How to Complete and Submit the Connecticut Apostille Order Form

Connecticut no longer uses a paper apostille order form. As of September 2, 2025, every apostille or authentication request goes through the Secretary of the State’s online portal at sots.service.ct.gov/apostille, and the fee is $40 per document.¹² You still mail the physical documents to Hartford, but the order itself, including payment, is placed online.

One other change worth knowing before you start: since July 21, 2025, Connecticut issues a single authentication certificate for every request, whether the destination country belongs to the Hague Convention or not.³ You do not need to pick a certificate type on the form.

What Your Documents Need to Look Like Before You Order

Only Connecticut-issued documents qualify. That means either a certified copy from a Connecticut official, or a private document notarized by a current Connecticut notary. A few specifics matter:

Vital records (birth, death, marriage) must be certified copies from the town clerk or the Connecticut Department of Public Health’s Vital Records Unit, with a raised seal. Photocopies are not accepted.
Notarized private documents such as powers of attorney, affidavits, and transcripts must carry the notary’s original signature and seal, and the notarization must be within the last ten years.³
Corporate filings, such as articles of incorporation and certificates of good standing from the Secretary of the State, qualify directly. Other business papers qualify once notarized by a Connecticut notary.

Count your documents before you start the order. Each one is a separate item and each one carries its own $40 fee.

Placing the Order Online

Go to sots.service.ct.gov/apostille and create an account. The form asks for the destination country, the number of documents, your contact information, and your return-shipping details. Pay through the portal when you submit.

Once the order is placed, the system returns an order receipt with an APO Work Order number.³ Print it if you can. If you cannot print, write the APO Work Order number on a sheet of paper to include in your mailing.

What to Mail to Hartford

After you submit online, mail these three items together:

Your original or certified documents.
The printed order receipt, or a note with your APO Work Order number.
A prepaid return envelope or shipping label. Without one, the office returns your documents by first-class mail.

The address is: Secretary of the State, Authentications and Apostilles, 165 Capitol Avenue, Suite 1000, Hartford, CT 06106.³

Processing Time and Tracking

Regular orders are processed within five to seven business days after the Authentication and Apostille Unit receives your documents. Expedited orders are processed within 24 hours of receipt.³ The clock starts when your envelope arrives in Hartford, not when you place the order, so build in mail transit both ways if you are working against a deadline.

The portal sends real-time email updates and includes a tracking tool for checking status.¹

Reasons Requests Get Rejected

Most rejections come down to the document itself, not the order form. The recurring problems:

The document was notarized by a notary from another state. Connecticut can only authenticate Connecticut notarizations.
The notary’s commission was expired at the time of signing, or the notarization is more than ten years old.
The document is a photocopy without the original signature and seal.
A vital record was sent without the raised seal from the town clerk or the Department of Public Health.
A federal document was mailed to Hartford. Those go through a different office.

If your documents are rejected, you will see it in the online tracking system and will have to correct and resend, which means another round of postage and waiting.

Documents Connecticut Cannot Apostille

Two categories fall outside the Connecticut process entirely. Documents notarized or issued in another state go to that state’s secretary of state, not to Hartford. Federal documents, including FBI background checks, federal court records, and papers signed by federal officials, go to the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Authentications in Washington, D.C., where mail-in processing currently runs about ten to twelve weeks.⁴ Sending either type to the Connecticut office will result in a return without action.

If the country where you plan to use the document is not a member of the Hague Convention, your Connecticut certificate is only the first step. You will then need authentication from the U.S. Department of State and legalization by that country’s embassy or consulate in the United States, each with its own fee and timeline.

1
Office of the Secretary of the State. Making Apostilles Easy – Secretary Thomas Unveils New Online Tool
2
Justia. Connecticut Code 3-99a – Fees for Filing, Recording and Copying Documents
3
Office of the Secretary of the State. Authentication of Documents and the Apostille
4
USAGov. Authenticate an Official Document for Use Outside the U.S.