California Birth Certificate Apostille
California will apostille an authorized certified copy of a birth certificate, but if that copy was signed by a Local Registrar or a county Health Officer it needs a county clerk's certification of that signature first — a step most people discover after their document comes back. Ordering the copy from the County Recorder or from CDPH Vital Records instead avoids the extra step entirely. Informational copies cannot be apostilled at all.
Which California birth certificate copies qualify for an apostille
| Issuing office | Apostille | What decides it |
|---|---|---|
| County Recorder | Accepted | Goes straight to the state — no county clerk certification needed. This is the fastest copy to order. |
| CDPH Vital Records (Sacramento) | Accepted | State-issued and state-signed, so the signature is already one the state can certify. |
| Local Registrar or county Health Officer | Conditional | Valid, but the county clerk must certify the signing official's signature before the apostille request is filed. |
| Informational copy | Not accepted | Marked "INFORMATIONAL, NOT A VALID DOCUMENT TO ESTABLISH IDENTITY" across the face. It has no legal effect and cannot be apostilled. |
Before the request is filed
- Look at who signed the certificate. A Local Registrar or Health Officer signature means a county clerk certification comes first; a County Recorder or CDPH signature does not.
- Confirm the copy is an authorized certified copy, not an informational one — the wording is printed across the face, so this takes a second to check.
- Count the signatures being authenticated. California charges its special handling fee per public official's signature, not per document.
What California sends back
- Informational copies, in every case.
- A Local Registrar copy sent in without the county clerk step.
- Requests for documents destined for a U.S. territory — California does not issue apostilles for those, because a territory is not a foreign country under the Hague Convention.
Where it is filed
| Authority | California Secretary of State |
|---|---|
| Filed in | Sacramento |
| State fee | $20 per apostille, plus a $6 special handling fee for each public official's signature on over-the-counter requests. |
| Turnaround | about 24–48 hours once we file in person for most state documents |
Mailed requests are accepted in Sacramento only. Both Sacramento and Los Angeles take walk-ins, but the Los Angeles counter does not accept cash.
California birth certificate apostille FAQ
How do I tell whether my California birth certificate needs the county clerk step?+
Read the signature block. If it was signed by a Local Registrar of Births and Deaths or by a county Health Officer, the county clerk in that county has to certify the signature before the Secretary of State will apostille it. If it was signed by the County Recorder or by the State Registrar at CDPH, no extra step applies.
Can I apostille the hospital certificate my baby came home with?+
No. The decorative certificate a hospital issues has no legal status in California and never has. Only an authorized certified copy from a County Recorder, a Local Registrar or CDPH Vital Records can be apostilled.
My certificate is an old one from the 1970s. Is it still usable?+
California does not impose an age limit on the certified copy, unlike Texas. What matters is that it is an authorized certified copy with a signature the state can authenticate — an older copy signed by a Local Registrar simply routes through the county clerk step like any other.
I need it for a country that is not in the Hague Convention. Is it the same request?+
The state process is the same up to this point, but the output is a certification rather than an apostille and it then needs consular legalization by that country's embassy or consulate. Tell us the destination when you send the document and we will route it correctly the first time.
Keep reading
Other states
Federal Apostille™ is a private, independent courier and document-processing service. We are not affiliated with any state vital records office, the U.S. Department of State, or any government agency.