Posted by lucky/ca on 3/13/13 2:09am
Msg #460889

Apostille in California

I called a known notary association to ask how to go about doing an Apostille in California. I was told I was not to get the papers for the asking party but could notarize the Apostille once they get the documents. Do you actually notarize an Apostille in California? How do we take care of this request? The couple need to take their child who was born in the US on a trip to visit family in Russia and are required to have an Apostille.

Thank you for any responses.

Reply by Yoli/CA on 3/13/13 6:58am
Msg #460899

Basically, an Apostille is a verification by the SOS that the notary is, in fact, a notary and that the signature of the notary is true and authentic. SOS issues a certificate to that effect and that is your Apostille.

So, in essence:

1. You have the document and signer(s).
2. You perform your notarization as prescribed by law.
3. You either hand-carry or mail the notarized document and request for Apostille (or Certification if receiving government is not part of Hague Convention) to SOS.
4. Get notarized document and Authentication to requesting party.

All this info can be found at the following link:

http://www.sos.ca.gov/business/notary/

Note: If you're hand-carrying to SOS, you may be there just a few minutes or you may be there for hours. Be prepared to wait and set your fees accordingly.

Reply by SharonMN on 3/13/13 11:09am
Msg #460944

What Yoli said, except typically you give the document back to the signer and THEY perform steps 3 & 4. Although if you wanted to offer this service (shepherding the doc through the Apostille process), there is no reason you can't.