Every link on this page goes to a government or official source. Use them directly rather than taking our word for anything.

They are useful now, whether or not you book anything here.

California Secretary of State: notariesLink to this section

This is the office that commissions and regulates every notary in California.

Notary Public home
Notary Public FAQs. The state's own answers
Notary Public Handbook. The full rulebook, free to download. This is the law every California notary follows.
Forms and fees. Official acknowledgment and jurat wording
Notary public listing. A downloadable file of every notary in California with an active commission, updated each business day. Use it to check that a notary is real and current.
Customer alerts. Notices from the state, including where remote online notarization in California currently stands
Become a notary
Contact the Notary Public Section

ApostilleLink to this section

An apostille is a certificate that makes a document usable in another country. In California only the Secretary of State issues one. A notary cannot.

The order is: get the document notarized, then send it to the Secretary of State yourself, or take it in. That second step is yours to do.

Request an apostille. Official instructions and fees, by mail or in person
Apostille FAQs
Current processing times. Check this before you mail anything
Verify an apostille. Confirms a certificate issued in the last five years

By mail: Notary Public Section, P.O. Box 942877, Sacramento, CA 94277-0001 In person, Sacramento: Notary Public Section, 1500 11th Street, 3rd Floor, Sacramento, CA 95814 In person, Los Angeles: first come, first served, no appointment. Los Angeles office details and hours

The Secretary of State also runs apostille pop-up shops at county offices around the state. Dates are on the request an apostille page.

Addresses, fees and floors do change. Check the official page before you travel or post anything.

County offices: certified copies and recordingLink to this section

A notary cannot certify a copy of a birth, death or marriage certificate. Only these offices can.

Alameda County: Pleasanton, Dublin, Livermore, SunolLink to this section

Alameda County Clerk-Recorder. Birth, death and marriage certificates, marriage licences, deed recording
Order online, then pick up at Dublin, 7600 Dublin Boulevard, Suite 160 or Oakland, 1106 Madison Street. Only the person named on the order can collect it.

Contra Costa County: San Ramon, DanvilleLink to this section

Contra Costa County Clerk-Recorder. Birth, death and marriage certificates, marriage licences, deed recording. 555 Escobar Street, Martinez.
Contra Costa Health, Vital Records. Holds births and deaths that happened in the county this year and last year. Older records are with the Clerk-Recorder.

StatewideLink to this section

California Department of Public Health, Vital Records. For records from any California county

Consular servicesLink to this section

IndiaLink to this section

Consulate General of India, San Francisco. Covers Northern and Central California, including Alameda and Contra Costa counties, plus Colorado, Hawaii, Utah, Wyoming and Guam. 71 Stevenson Street, Suite 2200, San Francisco.
VFS Global: India passport and visa services in the USA. Where passport, OCI and attestation applications are actually submitted. Since 1 August 2025 the consulate sends attestation work here.
Passport-related services
Passport FAQs
Attestation of documents. The consulate's notice pointing attestation to VFS

Notary help for India documents