Authentications

• North Carolina Attorney General's Office

• North Carolina Legislative Services

School Diploma or Transcripts

Documents (transcripts, report cards, diplomas, etc.) issued by a North Carolina university, college, community college or high school must be notarized by a North Carolina Notary Public. A school seal applied to the document by the school registrar is not acceptable.

True Copy Affidavit

Requesting an apostille using a "copy" of a document will require a notarized Affidavit saying that the document is a "true copy" of the original. A "true copy" affidavit sample can be found on the"Cover Letters & Templates" page.

Time Requirement

Note: All North Carolina agency documents must be certified since April 1, 2000.

Submission of Documents

• Cover Letter

• Payment in form of money order or check

• The original document(s) with all certifications attached

• A return pre-paid envelope or carrier label (see Delivery Policy on Authentications Home Page).

• Documents may be directed on to a third party as a convenience. Include that information on the cover letter and address the pre-paid envelope to the third party.

• Any documents received without a pre-paid return envelope will be delivered by regular mail to a United States address. Note: A pre-paid courier label is not a handwritten or typed label with account information. A pre-paid courier label is obtained online and paid for at the time you print the bar-coded label.

Processing Fee

• $10.00 (US currency) per document.

• Adoptions only processing fee for a duplicate original is $5.00 (US currency) when requested at the same time.

• As an exception to the NC Secretary of State Refund Policy, Authentications in the amount of $10 may be refunded, if the document is rejected, not processed, and a request is made for a refund.