California Apostille Services

Good quick professional service.
Recommended !

I bet the owner of this establishment left the previous review. If the ower gives you guarantee of 24 hour turn around time for an apostille don’t trust him. Its not 24 hrs, its not even 48. He will get to you when he will like it and will be very irritated at you for bothering him if you dare to ask him about his originals guarantees. Do yourself a favor and go somewhere else.

DO NOT waste your money on this!!!
If you read nothing else, read the last paragraph to obtain info on how to get your docs apostilled correctly!
I found California Apostille Services through a Google search – since I had no idea what an apostille was or how to get one. Basically, this is like a notarization that is accepted internationally.
I handed over some documents (and almost $ 1,000) that I needed apostilled for a work visa application for Spain. To be fair, I had given California Apostilles some docs to apostille in the past and did not have any serious issues. However, this last time, time kept passing and I had no word of what was going on with my documents. I called Richard several times to ask for the status of my documents and was told (rather brusquely) that I could only obtain the status by submitting a request using the California Apostilles website. I did so, and received no response. When I then called and explained I had received no response to repeated online status requests, Richard was extremely rude to me and hung up the phone on me! I felt I was being reasonable – I was not cursing or yelling, I was simply asking what was going on with my documents.
At that point, it had been THREE WEEKS! (The website says this should take approximately 3 days.)
I did not know what to do. I asked my boss to contact Richard, since I needed these documents for my job. Richard simply emailed my boss and said he could not provide him with the status of my documents due to «confidentiality» issues.
I did a web search to see if there was anyone else at California Apostilled with whom I could speak – a manager?, anyone! However, it appears that Richard is the only employee at this «company».
Finally, I decided to call the Secretary of State. I thought, maybe the Secretary of State provides licenses for apostilling, similar to how notaries are licensed. I thought, California Apostilled must have some affiliation with the Secretary of State, because their website has the seal of the Secretary of State.
When I called the Secretary of State’s apostille office, though, I was extremely upset and disappointed to hear that they did not know of any company by the name of California Apostille Services. They referred to California Apostilles as a «courier service». They explained to me that only the Secretary of State has the legal authority to provide apostilles. Therefore, all that California Apostille Services does is walk your documents over to the Secretary of State’s office, get them apostilled, give your docs back to you and keep a mountain of your cash!
I was infuriated!
I asked if there was anything that the Secretary of State could do to help in this situation, even though California Apostilles apparently had no affiliation with them. The very nice woman that I spoke to offered to call Richard on the phone and ask for the status of my documents. She did so and called me back, saying that Richard had been «verbally abusive» to her, but that he had fortunately promised to have my docs ready that day.
Richard did provide my apostilled docs that day and offered to FedEx them to Spain (his way of making amends, I guess, even though he never apologized). However, I told him I wanted the docs delivered to my hands, since, honestly, I did not trust him at that point.
Basically, if you need docs apostilled, take them over to the Secretary of State’s office yourself. They have an office right in San Francisco! They will probably apostille your documents while you wait and will only charge you $ 20 per documents (not the up to $ 280 per document that California Apostilles will charge). This is a no brainer, People. If you want your car washed, are you going to take your car to the carwash yourself and pay $ 20, or are you going to take your car to some other company whose only function will be to drive your car to the carwash – and for the added bonus you get to pay this company $ 280 and get verbally berated by their staff?
Here is the website for the Secretary of State’s Apostille office:

Does anyone out there know what an apostille is? Well I found out and it is NOT a religious thing.
I was told out that I needed this thing called an Apostille attached to my Birth Certificate for some overseas program in Italy. Apparently, my US documents are not recognized as valid over there without this official Apostille certification.
I was frantic when I contacted California Apostille Services. I was leaving for my trip and I needed it done fast. Richard was very helpful and explained the process to me. It was actually pretty painless. I dropped off my original CA birth certificate, a simple application and a check to the office on California St. It was done quickly and Fed Ex’d back. I could have picked it up, but was too busy to get downtown. He also could have Fed Ex’d it to Italy for me if I wanted.
If you are told that you need one of these Apostilles, then definitely contact California Apostille Services.