A complete guide to getting US documents apostilled for international use. Federal documents go through the US Department of State; state documents go through your Secretary of State. Add a certified translation when the destination country requires it.
The documents most commonly apostilled at Official Translations break into two clean tracks. State-issued vital records — Birth Certificate, Marriage Certificate, and Death Certificate — are apostilled by the Secretary of State of the issuing state and are submitted to foreign civil registry offices for residency, marriage abroad, dual citizenship, child registration, and inheritance. Diploma & Transcripts (state-apostilled after notarization by a state-commissioned notary or registrar) go to foreign universities for admissions and to foreign employers and professional licensing boards for work visas. Court Records and Notarized Documents are also state-apostilled and are filed with foreign courts for divorce recognition, name change, custody, and litigation; the Affidavit follows the same path when sworn before a state notary. Power of Attorney is notarized first, then state-apostilled, and is used by international real estate offices and foreign banks to authorize a representative abroad.
The federal track applies to documents the US government itself issues. The FBI Background Check (Identity History Summary) is apostilled exclusively by the US Department of State Office of Authentications in Washington, DC, and is required by foreign immigration authorities and foreign employers for residency permits, work visas, and golden-visa programs in Spain, Portugal, Italy, the UAE, and most of Latin America. Corporate Documents fall on either track: state-issued certificates of good standing, articles of incorporation, and bylaws are apostilled by the issuing state's Secretary of State and are filed with foreign business registration offices to open a subsidiary or branch; IRS letters and federal corporate records go to the US Department of State. Foreign embassies and consulates accept apostilles only from Hague Convention member countries; for non-Hague destinations like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Vietnam see our embassy legalization translation guide.
Most foreign authorities also require a certified English-to-target-language translation of each apostilled document, and many require the translation itself to be apostilled. The standard sequence is: obtain the underlying US document, apostille it at the correct office, translate it with a certified translator, notarize the translator certificate of accuracy, then apostille the notarized translation. Official Translations handles the translation and notarization steps and coordinates the second apostille on request, so the FBI Background Check, Birth Certificate, Marriage Certificate, Diploma, Power of Attorney, and Corporate Documents arrive at the foreign embassy, foreign court, foreign university, or foreign business registration office in a single ready-to-file package. Get a free quote with your destination country and we will map every document to the correct apostille office and the correct receiving authority abroad.
Upload your document, tell us the destination country, and we will deliver an apostille-ready certified translation. Accepted everywhere it matters.