Illinois apostille service without the trip to Springfield

Who issues apostilles in Illinois

Illinois apostilles come from the Secretary of State's Index Department, which has public offices in Springfield and Chicago. The Chicago office handles only the authentication of documents for foreign use, while every other Index Department service is available only in Springfield. The fee is $2 per document.

Two cities, one fee

The Secretary of State's website lists the Springfield office at 2701 S. Dirksen Parkway and the Chicago office at 160 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 100, and it also mentions requests at select DMV+ locations. In person, most documents are processed while you wait on a first-come, first-served basis. By mail, the office does not publish a turnaround time. Payment is by check or money order payable to the Illinois Secretary of State, and several documents can share one check for the total.

What the Index Department certifies

The office certifies the signatures of Illinois officials and Illinois notaries on documents headed abroad. Federal records belong with the U.S. Department of State, and out-of-state papers need their home state's office. Countries that have not joined the Hague Convention receive an Illinois certification rather than an apostille, the first link in a chain that ends at the destination's embassy.

Illinois documents we apostille

We apostille Illinois birth and death certificates from the Department of Public Health or a county clerk, marriage certificates from the county clerk, divorce decrees from the circuit court clerk, and documents signed before an Illinois notary. Federal records such as FBI checks follow the federal route instead.

• Birth certificates. IDPH issues a certified long form, a full copy of the original record with the parents' ages and birthplaces, for $15, and a certified short form abstract for $10. County clerks, including the Cook County Clerk for births in Chicago and the rest of Cook County, issue certified copies too. See the birth certificate apostille page.
• Death certificates. Certified copies from IDPH, $19 for the first, or from the county clerk. Read about apostilles for death certificates.
• Marriage certificates. Certified copies come only from the clerk of the county where you married. Our marriage certificate apostille service explains the rest.
• Divorce decrees. Issued by the circuit court clerk for the county that granted the dissolution. See divorce decree apostilles.
• Notarized papers. Affidavits, powers of attorney, travel consent letters and single status affidavits signed before an Illinois notary. See how a power of attorney apostille works.
• School records. Diplomas and transcripts from the University of Illinois, Northwestern, the University of Chicago and other Illinois schools. See university transcript apostilles.
• Company documents. Certificates of good standing and certified filings for Illinois corporations and LLCs, handled through our corporate apostille service.

Springfield has no authority over federal paperwork. An FBI report, an IRS letter, a DD-214 or a certificate of naturalization is authenticated in Washington by the U.S. Department of State, and notarizing a copy does not change that.

Illinois requirements that trip people up

The Illinois requirements that matter most concern the document, not the office. Watch for four problems: an uncertified genealogy copy, a birth record version that does not match what the destination wants, a marriage record requested from the wrong office, and a notarization by someone without an Illinois commission.

Long form or short form

IDPH says both of its certified birth records are suitable for legal purposes. Foreign offices can be pickier. A citizenship by descent or residency file usually needs the long form, which reproduces the original record with both parents' names, ages and places of birth. The short form is a computer-generated abstract whose details have varied over the years. Ask the receiving office which it wants before you order.

Genealogy copies do not count

IDPH sells uncertified genealogical copies of birth records more than 75 years old and plain death records more than 20 years old. They are useful for family research, but they carry no certification, so the Secretary of State has no official signature to certify. A great-grandparent's record for an Italian or Polish citizenship file has to be a certified copy.

Marriage records and notary commissions

IDPH offers only a $5 marriage verification, an index search that is not a certified copy. Go to the county clerk where the marriage license was issued instead. On notarized papers, the notary's commission decides the office: a document notarized by an Indiana or Wisconsin notary goes to that state, not to Springfield.

Getting a certified copy in Illinois

Illinois birth and death certificates come from the Illinois Department of Public Health's Division of Vital Records in Springfield or from the county clerk where the event happened. Certified marriage certificates come only from the county clerk. IDPH charges $15 for a certified long form birth record and quotes about 12 weeks for requests.

IDPH moved its Springfield office in September 2026: the office at 925 East Ridgley Avenue closed on September 9, and the new office at 110 West Lawrence Avenue opened on September 14. Only the person named on the record, if 18 or older, a parent shown on it, or a legal guardian or representative with written proof may order a certified birth record. Additional copies of the same record ordered together cost $2 each, the short form costs $10, and a certified death record costs $19 for the first copy and $4 for each extra. The IDPH vital records page has the forms.

The Cook County Clerk charges $15 for a birth certificate and $4 for each additional copy, plus processing fees on online or phone orders, and mailed requests take about 20 working days. Divorce decrees come from the circuit court clerk in the county that granted the dissolution.

How long an Illinois apostille takes

At the counter, the Index Department processes most apostille requests while you wait. For mailed requests it does not publish a processing time. The slow part of an Illinois order is usually the certified copy, since IDPH quotes about 12 weeks for vital records requests.

Plan the order backward. If your certificate is already a certified copy of the right version, the apostille itself is quick. If you need a new one, a county clerk counter, such as Cook County's on-demand printing, can save weeks compared with a mailed IDPH request. Shipping to Tewksbury and back adds a few days in each direction, and a prepaid overnight label shortens the first leg.

From the day we hold a ready document, allow 1 to 3 weeks for Economy or 1 to 5 business days for Express, with first-class or priority return mail included. Illinois papers are not eligible for our same-day rush, which covers Massachusetts and New Hampshire only. Our apostille timing guide breaks down each leg.

What an Illinois apostille costs

The Illinois Secretary of State charges $2 per apostille, paid by check or money order to the Illinois Secretary of State. Apostille Depot charges $149.95 for Economy and $199.95 for Express per document, and that $2 fee is already inside, along with the free document review, filing, follow-up and return mail.

Most of what you pay covers the work around the $2 certificate: checking that your copy is certified and the right version, preparing the request, getting it to the Index Department and back, and tracking it. Certified translation, courier upgrades and notary service at our office are optional. If the papers are going to a non-Hague country such as Iraq, Nigeria or Iran, we quote embassy legalization per country, and our non-Hague legalization guide explains that route. If several family records are going into one application, ask us about a volume discount.

Getting an Illinois apostille without visiting Springfield

Neither Springfield nor the Chicago office needs a visit from you. Ship the certified copy to our Tewksbury, Massachusetts office from wherever you live, and we file it with the Index Department and forward the finished apostille to any address, at home or overseas.

Illinois documents travel far. Families in Chicago, Aurora, Naperville, Rockford, Peoria and Springfield send birth and marriage records to consulates for citizenship claims and weddings abroad, and graduates mail diplomas to foreign employers and graduate schools. Mexico, India and Poland, for example, all accept apostilles. Start with the application form, send the certified copy, and follow the order online. If your file also includes documents from Indiana or Wisconsin, we file every state under the same order. If you still need a new certified copy, ask whether the issuing office will ship it straight to our Tewksbury office, which saves a mailing leg. See all apostille services.