Certificate of No Record Apostille and Authentication Service

Need a certificate of no record apostille? SF Notary + Apostille explains how the process works.

What is a certificate of no record?

A certificate of no record, also called a negative county marriage search, is a document issued by a county agency stating that the agency has no record of a marriage involving a specific individual. The certificate is issued by the agency that oversees marriage records, typically the county clerk or recorder.

What is a certificate of no record apostille?

A certificate of no record apostille is a Hague Convention apostille (a.k.a. Secretary of State apostille) that authenticates a certificate so that it can be legally recognized in foreign countries. Apostilled certificates of no record are often required when applying for immigration, visa, dual citizenship, and other legal matters.

The California Secretary of State (CA SOS) apostille process requires submission of a certified certificate of no record. Firstly, a CA SOS staff member reviews the certificate for eligibility and verifies the signature of the County official who signed it. Next, if all is in order, the CA SOS staff member will staple a numbered paper apostille certificate to the certificate. And finally, the apostille is bound to the certificate using a red circular stamp that is half on the apostille and half on the certificate of no record. Our service expedites completion of this process in one to two business days.

Countries that are not members of the Hague Apostille Convention (such as Thailand, the UAE, or Vietnam) require additional embassy or consulate authentication and often U.S. State Department authentication. We will detail the additional authentication services required and the timeline for obtaining them in our price quote. (See Step 2 below).

How do I obtain certificate of no record apostille?

Follow these steps to help us obtain an apostilled certificate of no record for you as quickly as possible.

Step 1: Obtain a certified certificate of no record, if needed

You can obtain a certified copy of a certificate of no record in person. Also, some county agencies allow you to order online or by mail. Contact the agency in charge of marriage records for your county for more information.

If you need your certificate of no record quickly, and you are not able to pick it up in person, we can retrieve it for you from the relevant Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, or Santa Clara county office for an additional fee. Please email [email protected] or call +1 (415) 655-9455 to learn more about this option. See the FAQs at the end of this page for additional information.

Step 2: Email us for a price quote

In order to get a quick price quote, email [email protected] with the following information:

• Your name, telephone number, and current physical location
• The name, address, telephone number, and email address of the person to whom we will ship the apostilled certificate
• The destination country (e.g. France)
• The physical location of the certificate, ordering status (if you ordered one), or your need for assistance obtaining a certificate of no record

We will respond with a price quote without delay. Once we’ve agreed upon a price, we will send you an invoice and start the apostille/authentication process.

Step 3: Send the certificate of no record to us (when applicable)

If you are shipping your certificate of no record, or having the county agency send it to us, please send the original certificate to:

SF Notary + Apostille
2511 Carlsbad Ave
Sacramento, CA 95821 USA

If you are paying by check, please make it out to “SF Notary + Apostille.” Otherwise, we will send you an invoice by email with a payment link that allows you to pay by credit card.

Step 4: We’ll take it from there

As soon as we receive the certificate of no record, we will obtain an apostille from the California Secretary of State in Sacramento and ship it by FedEx the same day. If you need the certificate authenticated for a non-Hague apostille country, we can obtain the consulate, embassy and/or State Department authentications for you for an additional fee, then ship it by FedEx as soon as it is fully authenticated/legalized.

We use FedEx Priority Overnight Service for USA destinations and FedEx International Priority Service for overseas destinations. Moreover, for any document shipped overseas, we will also send you a scan of the apostilled certificate for your records.

Frequently asked questions about California certificate of no record apostilles

Can I get an apostille on a photocopy of a certificate of no record?

Although the California Secretary of State will issue an apostille on a signed and properly notarized statement written directly on a photocopy of a certificate of no record or on a separate page attached to a photocopy of a certificate of no record, the requesting party overseas will often reject certificates of no record that are certified this way. Please confirm with the requesting party whether or not they will accept a self-certified photocopy.

What if the certificate of no record is old?

Recipients may reject older certificates of no record. Check with the requesting party to ensure that the issue date on the certificate of no record is recent enough for your matter. Clients have reported that their certificates of no record were rejected by the requesting overseas party because of a policy that certificates cannot be older than three or six months.

Whose certificate of no record can I order?

California marriage certificates are not public record, so only certain individuals are authorized to obtain information about marriages (or lack thereof). You can generally request a copy of your own certificate of no record and those of your domestic partner, children, parents, and certain extended family members.

In addition, you could give authority to a third party (including a member of our staff) by notarized power of attorney or other legal instrument to obtain one of these certificates of no public record on your behalf.

What if I’m located outside of the county, state, or country?

If you are located outside of the relevant county or you don’t have time to run to the county office to obtain a certificate of no record, you may be able to order a certified copy of the certificate online or via mail and have it shipped to yourself or a third party (which could be SF Notary + Apostille). Contact the county office for instructions.

Please note that online and mail-in applications usually require notarization of the applicant’s signature. If you are in another county or state, you can visit your local notary in person or have your signature notarized using a remote online notarization (RON) service. If you are outside of the country, you can use a RON service or visit a US notary at a US Embassy or Consulate. Regardless of your location, we can help to arrange an electronic notarization—please contact us for more information.

How long does a certificate of no record take to arrive?

Online and mail-in processing times for certificates of no record often exceed several weeks. In contrast, a faster option is to have an authorized family member, your attorney, or a member of our staff pick up the certificate of no record. In general, we can obtain the certified copy within a couple of business days.

If you want us to pick it up a copy of your certificate of no record from a county office in the San Francisco Bay Area, you will need to execute a limited power of attorney (LPOA) granting us authority to retrieve the certificate of no record on your behalf. The LPOA will need to be notarized in person with a commissioned notary or remotely using a remote online notarization (RON) service, which we can help arrange. Please contact us to discuss.

Disclaimer: Information on this website is for informational purposes only. These instructions are based on our knowledge and experience and are meant to be helpful; however, they might contain errors. Please let us know if you encounter mistakes so that we can promptly correct them. SF Notary + Apostille is not a law firm, and its agents are not attorneys. Please contact a licensed attorney or your local bar association for counsel on legal matters.