County Clerk Certification Before an Apostille

In several US states, the state apostille office does not certify a document straight away. A county official, usually the County Clerk, first certifies the signature on it, and only then does the state add the apostille.

Where the county step comes first

New York is the clearest case: birth, death and marriage certificates and certificates of divorce issued by a local or county official or a county department of health must first be certified by the County Clerk. In Kentucky, a document signed on paper is notarized by a Kentucky notary, and the notary's signature is then certified by the County Clerk where the notary is registered. California may require a birth or death certificate to be certified by the county clerk's office in the county where it was issued, or replaced with a certified copy from the county recorder or the state public health department.

In West Virginia, a certified copy from a County Clerk, Circuit Clerk or Registrar must carry the clerk's or a deputy's original signature and a raised impression seal. In Georgia, a divorce decree must be a certified copy issued by the county Clerk of Superior Court.

County clerks as signers

In other states the County Clerk appears as one of the officials whose signature the apostille certifies. New Jersey, Tennessee, New Mexico and Michigan name county clerks in this role, and Colorado accepts original certified copies issued by a county clerk and recorder.

The table lists each state and its source. Once the apostille is attached, we translate the document into Turkish in Ankara through sworn translators.