To get a New Hampshire apostille, bring or mail your document to the Secretary of State’s Office in Concord with a completed request form and $10 per document. The office will apostille it only if a New Hampshire notary public or justice of the peace signed it, or if it is a certified copy issued by a New Hampshire state or municipal office. In-person requests are usually handled the same day; mailed requests take roughly one to two weeks plus transit time.
What the Secretary of State Will and Won’t Apostille
New Hampshire can only apostille documents tied to a New Hampshire official. That means a document notarized by a currently commissioned New Hampshire notary or justice of the peace, or a certified copy issued by a New Hampshire state agency or town or city clerk.1New Hampshire Secretary of State. Apostilles and Certificates
The typical qualifying documents are:
- Certified birth, death, and marriage certificates from a New Hampshire town or city clerk or the state Vital Records Division
- School transcripts and diplomas certified by a school official and then notarized in New Hampshire
- Articles of incorporation, certificates of good standing, and similar filings obtained as certified copies from the relevant state agency
- Powers of attorney, affidavits, and other personal documents notarized in New Hampshire
Two categories send people to the wrong office. Federal documents, including FBI background checks, naturalization certificates, and passports, cannot be apostilled by New Hampshire; they go to the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Authentications in Washington, D.C.1New Hampshire Secretary of State. Apostilles and Certificates2U.S. Department of State. Office of Authentications And a document notarized in another state has to be apostilled by that state. If your notary was in Massachusetts, the request goes to the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth.
Preparing the Document
How you prepare depends on what kind of document it is.
Vital Records
You need a fresh certified copy. Photocopying a New Hampshire vital record is illegal under state law, and a photocopy will be rejected on sight.3New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 5-C:98 – Vital Records Copies Order a certified copy from your local town or city clerk or the Division of Vital Records. A state-issued certified copy is $15, with additional copies of the same record at $10 each when ordered together.4New Hampshire Secretary of State. Request for Certificates Hospital-issued birth records don’t count.
Private Documents
Affidavits, letters, powers of attorney, and anything else you’ve drafted yourself must be notarized by a New Hampshire notary public or justice of the peace before the Secretary of State can apostille them.1New Hampshire Secretary of State. Apostilles and Certificates The notarial certificate needs the notary’s signature, the date, the jurisdiction, the seal, and the commission expiration date. A missing seal or expiration date is a common cause of rejection.
Academic and Business Records
For transcripts and diplomas, have a school official such as the registrar certify the document, then take it to a New Hampshire notary to witness the official’s signature. For corporate filings, request certified copies directly from the state agency that holds them. If the copy already bears an official state seal or signature, you don’t need separate notarization.
Fees and How to Pay
The apostille fee is $10 per document. Payment must be cash (in person only) or a check made out to the State of New Hampshire. Credit cards and money orders are not accepted.1New Hampshire Secretary of State. Apostilles and Certificates
If you walk in with ten or more documents and wait while they’re processed, an extra $25 applies for every ten documents: $25 for 10 to 19, $50 for 20 to 29, and so on.1New Hampshire Secretary of State. Apostilles and Certificates Smaller in-person requests and all mail-in requests pay only the base $10.
How to Submit the Request
You’ll need the “Request for Apostille or Certificate of Authentication” form from the Secretary of State’s website. It asks for your name, mailing address, phone number, and, importantly, the country where the document will be used.5New Hampshire Secretary of State. Apostille Request Form The country determines whether you receive an apostille (for Hague Convention members) or a certificate of authentication (for non-members).
In Person
Walk-ins are accepted Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., in Room 204 of the New Hampshire State House, 107 North Main Street, Concord, NH 03301.1New Hampshire Secretary of State. Apostilles and Certificates Most requests go out the same day. Large batches may be ready the next business day. This is also the only way to pay cash.
By Mail
Send the completed form, the documents, a check for the correct total, and a self-addressed, pre-paid return envelope to:
Secretary of State’s Office
Room 204
107 North Main Street
Concord, NH 033015New Hampshire Secretary of State. Apostille Request Form
No return envelope, no return. For international shipping, include a pre-paid international envelope or a commercial courier’s pre-paid label. Mail-in processing generally runs five to ten business days depending on volume, plus transit time each way.1New Hampshire Secretary of State. Apostilles and Certificates
If Your Document Is Going to a Non-Hague Country
An apostille is only recognized in countries that joined the 1961 Hague Convention.6United Nations Treaty Series. Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents For anywhere else, you need a certificate of authentication, which uses the same New Hampshire request form but requires two additional steps after the state-level certification:
- The U.S. Department of State’s Office of Authentications verifies the Secretary of State’s signature. The federal fee is $20 per document, and mail-in processing takes about five weeks.7U.S. Department of State. Request for Authentications Service
- The destination country’s embassy or consulate in the United States applies a final legalization, with fees and turnaround that vary by country.
Some countries also require a certified translation of the document and every attached certificate. Plan for four to twelve weeks start to finish, longer if the embassy has a backlog.
Why Requests Get Rejected
Most rejections come from a short list of fixable mistakes:
- The notarization is missing, incomplete, or signed by a notary whose commission has expired or was issued in another state.1New Hampshire Secretary of State. Apostilles and Certificates
- The vital record is a photocopy instead of a fresh certified copy from the Vital Records Division or a town or city clerk.3New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 5-C:98 – Vital Records Copies
- The document is federal (FBI check, naturalization paper, passport) or was notarized in another state.
- The check is for the wrong amount, or payment arrived as a money order or credit card number.
- No self-addressed, pre-paid return envelope was included with a mailed request.
If the office returns your request, you’ll usually get an explanation of what went wrong. Fix it and resubmit. You don’t pay the $10 again until the apostille is actually issued.