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How to Apostille a U.S. Birth Certificate (2026)
An apostille certifies the signature of the official who issued the certificate. That is why a birth certificate is apostilled in the state where you were born, even if you live somewhere else now. Born in Texas and living in Florida? The apostille comes from Texas.
Step 1: order a certified copy
Order it from the vital records office of the state where you were born. It must be a certified copy with the official’s original signature. A photocopy or a notarized copy will not work. In Florida, for example, a notary cannot attest a copy of a birth certificate.
Step 2: send it to that state’s apostille office
The apostille comes from the state’s apostille office, usually the Secretary of State or its equivalent. Some states require a county step first. Your state page shows the office, fee and processing time, with the official source.
Step 3: translation, if the country asks for it
The apostille does not translate the certificate. The receiving authority decides whether a translation is needed and what kind. Check your destination on our country pages.
Example: a Florida birth certificate
- Order the certificate from the Bureau of Vital Statistics using the official apostille form, DH726A. Birth records are confidential: if you are not an eligible requester, you need a notarized affidavit (form DH1958) signed by someone who is.
- Send it to the Florida Department of State with the apostille request and $10. The certificate fee and the apostille fee go on two separate checks or money orders.
- You can also order through VitalChek, and Vital Statistics will forward the certificate to the Department of State by UPS. VitalChek charges an extra $7, plus both agency fees and two shipping fees.
Florida notes that birth records issued before 2004 contain limited information. Ask the destination country’s consulate or embassy whether they will accept one.
If you were born abroad to U.S. citizen parents
The Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA, form FS-240) is a federal document. No state can apostille it: the U.S. Department of State does.
Common mistakes
- Sending it to the state where you live instead of the state where you were born.
- Sending a photocopy or a notarized copy.
- Not asking the destination country first how recent the certificate must be.