Maryland Apostille Services

The Maryland Secretary of State, from the Office of the Secretary of State in Annapolis. That office authenticates documents the state or its counties produced, along with private papers properly notarized by a Maryland notary.

An apostille is the certificate that authenticates the origin of a Maryland document for use in a country that belongs to the Hague Apostille Convention. You need one when a Maryland-issued or Maryland-notarized record will be used in a member country; for a destination beyond the treaty, the Secretary of State issues a standard certification instead.

Yes. The Circuit Court comes first. Specifically, the Clerk in whichever county commissioned the notary — the county named on the seal — certifies the document before it moves on to the Secretary of State. 

Yes. A Maryland birth certificate apostille runs on a certified copy from the Maryland Department of Health or another authorized vital records office, carrying its seal and an authorized signature. A hospital souvenir certificate or a home copy will be turned down.

To obtain a Maryland diploma apostille or a Maryland transcript apostille, have the registrar sign the document and have that signature notarized by a Maryland notary. Then take it to the appropriate Circuit Court clerk for certification before submitting it to the Secretary of State.

For official records, the Secretary of State wants a certified copy from the issuing office rather than a photocopy. Some private documents may be submitted as notarized copies, but the required format depends on the receiving country.

The destination sets which one applies. A member of the Hague Convention accepts an apostille; a country beyond it takes a Maryland Secretary of State certification, which usually goes on to federal authentication and embassy or consular legalization.

The Maryland apostille processing time is around one to two days for FedEx or UPS requests, up to three to four days for USPS Priority Mail, and up to one week for regular mail. Transit time is additional. Walk-in requests are handled at the Annapolis certification desk.

At $5 per document, the state fee is only part of the total — translation, shipping, and service costs are added separately. 

Yes. We review the document, arrange the notarization and Circuit Court certification it needs, submit it to the Secretary of State — or to the federal government where the document calls for it — and return the finished record by tracked shipping.

As it is a federal document, an FBI background check bypasses the Maryland Secretary of State — authentication is handled by the U.S. Department of State. A federal apostille is required for a Hague Convention country, while the rest require a federal authentication.

Yes. Our team provides an end-to-end FBI apostille service for Maryland residents, including confirming the destination’s requirements, filing the report with the U.S. Department of State, and returning it with full tracking.