How to get an apostille on a New York birth certificate

The short answer

Born in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx or Staten Island: order your long form birth certificate with a Letter of Exemplification from the NYC Health Department, take the pair to the New York County Clerk at 60 Centre Street for authentication ($3), then to the New York Department of State for the apostille ($10).

Born anywhere else in New York State: a certificate issued and signed by the State Department of Health goes straight to the Department of State. One issued by a town or city clerk goes to the clerk of that county first.

What an apostille on a birth certificate actually is

An apostille is a certificate from the New York Department of State that confirms where a document came from. It verifies the signature and seal of the last official in the chain: for a New York City birth certificate, that is the New York County Clerk, whose authentication in turn vouches for the city record. It never vouches for what the certificate says. It is what lets offices in the other countries of the Hague Apostille Convention accept a New York record without checking it themselves. As of October 2026, 129 countries apply the Convention, and Thailand joins on February 28, 2027.

It is not a notary stamp, a translation or a new birth certificate. Every apostille follows the model set by the Convention: the title Apostille and ten numbered lines giving the country, the person whose signature it certifies, their title, the seal on the document, the place and date of issue, the issuing authority, its number, and that authority's seal and signature. It is either placed on the document or attached to it as an extra page, and it does not expire; the Hague Conference handbook says an apostille may not be rejected solely because of its age. Leave the package exactly as it comes back, because offices abroad can refuse one that has been taken apart.

Step 1 for NYC births: order the long form with a Letter of Exemplification

Both the city Health Department and the state Department of State spell it out: for an apostille, order the long form birth certificate and request a Letter of Exemplification in the same order. The short form, which the Health Department says can be used for most domestic purposes, cannot start this process. We have found no way to add a letter to a certificate you already own, so plan on a new order. More on the letter itself in our letter of exemplification guide.

Who can order it: the person named on the certificate, if 18 or older; a parent named on it; a legal guardian, with the original guardianship or custody court order; or an attorney for the person named or either parent. Online orders only go through for people named on the record or otherwise entitled to it. For someone who has died, eligible relatives order by mail only and automatically receive the long form with the letter. ID rules, wait times and every way to order are in our NYC birth certificate guide.

Sources: the city's birth certificate page, fees and timing page and ordering page, and the Department of State. If you order online and leave the reason on anything but Apostille/Authentication, expect the certificate to arrive without the letter, and the clock restarts.

A real emergency? The Health Department offers emergency in person appointments for urgent needs tied to travel, health care coverage, government services, the military, housing or employment. Request one through 311 or by email to nycdohvr@health.nyc.gov, with proof such as a paid plane ticket.

Step 2: the New York County Clerk, whatever borough you were born in

A Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx or Staten Island birth certificate still goes to the New York County Clerk in Manhattan, not to the clerk of the borough you were born in. The Department of State says so directly: New York City birth and death certificates must first be certified by the New York County Clerk's office, with the Letter of Exemplification.

• Where: 60 Centre Street, Room 141B, the Notary Department.
• Fee: $3. The long form and its letter are authenticated as one document, so keep them together.
• Payment: cash, money order, certified, attorney or official bank check, or a card with a 2.99% surcharge. No personal or company checks.
• Hours: weekdays, office open 9am to 4:45pm, cashiers close at 4:15pm.
• What it will not do: the clerk does not send your document on to the state. You, or we, carry it to step 3.

Step 3: the apostille from the New York Department of State

• Walk in, same day: 123 William Street, 2nd floor, Manhattan, weekdays 9am to 4pm, up to 10 documents per customer. Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo and Utica offices also take walk ins.
• Fee: $10 per document. Check or money order from a US bank, or Visa, Mastercard or American Express. No cash.
• By mail: NYS Department of State, PO Box 22001, Albany, NY 12201, with the state's request form. The state does not publish a mail turnaround.

The walk in section of the Department of State's apostille page is the one to trust for the address and hours. The city Health Department's page lists a different floor and mentions an appointment, so check the state's page the morning you go.

Born elsewhere in New York State

Certificate issued by the State Department of Health: no county clerk step. It goes directly to the Department of State. Ask for the long form, which the state also calls a full copy or vault copy. Ordering by mail, the State Department of Health will even send it to the Department of State for you: pay for expedited processing ($45 per copy), enclose a separate $10 check or money order for each apostille, and include a letter naming the country. Online and phone orders ($45 plus the vendor's processing fee, listed at $8 on ny.gov) come to you, and you submit them to the state yourself.

Certificate issued by a town or city clerk: it must first be certified by the county clerk of the county where it was issued, then go to the Department of State. County fees vary, and some counties, Westchester for one, only accept a certified copy issued within the last year.

Not sure which you have? The state's name printed across the top does not tell you. Look at who signed it: only certificates signed by the State Registrar or the Director of Vital Statistics skip the county clerk.

Ordering a parent's or grandparent's record

Many apostille orders are for citizenship by descent, which means an older record, often a grandparent's. The city splits its records by date: births up to 1909, deaths up to 1950 and marriages up to 1949 are held by the NYC Municipal Archives, not the Health Department or the City Clerk. The Archives issues its own Letter of Exemplification. On its 2026 mail order form, a raised seal copy is $23 when you supply the certificate number, and a letter of exemplification with raised seal is $12; the Archives says to choose "I need a Letter of Exemplification" when ordering, and that the record must then be mailed.

From there the path is the same as any city record: the New York County Clerk, then the Department of State. Later records come from the Health Department (births from 1910, deaths after 1950) or the City Clerk (marriages after 1949). For a deceased parent's birth certificate from the Health Department, order by mail; the letter comes automatically.

Can I just get my birth certificate notarized?

No, and this is where a lot of first attempts go wrong. A New York notary public has no authority to issue certified copies, as the Department of State's notary handbook puts it, so a notarized photocopy is not a certified birth certificate. The state can apostille notarized documents, but an apostille on a notarized photocopy would only vouch for the notary and the county clerk, not for your birth record, and an office abroad that asked for an apostilled birth certificate will turn it down. Start from the certified copy issued by the city or the state.

Notarizations do come up around the edges: the Health Department's mail application must be notarized, and so must a translator's affidavit if your documents need a certified translation. We handle both at your door.

How long it takes, start to finish

The honest math: doing it yourself, the city is nearly all of the wait. Once the certificate and letter are in hand, the county and state legs can usually be done in a single weekday, when both offices are open and the papers are in order.

What it costs

Our apostille service prices are published in full, including $50 for each additional document in the same order. No phone quotes.

If the country is not in the Hague Convention

An apostille only works in member countries. For anywhere else, the Department of State issues a Certificate of Authentication instead, which may then need certification from the US Department of State in Washington ($20 per document; it says mailed requests are processed within 5 weeks) and finally legalization by the destination country's consulate. Membership changes, so check the official Hague status table before you order. As of October 2026:

Not sure which side your country is on? Check our list of Hague apostille countries, updated November 2026.

Using it for citizenship, an OCI card, marriage or residency abroad

The Health Department lists dual citizenship, international adoption and international marriage among the reasons people order the long form. Whatever your reason, the office receiving the document sets the rules, so ask three questions before you order:

• How recent must the certificate be? The apostille never expires, but the office abroad can still want the birth certificate underneath it issued within the last few months.
• Does it need a certified translation, and does the apostille go on the original or on the translation? Plan on your own translator. For a translation the New York County Clerk can authenticate, the translator signs an affidavit before a notary qualified in New York County. Our notaries are commissioned there, and we can arrange the translation through a partner.
• Long form only? Almost always yes, which is one more reason never to start from the short form.

How we handle it

One thing we cannot do: order the certificate for you. The city releases it only to the people it lists as eligible, above. Everything around that, we do:

• Before: we notarize the city's mail application at your home, office or hospital room, any borough, 7am to midnight.
• After: when the certificate and letter arrive, we pick them up, take them to the New York County Clerk and the Department of State, and courier the apostilled certificate back to you.
• Fast when it counts: on the next business day tier, a certificate in our hands by 6pm is back with you, apostilled, the next business day, when both offices are open and the papers are in order.

Common questions

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