To request an apostille from the North Carolina Secretary of State, download the Authentications Office cover letter form from sosnc.gov, complete the one page with your contact details, destination country, and document count, and mail or hand-deliver it with your original documents, a $10 payment per document, and a prepaid return envelope. Mail-in requests generally take about five business days once the Raleigh office receives your package.
Where to Get the Form and What It Asks
The form is called the NC Authentication Office Cover Letter. You can download it at sosnc.gov/forms/by_title/_Authentications_Cover_letters. It’s a single page, and it collects only what the office needs to process your request and return your documents.
You’ll enter your name and phone number so staff can reach you if something is off with the submission. You’ll name the destination country, which controls whether the office issues an apostille (for Hague Convention member countries) or an authentication certificate (for non-member countries). You’ll list the number of documents, which sets your fee. And you’ll indicate how you want the completed package returned.
Get the destination country right. An apostille prepared for the wrong country can cause problems when you present the document abroad.
What to Send With the Form
The cover letter is only one piece of the package. The office needs four other things, and a missing piece sends the whole submission back.
Qualifying documents. The Authentications Office only attaches an apostille to documents with the right kind of official signature and seal. Vital records — birth, death, and marriage certificates — must be certified copies from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (Vital Records) or the local Register of Deeds, with a raised seal and original signature. A plain photocopy will be rejected even if it looks identical. Court and agency records need the signature and seal of the issuing clerk or official, and any North Carolina agency document must have been certified on or after April 1, 2000. Private documents such as powers of attorney, contracts, and affidavits must be notarized by a North Carolina-commissioned notary, with the notary’s signature as it appears on the commission, the official seal, and the commission expiration date on the certificate. Diplomas and transcripts fall into a category people miss: a school seal alone isn’t enough, and these must be notarized by a North Carolina notary before submission.
Payment. Include a check or money order for $10 per document, made payable to the “North Carolina Secretary of State.” Duplicate certificates for a foreign adoption drop to $5 each for the second and any additional copies when requested at the same time.
Prepaid return envelope or label. The office doesn’t supply packaging or postage. If you want tracking, include a prepaid FedEx, UPS, or other carrier label. A prepaid courier label has to be a barcoded label purchased and printed online; a handwritten label with an account number won’t work. Skip the return envelope entirely and the office will still return documents by regular mail to a U.S. address, with no tracking and no insurance. International returns require a prepaid label.
Originals only. No photocopies of vital records or notarized documents.
Where to Send It
The office uses two addresses depending on how you’re delivering the package.
- U.S. Postal Service mail: NC Secretary of State, PO Box 29622, Raleigh, NC 27626-0622
- Hand delivery or private courier (FedEx, UPS): North Carolina Secretary of State, 2 South Salisbury Street, Raleigh, NC 27601
FedEx and UPS can’t deliver to the PO Box, and USPS deliveries should go to the box rather than the street address.
Turnaround
Mail-in requests typically take about five business days from the date the office receives your package. In-person drop-offs at the Raleigh office often get same-day service, though that depends on daily volume and staffing. Summer and the start of the academic year, when students need documents for study abroad, tend to stretch turnaround times.
If staff spot a problem, they’ll call the number on your cover letter. Answer quickly. Delays in reaching you push the request to the back of the queue once the issue is resolved.
Why Requests Come Back
The Authentications Office returns packages that don’t meet its requirements rather than processing them with errors. The most common reasons:
- Photocopies submitted in place of certified vital records. You need the version with the raised seal and original signature.
- Incomplete notarization. A certificate missing the expiration date, seal, or proper wording will be rejected. Every element gets checked.
- Expired notary commission. The Secretary of State independently verifies each notary’s active status, and a notarization done after the commission lapsed is invalid.
- North Carolina agency documents certified before April 1, 2000. Get a fresh certified copy.
- Missing payment, wrong payee, or a check amount that doesn’t match the document count.
- No return envelope for international destinations. Without a prepaid label, the office can’t send the package abroad.
Before you pay for notarization, confirm the notary’s commission is current. That single check prevents one of the most common rejections.
If Your Destination Isn’t a Hague Country
An apostille only works in countries that participate in the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention. The Hague Conference maintains the current member list at hcch.net. If your destination isn’t a member, you still use the same cover letter, but you’ll ask for an authentication certificate rather than an apostille. The form has a place to indicate which one you need.
State-level certification is only the first step for non-Hague destinations. After North Carolina certifies the document, it goes to the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Authentications in Washington, D.C., and then to the destination country’s embassy or consulate for legalization. That chain takes longer and costs more than a straight apostille, so build in extra time.