The NC Authentication Office cover letter is a one-page form you send to the North Carolina Secretary of State, along with your original documents and a $10-per-document fee, to receive either an apostille or a certificate of authentication for use abroad. Download the PDF from the Secretary of State’s website, fill in your contact information, the destination country, and the document count, then mail or hand-deliver the package to the Authentication Office in Raleigh. The country you write on the form decides which certificate you get back.
Apostille or Certificate of Authentication
If your document is going to a country that belongs to the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention, the Secretary of State issues an apostille. If the destination is not a member, you get a standard certificate of authentication, which is only the first step in a longer chain.1U.S. Department of State. Apostille Requirements The country field on the cover letter is what triggers one path or the other, so write the destination country clearly and spell it out.
Prepare the Document First
The office can only authenticate a document that already carries the signature and seal of a recognized North Carolina official. Photocopies won’t work. What “recognized” means depends on the document:
- Birth, marriage, and death certificates need to be certified copies from the Register of Deeds in the county where the event occurred, or from the state Vital Records office, bearing the registrar’s signature and county seal.2North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. NC Vital Records – Order a Certificate
- Divorce decrees and court judgments need a certified copy from the Clerk of Superior Court in the county where the case was filed.2North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. NC Vital Records – Order a Certificate
- Powers of attorney, contracts, affidavits, and other private documents need a North Carolina notary acknowledgment.3North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 10B-37
- Diplomas and transcripts typically need a notarized copy or must carry the registrar’s original signature and school seal. Ask your school’s registrar how they prefer to prepare documents for apostille.
If the receiving country wants the document in another language, get a certified translation first and have the translation itself notarized. The Secretary of State authenticates the notary’s signature on the translation, not the translation’s accuracy.
Filling Out the Cover Letter
The form is bilingual (English and Spanish) and short. Work through it top to bottom:
- Date. The date you’re submitting.
- Contact Name. Your full legal name. This is who the office reaches if something is wrong.
- Email Address. Used for follow-up if there’s a problem with the submission.
- Mailing Address, City, State, Zip. Where the finished documents should be returned. If you want them sent to a third party, note that under Special Instructions and address the return envelope to that recipient.
- Telephone Number. A daytime number.
- Country. The country where you will use the document. This one field determines whether you receive an apostille or a certificate of authentication, so write it out clearly.
- Special Notes or Instructions. Use this for anything out of the ordinary: third-party delivery, unusual handling, or a note about what your documents are.
Fees and Payment
The fee is $10 per document.4My Lawyer in Italy. NC Authentication Office Cover Letter Three documents means $30. The form has a multiplication line where you enter the count and the total. Adoption cases have their own line: originals are $10 each, and duplicate originals are $5 each.
Accepted payment methods are check, money order, cashier’s check, and cash.4My Lawyer in Italy. NC Authentication Office Cover Letter For anything going through the mail, a check or money order payable to the “North Carolina Secretary of State” is safer than cash. Write the check number on the form where indicated. An incorrect total can cause the whole package to be returned unprocessed.
Where to Send It
Three submission options are available.
By U.S. Mail
Send the completed cover letter, original documents, payment, and a return envelope to:
Authentication Office
NC Secretary of State
PO Box 29622
Raleigh, NC 27626-06224My Lawyer in Italy. NC Authentication Office Cover Letter
By Courier
FedEx and UPS cannot deliver to a PO Box. Use the street address:
Authentication Office
NC Secretary of State
2 South Salisbury St
Raleigh, NC 27601-29034My Lawyer in Italy. NC Authentication Office Cover Letter
In Person
Walk-ins are accepted at the same 2 South Salisbury Street location. The form has a “Pick Up” checkbox for people who plan to return and collect their documents in person.4My Lawyer in Italy. NC Authentication Office Cover Letter For questions before you submit, the office can be reached at 919-814-5400 or authen@sosnc.gov.
Getting Your Documents Back
The cover letter gives you three return options. Check one.
- Pick Up. You come back to the office to collect the documents.
- Overnight Delivery. Include a fully prepaid shipping label from FedEx, UPS, or another carrier. The office will not bill shipping to your account.
- Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope. Include an envelope with enough postage already applied. If you’re authenticating a diploma or another oversized document, size the envelope accordingly.
Some county resources indicate the office will return documents by regular mail to a U.S. address if no return method is included, but relying on that for irreplaceable originals is a poor bet.5Iredell County, NC. Apostille Always include a return method.
How Long It Takes
The cover letter doesn’t state a specific turnaround. Third-party sources suggest mailed requests can take up to two weeks, and times vary with volume. In-person requests are generally faster. The office does not typically provide status updates, so if you have a deadline, build in extra time or hand-deliver. When your request is processed, the Secretary of State attaches the apostille or certificate of authentication to your original document and returns the package by the method you selected.
If the Country Isn’t in the Hague Convention
For a non-member country, the North Carolina certificate of authentication is only step one. After it comes back from Raleigh, the document goes to the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Authentications in Washington, D.C., where the federal fee is $20 per document regardless of page count.6U.S. Department of State. Request for Authentications Service From there it goes to the destination country’s embassy or consulate for legalization, which usually has its own fee and timeline. Plan for the whole chain before you send anything.