To get a Utah apostille, send your document, a completed request form, and payment to the Office of the Lieutenant Governor in Salt Lake City. The office verifies the signature or seal on the document and attaches its certification so the paperwork will be accepted abroad. You receive an apostille if your destination country belongs to the Hague Apostille Convention, or a certificate of authentication if it does not.
Apostille or Certificate of Authentication
The destination country decides which certificate you get. Over 100 countries belong to the Hague Apostille Convention, and the United States has been a party since 1981. An apostille from Utah is a standardized one-page certificate those member countries accept on its own, with no embassy step afterward.
For a country outside the Convention, the Lieutenant Governor issues a certificate of authentication instead. That certificate does not carry automatic international acceptance. You will almost certainly need to take the authenticated document to the destination country’s embassy or consulate in the United States for a separate legalization step. Embassy fees, requirements, and turnaround times vary, so contact the consulate early.
You do not choose between the two formats on the request form. You list the destination country, and the office issues the correct one.
Documents the Office Will Authenticate
Two broad categories qualify: public records issued by a Utah government entity, and private documents notarized within Utah.
Public records include certified birth, death, and marriage certificates from the Utah State Registrar; certified copies of divorce decrees, probate records, and other court orders from the Clerk of the Court; transcripts and diplomas from public universities or Kâ12 schools, certified by the registrar; and certified copies of corporate filings from the Utah Department of Commerce that have been notarized at that department. Printed or emailed copies from the Department of Commerce will not be accepted.
The word that controls everything is “certified.” A plain photocopy will be rejected. Contact the custodian of the record directly â vital records office, court clerk, or school registrar â and ask for a certified copy with an official signature or seal. That signature is what the Lieutenant Governor authenticates.
Several categories get turned away. Federal documents, including FBI background checks, IRS transcripts, and Social Security records, must go to the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Authentications instead; its fee is $20 per document.1U.S. Department of State. Request for Authentications Service (Form DS-4194) Public records from other states need authentication from that state’s secretary of state. Private documents without notarization, documents with defective notarizations, and documents notarized by a remote notary will all be returned.
Notarization Rules for Private Documents
Powers of attorney, contracts, affidavits, and diplomas from private schools follow a different path from government records. They must first be notarized by a Utah notary public holding an active commission.
The notarial certificate on your document needs the notary’s original signature matching the name on the commission, the correct acknowledgment or jurat language, and the official seal. Utah law sets exact requirements for the seal, including the notary’s name, commission number, and expiration date.2Utah Legislature. Utah Code 46-1-16 – Official Signature, Official Seal, Destruction of Seal, Unlawful Use of Seal, Criminal Penalties A misspelled name, an expired commission, or a missing commission number means rejection, and fixing the problem means redoing the notarial act with a fresh certificate. If you are hiring a notary for this purpose, confirm the commission is current before they sign. Utah notaries may charge up to $10 per signature for an acknowledgment.
Fees and Processing Times
Utah updated its authentication fee schedule effective July 1, 2025. Because the base per-document fee changed in mid-2025, check the Lieutenant Governor’s authentication site for the current rate before you send payment.3Authentications.Utah.gov. Authentications.Utah.gov Three processing speeds are available, with surcharges stacked on top of the base fee:
- Standard: typically three to five business days after the office receives your package, not counting mail transit.
- Next business day: $34 surcharge per document.4Authentications.Utah.gov. Fee Rate Change for Document Authentication
- Same day: $74 surcharge per document.4Authentications.Utah.gov. Fee Rate Change for Document Authentication
The office takes credit cards, debit cards, and checks. Cash is accepted only when no other payment method is available.
How to Submit Your Documents
Download the request form from the Lieutenant Governor’s authentication site.5Authentications.Utah.gov. Request Form It asks for your contact information, the destination country, and the number of documents in the package. Fill in the country carefully, since it controls which certificate you receive.
By Mail
Send the completed form, the original documents, and payment to the correct address for your carrier:
- UPS, FedEx, or DHL: Office of the Lieutenant Governor, 350 North State Street, Suite 220, Salt Lake City, Utah 84114
- USPS: Office of the Lieutenant Governor, PO Box 142325, Salt Lake City, Utah 84114
A prepaid return envelope is strongly encouraged. Without one, the office returns your documents by USPS first-class mail with no tracking, and will not be responsible for anything lost in transit. For same-day return once processing is finished, include a prepaid shipping label from UPS, FedEx, DHL, or USPS.6Authentications.Utah.gov. Document Authentication (Apostille / Certificate)
In Person
The office is in the Utah State Capitol Building at 350 North State Street, Suite 220, Salt Lake City. Walk-in hours are Monday through Friday, 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM. By appointment, the office is available Monday through Friday from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. It is closed on weekends and state and federal holidays.6Authentications.Utah.gov. Document Authentication (Apostille / Certificate) Walking in lets you get same-day turnaround, though the same-day surcharge still applies.
After You Get the Apostille
An apostille is often not the last step. If the destination country does not use English, the receiving authority will almost certainly require a certified translation of both the document and the apostille itself. A certified translation preserves the original formatting and comes with a signed statement from the translator or company attesting to accuracy. Some countries require the translation itself to be notarized, and then that notarization authenticated, which stretches the chain further. Confirm what the receiving institution or embassy wants before you assume the apostille alone will do.
If your document is going to a non-Hague country, the process continues after Utah’s certificate of authentication: a federal authentication from the U.S. Department of State, then legalization at the destination country’s embassy or consulate. Each step has to happen in order. Skipping a step or doing them out of sequence can invalidate the work done earlier, and embassy requirements and timelines vary enough that extra time is worth budgeting.