How to Fill Out and Submit the Pennsylvania Apostille/Certification Request Form

The Pennsylvania apostille request form — officially the Request for Legalization of Documents — is a one-page sheet from the Department of State’s Bureau of Notaries, Commissions and Legislation that starts the authentication process for a Pennsylvania document you plan to use abroad. You download the PDF from the Department of State’s document certification page, fill in five short fields, and send it to Harrisburg with your original documents and $15 per document. A plain cover letter carrying the same information works in place of the form.¹

What Goes On the Form

The form is short. The PDF is available on the Department’s document certification page in English, Chinese, and Spanish.² Whether you use the form or a substitute letter, include all of the following:

Your full legal name as it should appear in the Department’s records.
A complete mailing address where the authenticated documents should be returned.
A phone number and email address so the Bureau can reach you if there is a problem with the submission.
The destination country where the documents will be used. The Bureau will not process a request without this.
The number of documents you are submitting, counted per document (not per page), which sets the total fee.

The destination country controls which authentication you get. Countries that belong to the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention receive an apostille, a standardized certificate that member nations accept without further legalization.³ Non-member countries get a certification instead, which usually needs additional legalization steps after Pennsylvania is done. If you are unsure whether your destination is a Hague member, check the status table at hcch.net.

Getting Your Documents Ready

The Bureau authenticates the signature and seal of a Pennsylvania public official, not the contents of the document. Every document has to already carry the correct official’s signature and seal before it reaches Harrisburg. Photocopies of notarized or certified documents are not accepted.¹

Vital Records

Birth and death certificates must come from the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Bureau of Health Statistics and Registries. Birth certificates from that office are printed on security paper with a raised seal.⁴ Death certificates must be signed by the state registrar; a death certificate signed only by a local registrar will be rejected.¹ Birth certificates do not need to be notarized and should not be. Adding a notarization can actually complicate the process.

Marriage and Divorce Records

Marriage certificates must be signed by the register of wills or clerk of the orphans court. A certificate signed only by the officiant or clergy member who performed the ceremony will be rejected. Marriage and divorce records come from the appropriate Pennsylvania county government office.¹

Notarized Documents

Diplomas, transcripts, and criminal background checks must be notarized by a Pennsylvania notary public before you submit them.¹ Powers of attorney, contracts, and other private documents follow the same rule: if a Pennsylvania public official didn’t issue it, a notary needs to verify it first.

The notarial certificate has to be in English. You may include an additional version in another language the notary understands, placed immediately next to the English certificate.² Confirm that the notary’s seal is legible and that their commission has not expired. The Bureau checks both.

County-Issued Documents

Court orders, deeds, and other county records must be signed by the principal official of the issuing office. The Bureau will not accept county documents signed only by an assistant or deputy clerk.¹

What It Costs

Authentication is $15 per document, not per page. A ten-page contract counts as one document. A packet of three separate documents costs $45.¹

Accepted payment depends on how you submit. Mail and drop-box submissions can pay by personal check, money order, or cashier’s check made payable to “Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.” Cash is not accepted by mail or drop box. In-person appointments can pay by check, money order, or credit card. Cash is no longer accepted for walk-in service.¹ A check drawn on a foreign bank must be in U.S. dollars and carry a routing number.

How to Submit

You have three options: mail, drop box, or in person. The right one depends on how quickly you need the documents back.

Mail

Send the completed form (or cover letter), documents, payment, and a self-addressed stamped envelope to:

Pennsylvania Department of State
Apostilles & Certifications
North Office Building, Room 201
401 North Street
Harrisburg, PA 17120-0029¹

Mail submissions take roughly two to three weeks to process. That estimate does not include transit time in either direction.

Drop Box

The Department’s drop box at the North Office Building accepts submission packages without an appointment. Processing runs five to seven business days, again not counting the return mail.²

In-Person Appointment

The Bureau’s office in the North Office Building, Room 201, is open to walk-ins from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding state holidays. Walk-in requests are processed while you wait, so arrive by 4 p.m. to leave enough time before closing.² You can also book an appointment through the Bureau’s online portal. When you arrive, tell staff how many documents you have and which country requires them. Payment is collected after processing.¹ In-person service is by far the fastest option if you are on a deadline.

Return Shipping

Mail and drop-box submissions require a self-addressed stamped envelope. Without one, the Bureau has no way to send documents back.² For tracked or expedited return, enclose a prepaid air bill from a courier. Two restrictions apply:

FedEx and DHL are not accepted for return shipments. The Department stopped accepting them in 2009.
If you use UPS, list yourself as both sender and recipient on the air bill. The Department will change the air bill if you don’t.¹

When you receive your documents back, do not remove the staples attaching the apostille or certification to the underlying document. Separating them can invalidate the authentication.

Why Requests Get Rejected

The Bureau returns incomplete or deficient packages without processing them. The mistakes that trip people up most often:

Photocopies submitted in place of originals or certified copies.
The wrong signer on the underlying document, whether that is a death certificate signed only by a local registrar, a marriage certificate signed only by the officiant, or a county record signed by an assistant or deputy clerk.
A diploma, transcript, or background check that has not been notarized by a Pennsylvania notary.
A notarial certificate that is not worded in English, even when the underlying document is in another language.
No destination country on the form or cover letter.
Wrong payment amount, cash sent by mail, or a foreign check without a U.S. routing number.¹

Apostille or Certification

Which one you receive comes down to whether the destination country has joined the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention. For member countries, the Bureau issues an apostille, a standardized one-page certificate that member nations accept without further legalization.³ Over 120 countries are members.

For non-member countries, the Bureau issues a certification. It confirms the same fact about the Pennsylvania official who signed the document, but the destination government may not accept it on its own. The typical next steps involve sending the certified document to the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Authentications for federal-level authentication, and then to the destination country’s embassy or consulate in the United States for final legalization.⁵ Check with the receiving institution or the destination country’s embassy before starting, since requirements vary.

When Pennsylvania Is Not the Right Office

The Pennsylvania Department of State can only authenticate documents issued by Pennsylvania officials. A document from a federal agency, such as an FBI background check, a federal court order, or a document from a military branch, has to be authenticated by the U.S. Department of State instead.⁶ A birth certificate from New Jersey or a diploma from a university in another state goes through that state’s secretary of state.

Translations

An apostille or certification confirms authenticity; it does not translate anything. If you are presenting documents in a country where English is not the official language, the receiving institution will almost certainly require a certified translation. A certified translation generally includes a statement from the translator affirming accuracy and completeness, the translator’s credentials, a signature, and a date. Some countries or institutions also require the translation itself to be notarized or apostilled, so confirm the destination’s specific requirements before you begin.

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Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Document Certification
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Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Get Document Certifications and Apostilles
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U.S. Department of State. Apostille Requirements
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Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Birth Certificates
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U.S. Department of State. Preparing a Document for an Authentication Certificate
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USAGov. Authenticate an Official Document for Use Outside the U.S.