Alaska apostille service for records from every borough

Who issues apostilles in Alaska

The Office of the Lieutenant Governor issues all Alaska apostilles and authentications. Its Authentications Department in the State Capitol in Juneau certifies original signatures from three groups: Alaska notaries public, clerks of Alaska courts and the state officials who keep public records, including Vital Records. It does not certify photocopied signatures, federal documents or notarizations from other states.

Mail sent through the U.S. Postal Service goes to P.O. Box 110015 in Juneau, while FedEx deliveries go to the Authentications Department at 240 Main Street, Room 301. In-person service requires an appointment, booked by calling (907) 465-4081. The office takes personal checks, cashier's checks and money orders written to the State of Alaska, plus credit cards through its own payment form.

The office names the documents it sees most: marriage and divorce certificates, birth and death certificates, letters of eligibility of marital status, powers of attorney, parental permission slips, foreign adoption papers and authorizations to conduct business in foreign countries. Hague countries get an apostille. A country that has not joined the Convention, such as Kuwait, gets an authentication that then needs the U.S. Department of State and the embassy, a sequence our non-Hague legalization service manages. Check your destination on the Hague apostille country list. For work across the border in Yukon or British Columbia, note that Canada has applied the Convention since 11 January 2024.

Alaska documents we apostille

We apostille Alaska vital records, court records, notarized documents, school records and business papers. Juneau certifies only original signatures from officials and notaries it recognizes, so each item has to be the certified or notarized original from the right Alaska office, never a copy of one.

• Birth and death certificates: issued as certified copies by the Health Analytics and Vital Records Section of the Alaska Department of Health. Background on apostilles for birth records and apostilles for death records.
• Marriage certificates: also from state Vital Records, which issues Alaska marriage licenses as well as certified copies. Our marriage certificate apostille service explains what foreign registries ask for.
• Divorce certificates and court records: divorce certificates from Vital Records, or certified copies from the clerk of the Alaska court that handled the case. Read about divorce decree apostilles.
• Letters of marital status and powers of attorney: signed before an Alaska notary, then certified in Juneau. The power of attorney apostille page covers the wording.
• Parental permission slips and foreign adoption papers: both appear on the office's list. A permission slip for a child traveling abroad is signed before an Alaska notary.
• Business papers: certified records from the Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing, or authorizations to do business abroad signed before an Alaska notary. See apostilles for company records.
• Diplomas and transcripts: from Alaska universities and schools. We confirm whether the registrar's signature can go to Juneau directly or needs an Alaska notary first. More on transcript apostilles.

Alaska is organized into boroughs rather than counties, so there are no county clerks in the chain. Most records come from a state office or a court, which keeps the list of possible signers short.

Alaska requirements that trip people up

Alaska turns away photocopied signatures, federal records and documents notarized in another state. It also expects a complete order: the destination country, your name and phone number, a return address, payment and, for anything returning overseas, a prepaid and pre-addressed mailer. The office's order form asks for each of these.

Original signatures only

The Lieutenant Governor's office states that it cannot certify photocopies of official signatures. That rules out a scanned birth certificate or a copy of a notarized letter. The certified copy or the notarized original has to travel to Juneau itself.

Where the notary was commissioned

Juneau certifies Alaska notaries only. If you signed a power of attorney before a notary in Seattle or Phoenix, Washington or Arizona apostilles it instead. An identity document is the exception to the copy problem. When an Alaska notary properly notarizes a copy of a passport or driver's license, Juneau can apostille it, because what it certifies is the notary's original signature. Our passport copy page describes it. Nothing federal goes to Juneau either: an FBI check, a certificate of naturalization or a notice from USCIS takes the federal route, and a notarized copy of one is no substitute.

Return shipping

By default the office returns documents by first-class mail without tracking. Include a prepaid mailer if you want tracking, and for any international return a prepaid, pre-addressed mailer is mandatory.

Getting a certified copy in Alaska

The Health Analytics and Vital Records Section of the Alaska Department of Health, with offices in Juneau and Anchorage, issues certified birth, death, marriage and divorce records. For birth, death and marriage records, a certified copy costs $30 for the first and $25 for each additional copy.

Orders are taken in person at the Anchorage office on Old Seward Highway or in Juneau, by mail to P.O. Box 110675 in Juneau, by fax, or online through VitalChek, but not by email. When we checked in September 2026, the section listed processing times of 1 to 2 months because of high volume, and expedited requests must go through VitalChek. Records are available only for events that happened in Alaska.

The same fee list includes an unusual line: an apostille for a foreign country, including one certificate, for $42. That can suit someone with no deadline and no copy yet. If you already hold a certified copy, or need the apostille sooner, sending it to us for filing in Juneau usually moves faster than starting over. Current application forms are on the Alaska vital records ordering page.

How long an Alaska apostille takes

The Lieutenant Governor's office typically processes an Alaska apostille and mails it back within 48 hours of receiving it, and it tries to turn orders around the same day. The larger variable is mail transit to and from Juneau, plus any wait for a new certified copy from Vital Records.

On our side, Economy takes 1 to 3 weeks. Express takes 1 to 5 business days for most states, and for Alaska we confirm the estimate, including the Juneau mail leg, during your free review. Express also includes priority return. Prepaid tracked mailers keep both directions visible. If your certificate still has to be ordered, plan around the section's current 1 to 2 month processing or pay for VitalChek's expedited option. Same-day rush is not available for Alaska documents, because we offer it only for Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Our article on how long an apostille takes breaks the steps down further.

What an Alaska apostille costs

Alaska charges $5 per certificate, payable to the State of Alaska. You never write a separate check to Juneau when you order with us: the $5 sits inside our $149.95 Economy and $199.95 Express prices, next to the free review, the filing, tracking and the return postage.

Optional costs follow your destination or deadline. A certified translation, an international courier home, or legalization at the embassy of a non-member country each adds to the bill, and we price that last one per country before you commit. A new certified copy, when you need one, is paid to Vital Records separately ($30 for the first copy). Families sending several Alaska records at once can ask us about a volume discount. See our full apostille services list for what else we can file alongside it.

Getting an Alaska apostille without visiting Juneau

Every Alaska apostille is issued in Juneau, a capital you cannot drive to from Anchorage or Fairbanks. Mail your certified or notarized document to our office in Massachusetts instead, and we file it with the Lieutenant Governor, track it and ship the finished document to you wherever you live.

That makes a mail service practical for people in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Wasilla, Kodiak or Ketchikan, and for anyone who was born, married or stationed in Alaska and now lives in the Lower 48 or overseas. If a relative in the state can order the certified copy, it can be shipped straight to us in Tewksbury. If you are gathering several records for a visa abroad, we can file them together, and Alaska records can travel with documents from Washington or any other state. Tell us your deadline and destination when you order, and we plan the Juneau leg around them. Start your Alaska apostille order, or see how we help Americans living abroad.