Apostille/authentication/legalization in Tucson

How to get an apostille in Arizona

Here’s the current process for apostillling documents:

1. We will come to your location and notarize the document, if necessary. Documents that do not need notarization or that have already been notarized elsewhere can be shipped to our office.

2. We will bring the document to the Secretary of State’s office in Tucson or overnight it to our agents in Phoenix. The SOS will adhere an apostille certificate to your document.*

3. We will return it to you or ship it to the receiving party. Our typical turnaround time is one business day as long as we receive the document before noon. Same-day apostille service may be available for an additional fee.

*For some countries, the apostille process requires additional authentication. Scroll down for more information.

Tucson Apostille FAQs

What is an apostille?
An apostille is an international document authentication. The 128 countries that have signed the Hague Convention for Apostilles will accept an apostille as proof of a foreign document’s authenticity. Countries that have not signed the Hague Convention often require an additional layer of authentication from their consulate or embassy.

Who creates an apostille?
The Arizona Secretary of State is in charge of apostilles for all Arizona documents. The document needs to be signed by a state official, such as a notary public, court clerk, or state document custodian. Then the Secretary of State will compare the official’s signature to the one on file and issue an apostille if the signature matches and the official is in good standing.

Which countries have signed the Hague Convention for Apostilles?
As of January 2024, these 128 countries have signed the Hague Apostille Convention and will accept foreign documents that have been apostilled:

*Canada and China just joined the Hague Convention recently. Some recipients who are unaware of the change may still request embassy or consular legalization.

**Rwanda signed the Hague Convention in October 2023, but membership will not enter into force until 05 June 2024. In the meantime, consular or embassy authentication is still required.

What about countries that haven’t signed the Hague Convention?
Non-Hague countries often require additional certification before they will accept a document as authentic. Generally this entails getting a document apostilled and then bringing it to the relevant country’s consulate or embassy for legalization. The embassy may also require an additional apostille from the US Secretary of State. To learn more about a specific country’s process, please call us at +1 (520) 200-1424.

What kind of documents have to go through the US State Department?
While most apostilles are issued by individual states, any documents involving federal government agencies are processed by the US State Department in Washington, DC. The most common types of document we encounter are employment records from a federal agency, patent applications, and FBI Background Checks.

In addition, documents headed to countries that have not signed the Hague Convention often require an apostille from the US Secretary of State prior to legalization at their embassy.

If you need a federal apostille, we will work with our colleagues in Washington, DC, to get your document apostilled (and legalized by the receiving country’s embassy, if necessary), and then have them return it to you or ship it directly to the receiving party.