More than 300 people came to a downtown San Diego event Monday morning for a service that many people have likely never heard of.
The San Diego County Assessor’s Office is certifying documents for international use — called apostille — on Monday and Tuesday at the County istration Center. The process usually involves a trip to Los Angeles, or even a flight to Sacramento, or costly legal services and sending documents through the mail.
Apostille is a process that you might not encounter until you get a job abroad, try to settle affairs of a relative who died in another country or prove you were legally married to a foreign citizen. It dates to the 1961 Hague Convention, an international treaty that sought to recognize documents across nations.
County Assessor Jordan Marks said some of the examples he had seen Monday morning were a service member getting a driver’s license certified for a deployment in Italy, several marriage certifications and international students getting diplomas verified before returning to home countries.
“San Diego is a very international city,” Marks said. “This cuts the red tape and saves San Diegans time and money.”
He said there is a need for the service because many military families get stationed in other nations, and thousands of international students and new families from across the world settle here. California Secretary of State Shirley Weber visited the San Diego site Monday, and Marks said this could be seen as the first step to allocating resources to make it a yearlong service.
Right now, the Secretary of State only offers the in-person apostille service in Los Angeles and Sacramento. However, it decided to experiment with “pop-up” locations in several spots throughout the year. Santa Ana will have an apostille pop-up at the end of this month and Riverside will have one in mid-June.
It is possible to do the apostille service by mail with the Secretary of State’s Sacramento office, but it can be nerve-racking to send documents by mail, and there’s a chance of not filling out documents correctly without a government worker to help. There’s also a four- to six-week wait time.
To make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible, the San Diego County Assessor’s Office has instructions on what to bring to the appointment on its website, sdarcc.gov. In general, the visitor needs to bring an original document (not a photocopy), a cover sheet — that is able on the website — and a non-cash form of payment, such as credit card, check or money order.
Fees charged by the Secretary of State include $20 for processing each apostille document, plus a $6 special handling fee for each public official’s authentication signature. Some documents might need an additional notary signature, which is also offered on-site for $15 from the clerk of the San Diego County Supervisors.
There is free underground parking available at the Assessor’s Office at the County istration Center, 1600 Pacific Highway, Suite 273. If that fills up, there is metered parking around the center.
The office is offering the service from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday and Tuesday. There is no appointment needed. Marks said the line started forming Monday before they opened.
