Apostilles - Certified Records

Apostille is a French word which means a certification. It is commonly used in English to refer to the legalization of a document for international use under the terms of the 1961 Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents. Documents which have been notarized by a notary public, and certain other documents, and then certified with a conformant apostille are accepted for legal use in all the nations that have signed the Hague Convention.

There is a $50.00 processing fee for an apostille request, $10.00 for each additional document requested. This fee is per document requested and is in addition to the diploma/transcript fees and certification fees noted below. Example: Request for one diploma apostille and one transcript apostille—fees would be $60.oo processing fee plus the diploma fee ($25.00), transcript fee ($7.00) and certification fees ($5.00 for county and $20.00 for state).

Follow the two-step process to obtain an Apostille for a Diploma, Official Transcript, or Enrollment Verification.

Step One - Designate the type of document to be certified

Diploma

For a "Certified Copy," please provide an 8 ½ x 5 ½ photocopy on standard letter size paper. Please ensure that copied image is on lower half of a portrait oriented photocopy of diploma.

To request a "Certified Original Diploma," please provide the following information:

• Name at Graduation
• Name you want to appear on the diploma
• Student ID number or Social Security number
• Date of Graduation and Degree Earned
• Daytime phone number
• Check for $25.00, per original diploma being requested, payable to "The College of William and Mary"

Transcript

Request an official transcript using the transcript request form. There is a $7.00 fee per transcript requested. Please make check payable to "The College of William & Mary".

Enrollment Verification

Submit an enrollment verification form.

StepTwo - Submit Request, Accompanying Documentation and Payment

For an Apostille, please include the following with your Diploma, Transcript or Enrollment Verification request:

Check in the amount of $50.00 for the first document and $10.00 for each additional document, made payable to "The College of William and Mary" to cover the apostille processing fee.

Complete the Commonwealth of Virginia Authentication Request form. Or, provide a cover letter including your name, address, phone number, email and the country for which you need the document authenticated.

Check in the amount of $10.00, per document being requested, made payable to "Secretary of the Commonwealth of Virginia" to cover the Commonwealth of Virginia authentication fee.

Check in the amount of $2.50, per document being requested, made payable to "James City County Clerk." This check covers the county authentication of notarization.

Enclose two pre-paid mailers to forward the documents to the Secretary of the Commonwealth and return to you (overnight service recommended for tracking purposes—FedEx, UPS, DHL, etc.):

• One mailer addressed to (please be sure to retain tracking number for package):

  Secretary of the Commonwealth
  Attn: Authentication Department
  1111 East Broad St - 14th Floor
  Richmond, VA 23219
  

• One mailer addressed to you for return of authenticated documents (please be sure to retain tracking number for package).

All of the above requested items can be mailed to the following address:

**Please be sure to retain the tracking number for all packages sent to our office. While we make every effort to ensure delivery, our office can not guarantee or track packages once they are in the possession of the shipper/courier.

Processing Times

Please allow 10-15 business days for processing of a certified copy of your diploma, enrollment verification and/or transcript.

Please allow 2-4 weeks for processing of an original diploma.

Additional information can be obtained by calling (757) 221-2800 or via [[registrar,email]].