An Apostille is a certificate that internationally authenticates the signature of a public official on a particular document, enabling its use in another country. The California Secretary of State offers an Apostille to validate the signatures of California public officials on documents intended for use outside the United States. This certification under the Apostille Convention is recognized by over 120 countries worldwide.

Many students in other countries choose to obtain an apostille for their transcript and/or diploma to validate their studies and so that they are accepted by government bodies, higher education institutions, and schools in their country. However, we cannot guarantee that all countries, universities, and schools will accept an apostilled school document as an equivalent of a national record.

Requesting an Apostille

The process for receiving an Apostille requires Kolbe Academy having the final copy of the academic record. Please submit any necessary grade portfolios or transcripts to ensure the academic record for your student is current.
 

To request an Apostille, first notify your family advisor. They will send you an Apostille Request Form. Complete this form and submit the payment ($150 for the first document to receive the apostille and $100 for each additional document in the same request). This cost includes DHL shipping to an international address or USPS Express mail to an address in the United States. The document will be notarized in the United States before being sent to the Secretary of State to receive the Apostille. While we will do our best to process each request within 3-4 weeks, this process depends upon the pace of the state government and mailing services. Processing time may be delayed 6 weeks or more if the Secretary of State is particularly backed up.

Please reach out to your family advisor if you have any questions on requesting an Apostille.