Louisiana Apostille: Requirements, Fees, and Submission

To get a Louisiana apostille, submit your document to the Louisiana Secretary of State with a completed authentication request form and $20 per document. Mail-in requests are processed in two to three business days once received, and walk-in service is available Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the office in Baton Rouge.¹ The apostille confirms that the official who signed or sealed your document was authorized to do so; it does not verify the content of the document itself.

Which Documents the Secretary of State Will Apostille

The office can apostille documents that originate from Louisiana state authorities. The common categories:

Certified copies of birth, death, and marriage certificates issued by the Louisiana Department of Health’s Vital Records office or a parish clerk of court. Photocopies and hospital-issued records are not accepted.¹
Court records issued by Louisiana clerks of court, including certified judgments and court orders.
Notarized private documents such as powers of attorney, contracts, corporate resolutions, and affidavits.
Academic records like diplomas and transcripts, typically after the registrar’s signature has been notarized by a Louisiana notary.

Two boundaries worth knowing before you package anything. The Secretary of State will not issue an apostille for a document intended for use inside the United States.¹ And the office cannot apostille federal documents. FBI background checks, federal court records, and anything else issued by a U.S. federal agency go through the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Authentications in Washington, D.C.²

Notary Requirements That Cause Rejections

If your document is not a vital record or court-issued certification, it has to be notarized by a Louisiana notary public whose credentials are on file with the Secretary of State. Documents certified by someone not on record will be returned.¹

Two specifics trip people up most often: the notary’s printed name and their notary identification number must both appear beneath the signature.¹ Louisiana statute requires every notarized document to bear the notary identification number assigned by the Secretary of State, or, if the notary is a licensed attorney, their Louisiana state bar roll number.³ If either is missing, the office sends the document back before processing anything. Check every notary block before you mail.

Fees and Payment

The standard fee is $20 per document. Adoption-related documents receive a reduced fee of $10 per document, though the office may ask for evidence confirming the adoption connection.¹

Personal checks and money orders made payable to the Secretary of State are accepted. Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover are also accepted but carry a $5 surcharge, and credit card users must include the authorization section of the authentication request form with their submission.⁴

How to Submit Your Request

Download the authentication request form from the Secretary of State’s website and fill in your contact information, the number of documents, and the country where the documents will be used.⁴ The destination country determines whether you receive an apostille or a Certificate of Authentication, so this field matters.

A complete mail-in package includes:

The original documents (not photocopies).
The completed request form with a daytime phone number so staff can reach you if something needs correction.
Payment by check, money order, or credit card authorization for the total amount.
A pre-paid return mailer: a self-addressed envelope with postage, a Priority or Express Mail envelope, or a pre-paid courier label with your account number. The office does not pay for return shipping.¹

Mailing Addresses

Standard mail: Louisiana Secretary of State, P.O. Box 94125, Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9125. Overnight and courier deliveries go to the physical address at 8585 Archives Avenue, Baton Rouge, LA 70809.⁵

Walk-In Service

Walk-in requests are handled Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., excluding state holidays and office closures.¹ For questions about same-day availability, call the office at 225-922-0330.⁴

How Long Processing Takes

Mail-in requests take two to three business days once the office receives your package.⁴ That assumes everything is in order. Missing notary ID numbers, illegible signatures, or documents from officials not on file with the Secretary of State will result in the package being returned for correction, which can easily add a week or more once you factor in return shipping.

Once the work is done, the apostille certificate is attached directly to the original document, and the completed package comes back through whichever return method you provided.

Documents Going to Non-Hague Countries

Not every country participates in the Hague Apostille Convention. For a destination outside the Convention’s 129 member countries, the Louisiana Secretary of State issues a Certificate of Authentication instead of an apostille, and the office makes that determination from the country listed on your form.¹⁶

A Certificate of Authentication may not be the last step. Many non-Hague countries require the document to then be legalized by that country’s embassy or consulate in the United States. Contact the destination country’s embassy before you start so you know the full chain of steps.

Order Vital Records First

Because the Secretary of State requires certified copies of vital records and will not accept photocopies, you may need to order fresh copies before submitting your apostille request. Louisiana is a closed-record state, so birth and death certificates are not public records. Requests must include proper identification, the appropriate fee, and a completed application through the Louisiana Department of Health.⁷ Allow eight to ten weeks for certified copies by mail. If you are on a tight timeline, the Vital Records Central Office in New Orleans offers walk-in service for birth certificates, death certificates, and Orleans Parish marriage certificates.⁸

That eight-to-ten-week window is the real bottleneck. The apostille itself takes days; getting the underlying document can take months. Plan backward from the date you need the apostilled document in hand, and order your certified copies first.

1
Louisiana Secretary of State. Authenticate Signatures of Louisiana Officials
2
USAGov. Authenticate an Official Document for Use Outside the US – Section: How to Get an Apostille and When You Need One
3
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code RS 35:12 – Names to Be Given in Full, Together With Parties Permanent Mailing Addresses; Identification Numbers
4
Louisiana Secretary of State. Authentication Request Form
5
Louisiana Secretary of State. Contact Us
6
HCCH. Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents – Status Table
7
Louisiana Department of Health. How to Order Birth Records
8
Louisiana Department of Health. Center for Vital Records and Statistics