Federal vs. State Apostille: Which One Do You Need?

The one rule: who signed it last

An apostille authenticates a signature. So the office that can issue it is the one that has authority over the person who signed. A federal official’s signature can only be authenticated federally; a state official’s or notary’s signature can only be authenticated by that state.

Look at the last official signature and seal on your document — not the subject matter, not where you live, and not where the document is going. That signature decides the route.

Quick lookup

Document	Signed by	Apostille from
FBI background check	FBI (federal)	U.S. Department of State
State police or county background check	State or county agency	That state’s Secretary of State
Naturalization / citizenship certificate	USCIS (federal)	U.S. Department of State
Birth or death certificate	State or county registrar	That state’s Secretary of State
Marriage certificate from a county clerk	County (state level)	That state’s Secretary of State
IRS Form 6166, tax transcript	IRS (federal)	U.S. Department of State
Federal court judgment or order	Federal court clerk	U.S. Department of State
State court judgment	State court clerk	That state’s Secretary of State
Power of attorney, affidavit	Notary public	State where the notary is commissioned
Articles of incorporation, good standing	Secretary of State	That state
IRS EIN letter (CP-575 / 147C)	IRS (federal)	U.S. Department of State

The cases that trip people up

Notarized copies of federal documents

A notarized copy of your U.S. passport or green card looks federal, but the signature being authenticated is the notary’s. It goes to the state where the notary is commissioned. For Hague countries that state apostille is final; for non-Hague countries the state-authenticated copy then goes to the U.S. Department of State and on to the embassy.

Background checks

“Background check” can mean an FBI Identity History Summary (federal) or a state police or county check (state). Foreign authorities that ask for a nationwide criminal record almost always mean the FBI report — and a state check sent in its place will be rejected. See how to get an FBI background check.

Vaccination records

Cards issued by a clinic or pharmacy, or printed from a state immunization registry, are state-level documents even when they mention the CDC. Genuinely CDC-issued documents are rare. See CDC documents.

Marriages abroad

U.S. embassies don’t perform marriages. If you married abroad, the host country issued the certificate — a foreign document that must be authenticated through that country, not through either U.S. route.

What happens if you send it to the wrong office

It comes back unprocessed. Neither office forwards documents to the other. With mail-in processing times measured in weeks, a single misrouted submission can cost a month or more — and if your document has a recency window, such as an FBI report, it may expire in the meantime.

Files that need both

Plenty of real-world files mix federal and state documents, and each has to go down its own route. Three common examples:

• Foreign subsidiary formation: an IRS EIN letter (federal) plus articles of incorporation and a certificate of good standing (state).
• Citizenship by descent: National Archives records and a certificate of non-existence (federal) plus ancestors’ birth and marriage certificates (state).
• Retirement abroad: Social Security or OPM pension letters (federal) plus a notarized power of attorney (state).

We handle federal documents from anywhere in the U.S., and Florida state documents directly. Documents from other states need that state’s apostille first; for non-Hague destinations we can then handle the federal and embassy steps.

Sources: U.S. Department of State — Authenticate Your Document · Hague Conference — Apostille Section. Federal Apostille USA is a private service, not a government agency.