To use the Minnesota Apostille Authentication Request Form, download the one-page PDF from the Secretary of State’s website, fill in your contact and return-shipping information, enter the number of documents you’re submitting and multiply by the $5 per-document fee, check a payment method, and send the completed form with your documents and payment to the Secretary of State’s St. Paul office — or bring the packet to a scheduled in-person appointment.1Minnesota Secretary of State. Minnesota Apostille Authentication Request Form
Where to Get the Form
The request form is a single-page PDF on the Minnesota Secretary of State’s website. It works as both your cover sheet and your payment record, and you can also pick up a paper copy at the Secretary of State’s office in the First National Bank Building in St. Paul.
Filling Out the Form, Field by Field
The top of the form collects your contact details: name, phone number, company name if applicable, mailing address, and email. The mailing address you enter here is the default return address for your finished documents, so make sure it’s current. If you already have a client account with the Secretary of State’s office, enter that account number; otherwise leave it blank.
Below the contact block, enter the number of documents you’re submitting for authentication. Then do the fee math: documents times $5. Write the total in the fee field.
Check the box that matches your payment method. By mail, the options are personal or business check, cashier’s check, money order, or cash, plus a box for charging an existing client account. The form states plainly that credit card and wire transfer payments are not accepted by mail.2Minnesota Secretary of State. Apostille/Authentication Information
Fill in the destination country where the documents will be used. This field drives whether you receive an apostille or a Gold Seal Authentication, so leaving it blank can delay processing.
The return and shipping section gives you four choices: pick up the finished documents at the office, enclose a prepaid return envelope, let the office mail them back by regular U.S. mail to the address you already listed, or forward them to a different address that you specify. If you want tracking, include a prepaid FedEx, UPS, or USPS Priority Mail label. Without a label, your documents come back by regular U.S. mail with no tracking.
The Fee and How to Pay
Each apostille or authentication costs $5.3Minnesota Secretary Of State. Apostille Authentication The fee is set by Minnesota Statutes section 5.12, which charges $5 for each certificate the Secretary of State issues.4Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statutes Chapter 5 – Secretary of State
Payment options depend on how you submit:
- By mail: check, money order, or cashier’s check made payable to “MN Secretary of State.” Cash is technically accepted but the office warns against mailing it. No credit cards, no wire transfers.
- In person: credit card, debit card, cash, check, or money order.
Add up the full total before you mail. An underpayment holds up the entire package.1Minnesota Secretary of State. Minnesota Apostille Authentication Request Form
Get Your Documents Ready Before You Submit
The form is only the cover sheet. The documents it accompanies have to meet Minnesota’s requirements, or the office will reject the packet.
The Secretary of State can only apostille documents that originate in Minnesota — issued by a Minnesota government agency, notarized by a Minnesota notary public, or certified by a Minnesota court or county office.
Some records are ready to submit as-is because they already carry official certification:
- Certified birth and death certificates from the Minnesota Department of Health.
- Marriage certificates or licenses certified by a Minnesota county.
- Divorce decrees and judgments certified by the county where the proceedings took place.
- Certified copies of business filings on record with the Secretary of State, such as articles of incorporation or certificates of good standing.
A plain photocopy of a vital record is not eligible. You need a copy issued by the state or county registrar that carries the certification stamp or seal.3Minnesota Secretary Of State. Apostille Authentication
Private and personal documents must be notarized by a Minnesota notary public before you submit them. That includes school transcripts and diplomas (a registrar’s signature and seal alone are not enough — a Minnesota notary must notarize the document separately), adoption papers, affidavits, powers of attorney, and photocopies of IDs such as a Minnesota driver’s license or passport (notarized as a “true and correct copy”). The Secretary of State’s office does not provide notarization, so handle this step first.3Minnesota Secretary Of State. Apostille Authentication
One trap worth knowing: if a document was signed electronically and then notarized electronically by a Minnesota notary, the Secretary of State treats a printed version as a copy rather than an original. That printed copy would need to be notarized again, in ink on paper, before an apostille can be issued.3Minnesota Secretary Of State. Apostille Authentication
Submitting by Mail
Send the completed request form, your documents, payment, and any prepaid return label to:
Minnesota Secretary of State
First National Bank Building
332 Minnesota Street, Suite N201
Saint Paul, MN 551013Minnesota Secretary Of State. Apostille Authentication
Documents are processed in the order received. The office does not publish a guaranteed turnaround time, so build in a cushion if you’re working toward a deadline. A trackable outbound shipping method lets you confirm the office received your packet; without a prepaid return label, the finished documents come back by regular U.S. mail.
If you’re submitting from outside the United States, prepaid return labels can be awkward because most U.S. carriers want a specific shipping date when the label is generated. A workaround is to have a U.S.-based contact create and include the return label, or to use a document forwarding service.
Submitting in Person
In-person service is by appointment only at the same St. Paul address. Book through the Secretary of State’s Microsoft Bookings page and select “Apostille Authentication” as the appointment type. Slots open fourteen days in advance.5Minnesota Secretary Of State. How to Schedule an Appointment
Each appointment covers up to ten documents. For more than ten, the office asks that you mail the packet or drop it off with payment instead of booking an appointment. Bring your Minnesota-certified or Minnesota-notarized documents and payment. Card payments are the main practical reason to come in person rather than mail.
What the Country Field Determines
The destination country you enter on the form controls which certificate you receive. Countries that belong to the Hague Apostille Convention accept an apostille as full proof of authenticity, and more than 120 nations are parties, including most of Europe, much of Latin America, Japan, Australia, and India. For those destinations, the Minnesota apostille is the final step.
For non-member countries, the office issues a Gold Seal Authentication. That certificate on its own is usually not enough. You will likely need a federal-level authentication from the U.S. Department of State and then legalization by the destination country’s embassy or consulate. That chain adds time and cost, so start early.
Federal Documents Go Somewhere Else
The Minnesota Secretary of State cannot apostille documents issued by federal agencies. FBI background checks, Social Security letters, federal court orders, immigration records, patent filings, and similar documents have to be authenticated by the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Authentications in Washington, D.C. If one of these is on your pile, pull it out before you mail the Minnesota packet.