How is a document authenticated or Apostilled in New York? More specifically, in Westchester County?
Here is a breakdown of the exact process, as well as fees involved, to get your document returned to you from the New York State Department of State.
This breakdown is for a simple document, such as a power of attorney, that would allow you to have someone act on your behalf in a foreign country.
[ This is the DIY version of our $149 apostilleapply.com service ]
Step one: you must bring your document to a Westchester County notary, such as one that you would find in a local bank. The Notary would need proper identification. You would then ask that Notary to notarize that document by verifying your identity and watching you sign it. In New York State, a Notary is permitted to charge you two dollars for this service. This whole process should take you about 20 minutes.
Step two: The Apostille process requires that the Notary is “authenticated” to ensure that the commission is, in fact, a valid one. For this part, you will bring your notarized document to:
(WCCO) Westchester County Clerk’s office
110 Dr.Martin Luther King Junior Boulevard, 3rd Floor
White Plains, New York, 10601
The WCCO currently asks that you make an appointment before receiving any governmental services:
https://www.westchesterclerk.com/about/appointments
Once you schedule the appointment, you can drive there, pay for parking, go through the metal detectors and pay the “notary authentication pre-Apostille fee” of $3 to the clerk. This entire process should take between 60 and 90 minutes of your time.
Step three: You will need to forward your notarized document, along with the certification documentation from the WCCO, to the New York State Department of State in Albany. To do this, you will download the following form:
https://dos.ny.gov/apostillecertificate-authentication-request-form-english
Along with this completed form, you will enclose your documentation, a check for $10, as well as a self-addressed stamped envelope. If you are proficient with forms and have your envelopes and postage stamps ready, this entire process should take you about 45 minutes.
Step four: At this point, you’ll wait between three and four weeks to receive your completed Apostille back in the mail. Because the only way to authenticate a valid Apostille document is through the serial number and issue date, there is simply no way to find out the status of your application until after you’ve received it.
How can New York Apostilles help?
The entire process that has just been described to you is covered under our $149 standard apostilleapply.comApostille service. If your document contains two pages, it is $169. If it has 3 to 9 pages, it is a flat fee of $199 with absolutely everything included from start to finish. It includes unlimited notarizations, unlimited pre-certifications from the County Clerk and FedEx service to Albany.
In addition to this service, we can also laser print your documents and ensure they’re ready for processing. Can’t wait the 3-4 weeks and want some trackability? Expedited services are also available where your Apostille will be returned back to you in 10 days. 5 days or even 24 hours. This service even includes guaranteed acceptance, so if anything is rejected, appostilleapply.com will pay all fees to reprocess the application. A few conditions apply, but our expediters don’t sleep until your documents are delivered and accepted.
A few side notes:
If your document is federally issued it may have to go directly to the federal government for the Apostille service and not through New York State. That link is here: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/records-and-authentications/authenticate-your-document/office-of-authentications.html
Don’t always take for granted that another country will accept a New York State Apostille authentication, make sure that the country that you’re sending it to is listed on this document: https://www.hcch.net/en/states/hcch-members
Ready to get started with Westchester Apostille? Head over to apostilleapply.com where you can also securely upload your documents for a free no-obligation review.
Or call, text even WhatsApp Harry Otto at (914)441-2444.