How to Apostille a Certificate of Good Standing in Any State (2026): Who Issues It, Fees, Rules and Mistakes to Avoid

November 5, 2026 · DC Mobile Notary™ — Washington, DC

Quick answer

A Certificate of Good Standing is apostilled by the state that issued it, never by the U.S. Department of State. You order the certificate from your state's business registry (usually the Secretary of State, Division of Corporations), then submit it to that state's apostille office with the destination country named and the state fee paid. Because the certificate is signed by a state official, it is never notarized.

Three things decide how smoothly it goes. First, the recency rule: Virginia only apostilles a State Corporation Commission certificate issued within the past 12 months, while DC, Maryland and most other states publish no cutoff. Second, the destination country: Hague Convention countries take a single apostille; the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Egypt and other non-member countries need state certification, U.S. Department of State authentication and embassy legalization instead. Third, what the recipient actually wants: a short-form or long-form certificate, how recent, and whether a translation is required.

DC Mobile Notary™ orders the right certificate, hand-delivers it to the state apostille office and ships the finished document to you or straight to the bank, registry or law firm abroad. Call 202-247-0837 or get a quote online.

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Certificate of good standing apostille at a glance

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What a Certificate of Good Standing is, and what your state calls it

A Certificate of Good Standing is a one-page public record issued by the agency that keeps your state's business register. It states that the entity was formed or registered in that state, that it is active, and that it has filed the reports and paid the fees the state requires as of the date on the certificate. Foreign banks, company registries, courts and investment authorities use it as proof that the U.S. company behind a transaction is real and in compliance.

The name changes from state to state, and the wrong name on an order form costs you a week. In Maryland it is a Certificate of Status issued by the State Department of Assessments and Taxation. In Virginia, corporations get a Certificate of Good Standing while LLCs get a Certificate of Fact of Existence (or Certificate of Fact of Registration for out-of-state LLCs registered in Virginia). Texas issues a Certificate of Fact – Status. Pennsylvania calls it a Certificate of Subsistence, Connecticut a Certificate of Legal Existence, New Jersey a Standing Certificate, and Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Washington and a dozen other states a Certificate of Existence. The state-by-state table below lists all 50 states and DC.

Two look-alikes are not the same document:

• Tax clearance letters. The DC Certificate of Clean Hands (Office of Tax and Revenue), the Massachusetts Department of Revenue Certificate of Good Standing and the Texas Comptroller's Certificate of Account Status certify tax compliance, not corporate existence. Some foreign registries ask for both; ask before you order.
• Long-form certificates. Delaware's $175 long form lists every document ever filed for the company, including name changes and mergers, and foreign banks often prefer it to the $50 short form. New Jersey and DC also offer long-form versions. If the recipient says “certificate with filing history,” they mean the long form.

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Why foreign banks, registries and courts ask for an apostilled certificate

An apostille does not vouch for your company. It authenticates the signature and seal of the official who issued the certificate, so a bank in Madrid or a registry in Dubai can accept the document without asking the U.S. state to confirm it. Under the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention, an apostille from the issuing state is all that 130 member countries need. Typical uses include:

• Opening a corporate bank account abroad
• Registering a branch, subsidiary, representative office or joint venture in another country
• Foreign investment, free-zone and tender applications
• Proving the parent company exists when a notarized corporate resolution, power of attorney or incumbency certificate is apostilled alongside it
• Investor, entrepreneur and intra-company transfer visas for company owners and executives
• Product registrations, distribution agreements and government contracts overseas
• Litigation, arbitration and estate matters where a U.S. entity is a party

Most recipients also set their own freshness rule. A certificate issued within the last 90 days is the most common requirement, and six months is usually the outer limit, so order the certificate only when the rest of the file is ready.

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Who apostilles a Certificate of Good Standing: the state, not Washington

A Certificate of Good Standing is a state document, so the apostille comes from the state that issued it. In 44 states that office is the Secretary of State. The exceptions matter because sending the certificate to the wrong office means it comes back unprocessed:

• Virginia: Secretary of the Commonwealth, Authentication Division, Richmond
• Washington, DC: Office of Notary Commissions and Authentications (ONCA), part of the Office of the Secretary of the District of Columbia
• Delaware: Division of Corporations, Department of State, Dover, which issues both the certificate and the apostille
• Georgia: Georgia Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority (GSCCCA)
• New Jersey: Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services, Department of the Treasury
• New York: Department of State, which also issues the certificate
• Pennsylvania and Michigan: Department of State
• Alaska, Hawaii and Utah: Office of the Lieutenant Governor
• Massachusetts: Secretary of the Commonwealth, Commissions Section

The U.S. Department of State in Washington apostilles federal documents only, such as FBI background checks, IRS Form 6166 and USCIS certificates. It will return a state certificate of good standing. If your company is registered in several states, each state's certificate goes to that state's office.

Hague or not? The destination country decides what you get. For the 130 Hague Apostille Convention members, including every EU country, the UK, Mexico, Brazil, India, China, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Canada and (since September 2026) Vietnam, the state issues an apostille and you are done. For non-members such as the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Egypt, Jordan, Ethiopia and Nigeria, the state issues a certification instead (Virginia calls it a Great Seal, DC a Foreign Certificate, Delaware an Authentication), the U.S. Department of State authenticates that for $20, and the country's embassy in Washington legalizes it last. Thailand joins the apostille system on February 28, 2027 and still needs legalization until then.

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How to apostille a Certificate of Good Standing: step by step

1. Get the recipient's exact requirements in writing. Which certificate (short or long form, existence or status, tax clearance too?), how recent, how many originals, apostille or legalization, and whether a certified translation is needed. Most rejections abroad happen because the wrong document was apostilled perfectly.
2. Check the company's status for free. Every state has a public entity search: Virginia's Clerk's Information System, DC's CorpOnline, Maryland Business Express, Delaware's entity search, New York's Corporation and Business Entity Database. If the status is anything other than active or in good standing, file the overdue annual report, registration fee or franchise tax first. The state will not issue the certificate until you do.
3. Order the certificate from the issuing agency. Most states deliver a PDF within minutes online; New York and a few others still work from written requests. Order it for international or authentication use when the system asks, and in Virginia order a fresh one: anything older than 12 months will be rejected.
4. Do not alter the certificate. No notarization, no lamination, no staples to other documents, no handwritten notes. The apostille office authenticates the official's signature and seal as issued.
5. Submit it to the state's apostille office. Include the request form or cover letter naming the destination country, the state fee, and a prepaid return mailer. Virginia requires its online cover letter and a return envelope listing the same sender and recipient; DC asks you to file an online notification first and then mail the hard-copy form; Delaware lets you order the certificate and apostille together.
6. For non-Hague countries, continue the chain. State certification, then U.S. Department of State authentication, then embassy legalization. See embassy legalization.
7. Translate after the apostille, if required. Spain, Italy, Brazil and most Latin American registries want a certified or sworn translation of the certificate and the apostille itself. See certified translations.

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Who issues the certificate and the apostille in every state

The table lists the usual name of the certificate, the agency that issues it, the office that issues the apostille, and the standard state apostille fee per document as posted by each office in autumn 2026. Certificate fees vary by state and entity type ($0 in Colorado and Wyoming to $175 for Delaware's long form). Fees and turnaround times change; confirm with the office, or with us, before you mail anything.

Expedite fees are extra where offered: Delaware adds $40 for 24-hour and $50 for same-day service per entity file number, Nevada charges $75 for 24-hour service and up to $1,000 for one hour, and New Jersey adds $40. Mailed turnaround ranges from the same day (Delaware) to 20 business days (New Jersey, Arizona); the median promise among states that post one is five business days, before shipping.

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State rules that catch people out

Virginia: the 12-month rule

Virginia is the strictest of the mid-Atlantic states. The Secretary of the Commonwealth authenticates a State Corporation Commission document only if it was issued within the past 12 months, is signed by the Clerk of the Commission and has not been notarized. A foreign (out-of-state) company registered to do business in Virginia must submit a Virginia SCC certificate of authority or good standing, not its home-state certificate.

• Order: Clerk's Information System (CIS), $6, instant download. Corporations choose Certificate of Good Standing; LLCs choose Certificate of Fact of Existence (domestic) or Certificate of Fact of Registration (foreign). The authentication office recommends calling the SCC Clerk's Office at 804-371-9733 and saying the certificate is for international authentication.
• Apostille: $10 per document, or $10 for the first and $5 for each additional document signed by the same official on the same date for the same country. Create the online cover letter, name the country, and include a prepaid return mailer that lists you as both sender and recipient. USPS goes to 1111 East Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23219; FedEx, UPS and DHL go to 400 East Cary Street.
• Timing: 7 to 10 business days by mail. Appointments (Monday to Thursday, booked online on Fridays at 10 am for the following week, 10 documents maximum) are for individual constituents only; couriers and apostille companies use the drop box and get documents back by mail in 5 to 7 business days.

Washington, DC: no cutoff, but the entity must be active

ONCA authenticates certified documents issued or signed by a DC government agency, and it publishes no age limit for a certificate of good standing. In our experience, DC will authenticate a certificate up to around ten years old as long as the company is still active and the signing official is on file. The foreign recipient's freshness rule is the real constraint.

• Order: CorpOnline through Access DC. Choose Certificates & Certified Copies, then Good Standing Certificate; the fee depends on entity type ($50 for most LLCs and corporations, double for the long form). Download it from the Certificates and Filing Images tab. The Certificate of Clean Hands from the Office of Tax and Revenue is a separate tax document.
• Apostille: $15 per document. Submit ONCA's online notification form first, then mail the certificate with the hard-copy request form and a prepaid return envelope (FedEx and USPS preferred) to 899 North Capitol Street NE, Suite 8100, Washington, DC 20002. ONCA emails a credit-card payment link after reviewing the documents, or you can enclose a check payable to DC Treasurer.
• Timing: about 5 business days from receipt by mail; walk-in service 9 am to 1 pm.

Maryland: Certificate of Status, $5 apostille

Maryland's business registry is the State Department of Assessments and Taxation, not the Secretary of State, and its certificate is called a Certificate of Status. The Secretary of State's certification desk lists corporate good-standing certificates among the documents it routinely certifies and publishes no cutoff, but asks you to call ahead if your copy is not current. In our experience, an older certificate for an active company is generally authenticated; a recent one avoids the call.

• Order: Maryland Business Express, Business Entity Search, then Certificate of Status & Document Order. $20 plus a 3% online convenience fee, delivered by email within minutes. Mailed requests are $20, or $40 expedited, payable to the State Department of Assessments and Taxation. The Comptroller's tax clearance letter is a different document.
• Apostille: $5 per certification, by check or money order payable to Secretary of State, with a note naming the destination country and your contact details, plus a prepaid return envelope. Mail to 16 Francis Street, Annapolis, MD 21401.
• Timing: 7 to 14 business days by regular mail, 3 to 4 days by FedEx or UPS. Counter service runs 9 am to 1 pm by appointment and is moving to mail-in only during building construction.

Delaware: certificate and apostille in one order

Delaware is the easiest state because one office does everything. The Division of Corporations issues the certificate on its own paper with the gold-foil State seal, attaches the apostille and mails the package to you. Each document is certified separately: a certificate of good standing and a certificate of formation bundled under one cover certification cannot be apostilled and will be returned.

• Order: the Document Filing and Certificate Request Service online, or mail a Certification Request Memo to 401 Federal Street, Suite 4, Dover, DE 19901. Choose the $50 short form (name and status) or the $175 long form (every filing, name change and merger, with dates), and add an Apostille certificate request naming the destination country.
• Apostille: $30 per document for commercial use. Delaware's fee schedule revised August 1, 2026 adds $40 for 24-hour and $50 for same-day service, charged once per entity file number, so one expedite fee covers both the certificate and the apostille. Two-hour service is $500 and one-hour service $1,000.
• Timing: normal processing takes two to three weeks plus mailing; expedited orders ship within a day. Delaware does not apostille remotely or electronically notarized documents, and the registered agent's online status printout ($10) is not a certificate.

New York, Texas, Pennsylvania and other big registries

• New York issues a Certificate of Status from the Department of State on written request ($25); the same Department apostilles it for $10. The county-clerk step that New York requires for notarized documents does not apply to a Department of State certificate.
• Texas issues a Certificate of Fact – Status from the Secretary of State ($15) and apostilles it for $15. The Comptroller's Certificate of Account Status (franchise tax) is a different document that many foreign registries also request.
• Pennsylvania calls it a Certificate of Subsistence (Bureau of Corporations, $40) and the Department of State apostilles it for $15, with a posted turnaround of two to three weeks by mail.
• Georgia apostilles are issued by the Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority, not the Secretary of State that issued the Certificate of Existence.
• California issues a Certificate of Status ($5) and apostilles it for $20, plus $6 special handling for in-person requests, with mail queues that regularly run two to four weeks.

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Mistakes that get a Certificate of Good Standing rejected

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Non-Hague countries: UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Egypt and more

If the certificate is going to a country outside the Apostille Convention, the state issues a certification rather than an apostille, the U.S. Department of State's Office of Authentications adds its certificate ($20 per document), and the destination country's embassy or consulate in Washington legalizes it. Because the embassies are here, DC Mobile Notary™ completes the whole chain from one office. Country guides: United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Egypt, Jordan, Ethiopia and Thailand (apostille from February 28, 2027).

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How DC Mobile Notary™ handles it

• We order the certificate. In most states we can request the certificate on your behalf, choosing the form the recipient asked for and timing the order so it is fresh when it arrives abroad.
• We hand-deliver. Our staff submit in person at the DC, Virginia and Maryland apostille offices and work with the Delaware Division of Corporations directly. Our nationwide team covers New York, New Jersey, Boston, Chicago, Miami, Dallas and Los Angeles for other states.
• One chain, one team. Apostille, U.S. Department of State authentication, embassy legalization and certified translation from the same office, with a free 24-hour pre-check before anything is filed.
• Built for repeat business. Law firms, relocation companies and corporate secretaries use a business account for standing instructions, consolidated billing and a single point of contact.
• Shipped anywhere. Completed documents go out by UPS with tracking, to you or directly to the recipient overseas. If we cannot complete your order, you do not pay.

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Order a Certificate of Good Standing apostille

Washington, DC office: 2001 L Street NW, Suite 545, Washington, DC 20036
Arlington, VA office: 5315 Langston Boulevard, Suite B, Arlington, VA 22207
Phone: 202-247-0837 | Email: support@dcmobilenotary.com

→ Apostille services for DC, Maryland and Virginia documents
→ State apostilles in all 50 states
→ Free 24-hour pre-check
→ Get a quote

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Frequently asked questions

Who apostilles a Certificate of Good Standing?
The state that issued it, usually through the Secretary of State. Virginia uses the Secretary of the Commonwealth, DC the Office of Notary Commissions and Authentications, Delaware the Division of Corporations, Georgia the GSCCCA and New Jersey the Division of Revenue.

Can the U.S. Department of State apostille my certificate of good standing?
No. The federal Office of Authentications only handles federal documents such as FBI background checks and IRS Form 6166. A state certificate sent there is returned.

How recent does the certificate have to be?
Virginia requires one issued within the past 12 months. DC and Maryland publish no cutoff. Delaware issues the certificate fresh with the apostille. Most foreign banks and registries want a certificate issued within 90 days to 6 months, so order it when the rest of your file is ready.

Does a certificate of good standing need to be notarized before the apostille?
No. It is signed by a state official, and the apostille authenticates that official's signature. Virginia and Delaware reject notarized copies.

How much does it cost to apostille a certificate of good standing?
State apostille fees run from $1 (Michigan) to $30 (Delaware), with a median of $10, plus the certificate fee ($6 in Virginia, $20 in Maryland, $50 or $175 in Delaware, free in Colorado and Wyoming). Expedite fees, shipping and service fees are extra.

How long does it take?
Delaware can issue the certificate and apostille the same day with expedited service. DC takes about five business days by mail, Virginia 7 to 10, Maryland 7 to 14 by regular mail. New Jersey, Arizona and Wisconsin post up to 20 business days. Hand delivery removes the mailing time in each direction.

Can I use the PDF I downloaded from the state website?
Often, yes: most states now issue the certificate electronically with the official's signature and seal, and their apostille offices authenticate it. Virginia's authentication office asks you to tell the SCC the certificate is for international use when you order. If you are unsure, order a paper original or send us the document for a free pre-check.

Is a Certificate of Status the same as a Certificate of Good Standing?
Yes. Maryland, New York, California, Florida and Wisconsin use Certificate of Status; Georgia, Tennessee, Washington and others use Certificate of Existence; Texas uses Certificate of Fact; Pennsylvania uses Certificate of Subsistence. They all certify that the entity exists and is current with the state.

Is a tax clearance certificate the same thing?
No. The DC Certificate of Clean Hands, the Massachusetts DOR certificate and the Texas Comptroller's Certificate of Account Status certify tax compliance. Some foreign registries want both; check before you order.

What if my company is not in good standing?
The state will not issue the certificate. File the overdue annual report, biennial report, registration fee or franchise tax, wait for the status to update, then order.

What if the country is not in the Hague Convention?
The state issues a certification instead of an apostille, the U.S. Department of State authenticates it, and the country's embassy legalizes it. We handle all three steps in Washington.

Does a Delaware LLC need its certificate of good standing apostilled to open a bank account abroad?
Usually, yes. Most foreign banks ask for an apostilled certificate of good standing, often the long form, together with an apostilled certificate of formation and a notarized, apostilled incumbency certificate or resolution.

Can you order the certificate for me?
Yes. We retrieve certificates in DC, Maryland, Virginia and New York and order online in Delaware and most other states, then carry them straight to the apostille office.

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Official sources

• Virginia Secretary of the Commonwealth — Authentications, types of documents: https://www.commonwealth.virginia.gov/official-documents/authentications/types-of-documents/
• Virginia Secretary of the Commonwealth — How to submit, fees and turnaround: https://www.commonwealth.virginia.gov/official-documents/authentications/how-to-submit/
• Virginia State Corporation Commission — Clerk's Information System: https://cis.scc.virginia.gov/
• DC Office of Notary Commissions and Authentications — Mail-in service guide FY26: https://os.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/os/service_content/attachments/ONCA_Mail_In_Service_Request_Guide_2026_0.pdf
• Maryland Secretary of State — Certifications and authentication: https://sos.maryland.gov/Certifications/Pages/default.aspx
• Maryland SDAT — Fee schedule: https://dat.maryland.gov/businesses/Documents/FEES.pdf
• Delaware Division of Corporations — Certifications, apostilles and authentication: https://corp.delaware.gov/apost_info/
• Delaware Division of Corporations — Fee schedule revised August 1, 2026: https://corpfiles.delaware.gov/Fee_Schedule/AugustFee2026.pdf
• Delaware Division of Corporations — Ordering a good standing certificate: https://corp.delaware.gov/directweb/
• U.S. Department of State — Office of Authentications: https://travel.state.gov/en/replace-certify/authenticate-documents/request-services.html
• Hague Conference on Private International Law — Apostille Convention status table: https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/status-table/?cid=41

This article is general information about document authentication procedures, not legal advice. State fees, forms, addresses and requirements change, and apostille fees in the nationwide table are as posted by each office in autumn 2026. Confirm what your receiving authority requires before you submit.