Asked Questions
Processing times are estimates based on typical authority timelines and may vary. Federal apostille processing through the U.S. Department of State cannot be expedited regardless of service tier. State processing times vary significantly by state and current volume. When in doubt about which authority applies to your document, use our free document review before submitting.