This article is based on a real inquiry. We have left out anything that could identify the client.
A graduate living in Europe contacted us. She had earned her degree from a California university and was applying to a graduate program at a university in Syria. The university had asked her to have her academic records authenticated. What she asked us for was “something from the U.S. government.”
That request was mistaken in three separate ways. Each one is common, and together they show why the first question in any international document project should be about the destination country, not the document.
“Something from the U.S. government”
Many people assume that anything going abroad needs a federal certificate. The U.S. Department of State authenticates federal documents, such as an FBI background check. A diploma from a California school is not a federal document, so the federal route was not available to her. State, federal, or both: how to tell which office authenticates your document.
“Then get it from the state”
California can authenticate a diploma, but only once it carries a signature the Secretary of State can verify. For a school record, that means a notarized signature. She took this to mean we could simply notarize her diploma. We cannot.
Who has to sign
A notary does not vouch for a document. A notary confirms the identity of the person who signs it. For a diploma or transcript, the person who signs has to be someone with personal knowledge of that record and authority over it, usually the school registrar, who signs in front of a notary. Some schools have their own notary handle this.
A form called Copy Certification by Document Custodian often comes up at this stage. On it, the custodian swears that a copy is a true, correct and complete copy of a document in their possession. We are not the custodian of anyone’s university records, so we cannot sign it.
This is why “send us your diploma and we’ll notarize it and get the apostille” does not work. Someone has to go to the registrar, the registrar has to sign in front of a notary, and only then can the document go to the Secretary of State. More on school records and diplomas.
The question that should have come first
Syria is not a party to the Hague Apostille Convention. An apostille is the certificate that countries in the Convention accept. A country outside the Convention usually requires legalization instead: the document is authenticated in the United States and then submitted to that country’s embassy, consulate or another designated office, sometimes with further authentication steps in between.
It is not always that tidy. In our experience, some countries outside the Convention still ask for an apostille. That is why the receiving institution’s written instructions matter more than any general rule, including this one.
Her difficulty was that she did not yet know which of these the university wanted. Its request mentioned notarization and apostille, and neither turned out to be the whole answer. Much of our work with her was coaching her on the questions to put to the university before anything was signed, notarized or submitted.
Translation: the step people remember last
A university abroad may also want the document translated, and possibly the certificates attached to it as well. We never reached that stage with this client, but it belongs in the same conversation from the start, because the receiving office decides two things:
- When the translation happens. Some offices want it done after authentication, so that the certificates are translated along with the document. Others want the translation itself notarized and authenticated, or legalized, as a document in its own right.
- Whose translation they accept. A certified translation from a U.S. translator is enough for some offices. Others accept only a translator they recognize.
Get the order wrong and part of the package gets done twice. How to sequence apostille and translation · Our certified translation service.
When a client abroad is working to a deadline, we can scan the authenticated document once the steps the translation has to cover are complete. The translation can then begin while the original travels. Receiving offices often accept a translation delivered digitally, but confirm that with them first.
What to ask the receiving institution before you start
- Do you require an apostille or legalization? Ask for the answer in writing.
- If legalization, which office handles it, and what must the document carry before it arrives there?
- Which document do you want: the diploma, the transcript, or both?
- Who must sign it: the registrar, or another school official?
- Do you need a translation, from whom, and does the translation need its own authentication?
If you are outside the United States and your document is from California, the signing and authentication still have to happen here, in person. How we work with clients living abroad.
If your receiving institution has asked for “a notarization” or “an apostille” and you are not sure that is really what it needs, contact us before anything is signed. Sorting out the route first costs far less than repeating it.
This article is part of State, Federal, or Both, where we cover which office authenticates which document.
Also in this section: Whose Signature Does the Apostille Authenticate? and Federal Apostille for an FBI Background Check.