Three offices issue apostilles. Only one of them is yours.
Which office certifies your document depends entirely on who signed it — not on where you live, and not on where the document is going. Sending it to the wrong one is the most common and most expensive mistake in this process.
| If your document was issued by | It goes to | State fee | By mail | With me |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A Pennsylvania officialBirth, marriage and death certificates · diplomas and transcripts · PA court records · anything notarized by a PA notary · PA corporate filings | PA Department of StateRoom 201, North Office Building, Harrisburg | $15per document | 2–3 weeks | 2–4 days |
| A federal agencyFBI Identity History Summary · USDA and FDA certificates · IRS Form 6166 · Social Security letters · federal court records | U.S. Department of StateOffice of Authentications, Washington DC | $20per document | ~5 weeks | 2–3 weeks |
| Another state's officialA New Jersey birth certificate, a Delaware corporate filing, a New York notarization | That state's Secretary of StateI handle the filing and the correspondence | varies | varies | by quote |
County records need one more stop. Pennsylvania won't apostille a county-issued document until the county certifies it first. A marriage certificate needs the signature of the Register of Wills or Clerk of the Orphans' Court in the county that issued it; a court record needs the clerk of that county office. That's a separate stop, and it's inside the flat price rather than bounced back to you.
Two flat prices. Government fees included.
I don't bill this per document, per stop and per stamp, because that's how a two-document job turns into six invoices and a surprise. You get one number up front, and it covers the state's fees, the county's fees, the driving and the shipping.
| Package | Flat price | Documents included | Each additional | Turnaround |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single jurisdictionEverything originates in Pennsylvania, or everything is federal | $850 | up to 3 | $95 | 2–4 business days |
| Multi-stateDocuments from two or more states, or a state and federal package | $3,000 | up to 10 | $95 | 2–4 weeks |
| What the flat price already covers | What it doesn't |
|---|---|
|
Eligibility review before you pay anything All Pennsylvania state fees ($15 per document) All federal fees ($20 per document) County pre-certification — Register of Wills, Orphans' Court, Prothonotary Ordering the certified record if you don't have a usable original Hand-carrying to Harrisburg or Washington Tracked shipping both directions, and scans the evening it's certified Forwarding on to a consulate, translator or attorney |
Same-day dedicated trip — +$400, subject to availability Embassy legalization for countries outside the Hague Convention — +$449 per document, plus the embassy's own fee Certified translation — +$59 coordination per document, plus the translator's fee International return shipping — at carrier cost |
This is priced as a managed package, not as a stamp. If all you need is one apostille on one document you already hold in your hand, a mail-in service will do it for less and I'll tell you so on the call rather than take the order.
Four steps, one week, no mystery.
You send the order
Tell me what the document is and where it's going. I check eligibility before asking for a dollar. Photocopies, federal documents pointed at the wrong office and missing county signatures are all common, and I'd rather find that on Monday than take your money.
I quote and confirm
You get one flat price covering every government fee, county stop and shipping leg — a payment link, and a label to get your originals to me. No line items appear later.
I drive it in
County stop first if your document needs one, then Harrisburg, in person, at the counter. Your document is photographed at every hand-off and travels in a locked case.
You get it back
Scans emailed the evening it's certified. Originals shipped tracked the same night — to you, or straight on to the consulate, translator or attorney who needs them next.
Five questions. No payment yet.
These five things determine whether your document can be apostilled, which office it goes to, and what it costs. Answer them and you get a firm quote back the same business day.
The questions I get every week.
How can you be faster than the state's own processing time?
I'm not faster than the state — I skip the mail. The Department of State takes appointments at its Harrisburg counter, and a document presented in person doesn't sit in the postal queue behind everything else that arrived that week. A service operating from another state physically can't do this. They're mailing your document to the same building and waiting the same two to three weeks you would.
I found a service online for $99. Why is this $850?
Because it isn't the same thing. That $99 buys one stamp on one document you already hold, correctly issued, going to one office — and you handle the county certification, the ordering, the translator, the shipping and the phone calls when something comes back wrong. This is a managed package: I confirm what you actually need before you pay, order the records you're missing, make the county stop, carry the documents in myself, cover every government fee, and hand you a finished set. If your job really is one stamp on one document, say so on the form and I'll point you at the cheaper option — I'd rather do that than take an $850 order that should have been $99.
What if my document gets rejected?
If the Commonwealth rejects a document for a defect that was there when you sent it to me, I refund the package price less a $150 review and handling fee, and less any government fees already submitted. Those are non-refundable once filed — that's the state's rule, not mine, and no service can recover them. This is also why I check eligibility before taking payment rather than after.
Will the consulate accept it?
An apostille certifies that the signature and seal on your document are genuine. It doesn't guarantee that a particular foreign authority will accept that document for a particular purpose — that's their decision, and requirements vary by country and by consulate. Confirm what the receiving authority needs before you order.
Do I have to be in Pennsylvania?
No. Most orders arrive by mail from out of state, because the document is Pennsylvania-issued even when the person isn't here. Ship me the originals and I handle the rest.
Can you help with my visa or immigration paperwork?
No. I authenticate documents. I don't advise on immigration matters, prepare immigration filings, or tell you which documents your case requires — that's legal work, and for it you want a licensed immigration attorney. Tell me which documents you need apostilled and I'll handle those.
How do I know my birth certificate is safe?
Every document is photographed front and back at intake, at the counter, and before it ships. Originals travel in a locked case on every run and move by tracked shipping in both directions, never by untracked first-class mail. You get an itemized receipt listing each document before anything leaves your hands.