How to Get an Apostille in Maryland: Fees, Office, and Timing
Maryland apostilles are issued by the Maryland Secretary of State, Certifications Desk, in Annapolis, under State Government Article 7-106. The fee is $5 per apostille or certification. Timing depends on the lane: regular mail runs 7 to 14 business days, FedEx and UPS round trips about 3 to 4 days, and walk-in customers are served the same visit if they arrive before the 1 p.m. cutoff.
A notary commission is not one business. It’s five.
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An apostille is a certificate attached to an official document so a foreign country will accept it without further legalization steps. The 1961 Hague Apostille Convention created the system, and more than 130 countries now take apostilles in place of embassy legalization. The wider background is in our guide to understanding apostilles.
The Certification Desk in Annapolis
The Certifications page of the Maryland Secretary of State site carries a mailing checklist, published in both English and Spanish, and that checklist is where the current mailing address and required enclosures live. Payment by mail runs by check or money order payable to Secretary of State. Credit and debit cards are accepted in person.
No expedited fee exists. The office treats the walk-in counter before 1 p.m., or a FedEx or UPS round trip, as the fastest routes.
The Circuit Court Step for Notarized Documents
Maryland requires a county step before the state step for anything notarized. The instruction from the Secretary of State is direct. Take the notarized document to the Clerk of the Circuit Court in the county where the notary was commissioned, have the notary’s signature certified there, and then submit it to the Office of the Secretary of State in Annapolis.
A notarized document that arrives in Annapolis without the circuit court certification is not ready to process. Knowing which county commissioned the notary, not just where the signing happened, is what makes or breaks these requests.
Published Timelines
Maryland is one of the states that does publish its processing times, by lane.
| Lane | Published processing time |
|---|---|
| FedEx or UPS round trip | Around 3 to 4 days |
| USPS Priority Mail | Max 3 to 4 days |
| Regular mail | 7 to 14 business days |
Walk-in requests handled at the counter are done during the visit, within the daily limits described next.
Walk-in Rules and the 1 P.M. Cutoff
The Certification Desk accepts walk-ins from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Monday through Friday, and the cutoff is firm: the desk stops taking walk-in customers at 1 p.m. Each customer is limited to 10 documents. The desk is closed on all Maryland state holidays, so check the state holiday calendar before you drive to Annapolis.
What Maryland Refuses
Naturalization and immigration documents cannot be notarized in Maryland, which removes them from the standard apostille path entirely. Federal documents, meaning FBI background checks, USCIS records, and certificates for citizens born abroad, can be submitted directly to the U.S. Department of State without any Maryland step. For a country outside the Hague treaty, the Maryland certificate is not the end of the road either: those documents continue on to the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Authentications after the state certificate is attached. Maryland publishes no age limit on the documents it processes.
Maryland Apostille FAQ
Can I walk in for a Maryland apostille?
Yes, at the Certification Desk in Annapolis, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Monday through Friday. Arrive before the 1 p.m. cutoff, expect a 10-document limit per customer, and check the Maryland state holiday calendar before you drive.
How long does a Maryland apostille take?
Regular mail runs 7 to 14 business days. FedEx and UPS round trips run around 3 to 4 days, and USPS Priority Mail is published at a 3 to 4 day maximum. Walk-in requests are completed at the counter.
How much does a Maryland apostille cost?
$5 per apostille or certification. By mail, payment is by check or money order payable to Secretary of State. Credit and debit cards are accepted in person.
Do I need the circuit court before the Secretary of State?
For notarized documents, yes. The notary’s signature must be certified by the Clerk of the Circuit Court in the county where the notary was commissioned, and only then does the document go to Annapolis.
Does Maryland apostille an FBI background check?
No state office does. FBI background checks and other federal documents go directly to the U.S. Department of State, which charges $20 per document and processes by mail in about four weeks.
When the Two-Step Is the Hard Part
A Maryland apostille is really two errands, the circuit court and the state desk, each with its own hours, fees, and ways to fail. The wrong county clerk, or an afternoon arrival after the 1 p.m. cutoff. Either one pushes the job into the slowest lane, and a rejected original has to make another round trip through the mail.
Apostille agents exist to run that two-step for a living. They confirm which lane the deadline allows, pick between the walk-in counter and a carrier round trip, catch the county commission problem before the document leaves the client’s hands, and absorb the re-shipping costs when an office sends something back. Our apostille agent training walks through the workflow these jobs actually demand.
