Can You Apostille a US Document in Canada? (No — Here's the Right Route)
A common situation: you live in Canada, you hold a US birth certificate, FBI background check, or American diploma, and a third country now wants it apostilled. Can Global Affairs Canada or a provincial authority do it? No — and understanding why saves weeks of misdirected effort. Apostilles are issued by the country where the document originates, so US documents must be apostilled by the competent US authority. This guide maps the correct routing.
The Rule: Apostilles Follow the Document's Country of Origin
Under the Apostille Convention, each member country designates competent authorities for documents issued in its own territory. Canadian authorities — Global Affairs Canada and the provincial offices in Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan — can only apostille documents issued or notarized in Canada. They have no power to certify a signature made by a US registrar, a US notary, or the FBI.
So the question is never 'where do I live?' but 'where was the document issued?'. A US birth certificate held by a Toronto resident is still a US document, and its apostille must come from the United States.
Who Apostilles US Documents
The United States splits the job by level of government. State-issued and state-notarized documents — birth, marriage, and death certificates, state court records, notarized documents, and diplomas prepared through a state notary — are apostilled by the Secretary of State of the issuing state. A New York birth certificate goes to the New York Secretary of State; a California notarization goes to California's.
Federal documents — most notably FBI identity history summary checks (FBI background checks) and other federal-agency documents — are apostilled by the US Department of State in Washington, DC.
- US state documents (vital records, notarized documents, state court records): Secretary of State of the issuing state
- US federal documents (FBI background checks, federal-agency records): US Department of State
- US diplomas: typically notarized in the issuing state first, then that state's Secretary of State
- Canadian documents in the same file: Global Affairs Canada or the relevant provincial authority
UK and Other Foreign Documents Follow the Same Logic
The rule generalizes. A UK birth certificate, degree, or police certificate (ACRO) is apostilled by the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office through its Legalisation Office — not by any Canadian authority. Documents from France go to French authorities, Indian documents to India's Ministry of External Affairs, and so on.
If the document's country of origin is not a Convention member, that country's own legalization chain applies instead. Either way, the certification starts where the document was born.
The Typical Scenario: A Mixed File from Canada
Real files are rarely single-country. A US citizen living in Halifax applying for residence in Spain might need an FBI check (apostille from the US Department of State), a US birth certificate (apostille from the issuing state's Secretary of State), an RCMP check for the Canadian years (apostille from Global Affairs Canada), and a notarized declaration signed in Nova Scotia (also Global Affairs Canada).
The trap is assuming one office can stamp everything. Each document must go to its own competent authority, and the legs can run in parallel — which is where sequencing the file well saves the most time.
A Caution About Notarized Copies
A tempting shortcut is to have a Canadian notary certify a copy of the US document and apostille that in Canada. Technically, the Canadian apostille then certifies only the Canadian notary's signature — not the US document itself — and many foreign receiving authorities will not accept a notarized copy in place of an apostille from the document's country of origin.
Sometimes a receiving authority does accept it, which is why the answer is always to confirm with them first, in writing, before choosing this route.
How Visa Jet Helps
Visa Jet is a private Canadian agency, and our submissions go to Canadian authorities and embassies in Canada. For a mixed file, we confirm the correct route for every document, handle the Canadian documents end to end — notarization, apostille or authentication, embassy legalization where needed — and provide practical guidance on sequencing the US or UK legs you arrange with the competent authorities there, so all parts of the file land together.
We do not guarantee acceptance by any foreign authority and cannot control government processing in any country, but we can keep a multi-country file coherent. Contact info@visajet.ca or +1 819-635-8787.
Frequently asked questions
No. Canadian authorities only apostille documents issued or notarized in Canada. A US birth certificate must be apostilled by the Secretary of State of the US state that issued it.
The US Department of State, because the FBI check is a US federal document. Canadian authorities cannot certify it, even if you live in Canada and obtained the check from here.
UK-issued documents — birth certificates, degrees, ACRO police certificates — are apostilled by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office through its Legalisation Office. The same origin-country rule applies to documents from any other country.
A Canadian notarized copy can be apostilled in Canada, but the apostille only certifies the Canadian notarization — not the underlying US document — and many receiving authorities reject this substitute. Confirm acceptability with the receiving authority in writing before relying on it.
Our submissions are to Canadian authorities and to embassies in Canada. For the US or UK legs of your file we provide routing and sequencing guidance so you engage the correct competent authority directly, while we run the Canadian documents in parallel. We never guarantee any authority's timelines or acceptance.
Important: Visa Jet is a private travel, visa, and document support agency. We are not a government office, embassy, or consulate. We assist with document preparation, legalization support, application review, embassy submission, and tracking. Final approval and processing times are determined by the embassy, consulate, government office, or destination country. We do not provide immigration, permanent residence, or citizenship advice or representation — including programs such as the Start-up Visa, Express Entry, and provincial nominee streams — which require a licensed immigration consultant or lawyer.
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