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Apostille and Certification Services through the Office of the Iowa Secretary of State

Apostilles and Certificates are authentications that are to be attached to documents that are being sent outside of the United States. This service will certify that the notary or elected official that sign a document in Iowa was able to do so at the time of signing (i.e. that they were commissioned or actively serving on that date).

As of 2025, Iowa has moved to a Single Certificate format. This means our office will certify the origin of public documents destined for any country, regardless of whether that country is a member of the Hague apostille convention or not. There is an indicator at the bottom of the document that will clarify to a receiving country that the issuance of the certificate does not necessarily make it an "apostille" and can be used in countries that are not members of the Hague convention.

How to Request a Certificate

To request a certificate to be attached to your document to be sent out of the US, you will fill out the Apostille or Certificate Request Form and provide us with a copy of your document.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Unless a prepaid shipping label is provided to us, we will be sending the document(s) and certificate out via USPS. If you would like faster shipping, please have that label provided with your request.

We provide same-day walk in service from 8:00AM-3:30PM, Monday through Friday* or you can provide the required information using one of the following methods:

Mail

You can mail in the request form and a copy of your document to our office at

321 E 12th Street
Lucas Building, First Floor
Des Moines, IA 50319

PLEASE NOTE: If you are mailing documents, it is strongly recommended that you make a copy of the document and send us the copy you made while you hold onto the original. If the apostille were to get lost in the mail, it would be much easier to provide a replacement certificate rather than you try to obtain a new document.

Upload

You can use our document upload portal on our Fast Track Filing System and submit your request form and document in a single PDF. By using this portal, you will receive a tracking number that will confirm our office has received the document and will be reviewed and issued in date order.

*Excluding observed holidays