Utah apostille service, paper or digital, from Salt Lake City

Who issues apostilles in Utah

The Office of the Utah Lieutenant Governor issues every Utah apostille and authentication. It certifies original Utah public documents, such as vital records, court records and school records, and documents notarized by Utah notaries. It does not authenticate documents from other states, out-of-state notarizations, FBI background checks or certified documents from federal agencies.

Staff work from 350 North State Street, Suite 220, Salt Lake City, with PO Box 142325 as the mailing box and 801-538-1041 as the phone line. Hours run Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, excluding state and federal holidays. In-person service is by appointment only, and the office says plainly that it does not accept walk-ins.

Hague members receive an apostille. Countries outside the Convention, such as Nigeria or Ghana, receive an authentication that continues to the U.S. Department of State and then the embassy, which our legalization service manages. Look up your destination on the Hague country list. Federal paperwork, including an FBI background check or a naturalization certificate, belongs with the U.S. Department of State, and our FBI report apostille page explains that route. Comparing states? Our Secretary of State apostille guide shows how the rest of the country splits the job.

Utah documents we apostille

We apostille Utah vital records, court decrees, school records, county single status letters, vehicle records, business filings and notarized documents. The Lieutenant Governor's office publishes who must sign each one, and the version you send decides whether it can leave as a paper apostille, a digital one or not at all.

• Birth and death certificates: certified by the Utah Office of Vital Records and Statistics. They qualify for a paper apostille only, never a digital one. Background reading: our birth certificate guide and death certificate guide.
• Marriage certificates: a certified copy from Vital Records or from the county clerk that issued the license. The marriage certificate apostille service page has more.
• Divorce decrees and court records: certified copies from the district court clerk. See divorce decree apostilles for what registries abroad expect.
• Single status documents: an official, signed copy from the county clerk. Details on single status apostilles.
• Transcripts, diplomas and report cards: signed by a school official, with the official's name and capacity shown, and notarized when they come from a private school. Our diploma and transcript page goes further.
• Business documents: a certified copy from the Utah Department of Commerce, notarized at the Department. Emailed or printed copies are refused. Company files are covered by our corporate apostille service.
• Vehicle titles and driving records: certified copies from the Division of Motor Vehicles or the Driver License Division.
• Powers of attorney: accepted as long as the notary did not attest to the document's contents, unless that notary is also a licensed attorney. Our page on apostilles for powers of attorney goes into more detail.

Utah requirements that trip people up

Utah's traps are mostly procedural. A mailed request is incomplete until it has been entered in the ApostilleXpress portal, digital delivery is off the table for Vital Records certificates, and notarized documents need original signatures with a complete, compliant notarial certificate. Private papers without a notarization are refused outright.

The online step for mail

Since online ordering opened on September 3, 2026, the office asks you to submit the request online first and then mail the originals with a printed copy of the order form. Keep that printout in the envelope with the documents.

Notarized documents

The notarization must come from a Utah notary, with original signatures rather than photocopies and a complete notarial certificate. Documents missing notarial language, a stamp or a signature are rejected. With more than 20,000 notaries in the state, finding one is rarely the hard part. Identity papers are fine as well: a passport or driver's license copy that a Utah notary has properly notarized can receive a Utah apostille. A notarized copy of a federal record, whether an FBI check or a USCIS notice, is refused, since those belong to the U.S. Department of State.

Translation

Utah does not require documents to be translated into English, and the office does not translate them. If your destination wants a translation, that is a separate step, and our certified translation service can take it on.

Getting a certified copy in Utah

Utah birth and death certificates come from the Office of Vital Records and Statistics, part of the Utah Department of Health and Human Services, at the Martha Hughes Cannon Building in Salt Lake City. Since July 1, 2026, a first certified birth certificate costs $25 and a first certified death certificate costs $35.

Certificates can be ordered online, by mail to PO Box 141012 in Salt Lake City, or in person at the main office and most local health departments. Ordering is limited to the person on the record, immediate family, legal guardians and designated legal representatives, and the office states that third-party vendors are not authorized to order on a customer's behalf. That includes us, so you order the certificate yourself and then send it to our office. In June 2026 the office reported processing times of about six weeks for online and mail orders.

The state holds marriage and divorce records from 1978 to about 2010 and issues them as abstracts for $25. Outside those years, go to the county clerk for a marriage record or the district court for a divorce. Forms and eligibility rules are on the Utah vital records ordering page.

How long a Utah apostille takes

Utah's own processing is short. The Lieutenant Governor's office handles mailed requests in 1 to 3 business days after they arrive, not counting transit, and in-person appointments are usually finished within 10 minutes to 2 hours of the appointment time. The longer waits sit elsewhere in the chain.

That makes our standard windows a good fit for Utah documents: a 1 to 3 week Economy service returned by first-class mail, and a 1 to 5 business day Express service returned by priority mail. Digital delivery can shorten the trip home further when the receiving office accepts an e-apostille. The step most likely to take time is a certificate you do not have yet. Vital Records reported about six weeks for online and mail orders in June 2026, and only you can place that order. Our same-day rush service is limited to Massachusetts and New Hampshire documents. The broader timing picture sits under how long an apostille takes.

What a Utah apostille costs

Utah's fees, as listed in September 2026, are $5 per mailed paper document, $20 for a same-day in-person document, $5 for each extra document from the same signer and $5 for adoption documents. Both of our packages, Economy at $149.95 and Express at $199.95, absorb the state fee.

The package price also covers our free review, the online order and filing, tracking and return mail. Digital orders are the one unclear price: the office's FAQ lists $5 per electronic document in its fee table but a $74.95 base fee for a first digital document in its instructions, so we confirm that figure before you choose digital delivery. Utah takes cash, checks and major credit cards, but through us there is nothing to pay the state directly. Extras are optional: certified translation, courier upgrades, and legalization for non-Hague countries, quoted per country before you pay. A certified copy from Vital Records is ordered and paid for by you, because Utah does not let vendors request it. If you have several documents, ask us about a volume discount.

Getting a Utah apostille without visiting Salt Lake City

You can get a Utah apostille without an appointment at the Lieutenant Governor's office. Mail the certified or notarized original to our Tewksbury, Massachusetts office, or order online first and we will tell you exactly what to send. We file with the Lieutenant Governor and return the result.

The mail route suits people from Provo, Orem, Ogden, Logan, St. George or West Valley City who now live elsewhere, students heading abroad with a Utah diploma, and families gathering records for a residency or citizenship file. If you already live overseas, a digital apostille may save an international shipment, provided the receiving office accepts it. Documents from Idaho, Nevada or any other state can go in the same order. Anyone still living near Salt Lake City can book an appointment themselves. From farther away, mailing the document to us removes the need to arrange one at all. Start your Utah apostille order, or see all of our apostille services and our page on apostilles for students.