Illinois Birth Certificate Apostille
Illinois publishes two different answers to the question of which birth certificate copy it will apostille. The Secretary of State's website and its Publication I-177 both say a county clerk, a local registrar or an IDPH copy of a birth certificate is acceptable — but the actual application form, I-213, omits IDPH from its list. A county clerk copy is therefore the safest document to send, and it is also the fastest to obtain, because IDPH's mail service runs to roughly twelve weeks while a county clerk copy can be picked up the same day.
Which Illinois birth certificate copies qualify for an apostille
| Issuing office | Apostille | What decides it |
|---|---|---|
| County Clerk | Accepted | Named in every Illinois source including form I-213. The safest and quickest copy to obtain. |
| Local registrar | Accepted | Named alongside the county clerk in the published guidance and on the form. |
| IDPH (Division of Vital Records) | Conditional | Accepted per the Secretary of State's website and Publication I-177, but absent from form I-213 — and roughly twelve weeks by mail. |
| Birth before 1916 | Conditional | IDPH holds no statewide record before 1916. The county clerk of the county of birth is the only source. |
Before the request is filed
- Order from the county clerk of the county of birth unless there is a reason not to. It sidesteps the I-213 discrepancy and the twelve-week IDPH queue in one move.
- For a birth before 1916, go straight to the county clerk — there is no state-level record to request.
- Leave the authentication attached once it is issued. Removing or re-stapling the pages voids the apostille and the document has to be filed again.
What Illinois sends back
- A hospital souvenir certificate or a photocopy of any kind.
- A document whose authentication has been detached from the record it was issued for.
- A foreign-use authentication request presented at the Chicago counter for anything other than authentication — Springfield handles the rest.
Where it is filed
| Authority | Illinois Secretary of State |
|---|---|
| Filed in | Springfield |
| State fee | $2 per document. |
| Turnaround | about 24–48 hours once we file in person for most state documents |
Springfield processes apostille requests while you wait. The Chicago office at 160 North LaSalle handles authentication for foreign use only, so a request that needs anything else has to go to Springfield regardless of where you live.
Illinois birth certificate apostille FAQ
The website says IDPH copies are fine but the form does not list IDPH. Which is right?+
Both are published by the Secretary of State and they genuinely disagree, which is why we send county clerk copies as a matter of course. An IDPH copy is very likely to be accepted, but very likely is a poor trade when a county clerk copy costs the same and removes the question entirely.
Why is a county clerk copy faster than a state one?+
IDPH's Division of Vital Records processes mail requests in roughly twelve weeks. A county clerk in the county of birth can usually issue a certified copy over the counter the same day, and for a birth before 1916 the county clerk is the only office that holds the record at all.
Can I have the apostille done in Chicago?+
Only if what you need is authentication for foreign use. The Chicago office at 160 North LaSalle is limited to that; everything else in the apostille and authentication process is handled in Springfield, where requests are processed while you wait.
Can I unstaple the apostille to scan the certificate?+
No. The apostille is issued for the specific document it is attached to, and separating them invalidates it — the receiving authority abroad has no way to tell which record the certification belonged to. If you need a clean scan, we send one the same day the apostille is issued, before the document ships.
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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.