Apostille State Issued Birth Certificate

[amcarey]

Hello all,

I am all set to get married here in Argentina in the coming weeks, but I still lack one necessary document needed for residency after marriage: an apostilled birth certificate.

Now, I would just send my original copy of the state issued birth certificate to the Department of State for the apostille, but according to the DOS website "the U.S. Department of State will not issue an apostille for State-issued documents."

So, my questions are: Does anyone know where I should send my birth certificate to get it apostilled? If I send it to the Iowa (my state of birth) DOS will I then have to send it to the DOS in Washington?

Thanks in advance to all the wonderful baexpat members who are always so darn helpful!!

 

[mcaffa]

Over the years, I've always gotten my birth certificate apostilles through the State of Wisconsin. I've never contacted the Department of State.

 

[steveinbsas]

You may be able to order a new birth certificate (state issued certified copy) on line from the Iowa Secretay of State and have them perform the Apostille (the state in which a document is issued must do this) and send it to you (or to someone you know who can sent it to you).

The cost of the "new" birth certificate will probably be much less than the cost of (safely) sending the one you have to them.

 

[sam3g]

Hi amcarey,

I may be able to provide a clear answer as I recently did this on my visit to Minnesota over the holidays.

First, I went to my local county government building and got a new birth certificate (to be safe).

Next, I brought the birth certificate to the Office of the Secretary of State for an apostille, which they did in 10 minutes. You should call the Secretary of State of IOWA (your state of birth) to get the details. Here was the response:

Authentications

Our office will provide a Certificate of Office or an Apostille, depending on what country the document is being sent to. In order to provide this certificate, our office will need the original notarized document or an original certified copy from the county. The Notary or County Official must provide a full signature, an acknowledgement statement and the date the document was notarized or certified.

Our office provides two methods for authenticating documents. You may either mail the document(s) to our office or bring them into our office for authentication.

If you choose to mail in your document(s), you will need to enclose a letter advising us what Country the document is being sent to. We charge $5.00 for each authentication. You may enclose a prepaid FedEx or UPS label which will speed up the mailing process of the document being delivered back to you (this is not required).

Walk-In Service is available from 8:00 am – 4:00 pm, Mon. thru Fri. Our office is located in the State Retirement Building, 60 Empire Dr. #100, St. Paul, MN 55103.

Make the check payable to: MN Secretary or State.

Our mailing address is:
Secretary of State
Attn Certification
60 Empire Dr #100
St Paul MN 55103

If you have any additional questions, you may contact our Business Information Lines at (651) 296-2803 or 1-877-551-6767 from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm Monday through Friday.

Thank you



Thank you
Office of the Secretary of State
State of Minnesota
Business Services Division
Pat Carlson
651-556-0637

Now does anyone know if I need to have my FBI background check apostiled by the US dept of State? It has been certified by the FBI (gold seal and everything) but I want to make sure before my family sends down my documents!

 

[mcaffa]

Now does anyone know if I need to have my FBI background check apostiled by the US dept of State? It has been certified by the FBI (gold seal and everything) but I want to make sure before my family sends down my documents!

FBI checks need not be apostilled. That was the case last year, at least.