Free Alaska DIY guide
Get an Alaska apostille or authentication yourself: choose the correct record, prepare its official or notarial signature, calculate the right office’s fees and arrange submission and return.
Reviewed 2026-10-26. Published instructions can change; estimates are not delivery promises.
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Choose the document first. Use this checklist, then open the detailed instructions for your record.
Separate issuer-certified Alaska records from private notarized papers; confirm the foreign destination. [AK-90.]
Obtain the right certified vital, court or company record, or complete the private notarial act. Photocopied signatures are unsuitable. [AK-90.]
Include originals, destination/contact/return details and $5 per certificate; unusual signature combinations need a count check. [AK-90.]
Use the published postal/FedEx instructions and prepare return postage; book a Juneau appointment before visiting. [AK-91.]
Checklist sources checked October 28, 2026; the full guide retains its earlier review date. Read the source notes.
Detailed document instructions Common questions
New to apostilles? Start with the existing HCCH foundations guide.
An apostille verifies the signature, capacity and seal on a public document; it does not certify its contents or require a foreign recipient to accept the document for every purpose. Record the exact destination country/territory and the receiving office’s written document, age, translation and original/copy requirements. Check the HCCH status table’s entry-into-force, territorial and objection notes for the United States and destination, rather than merely finding a country name. A proper Convention apostille completes the legalization chain; do not add embassy legalization to that same route. Outside the Convention route, obtain the destination authority’s actual authentication/legalization sequence before paying. [HCCH-01: Arts. 1–3, 5, 12; HCCH-02: EIF, EXT and objections.]
The Alaska Lieutenant Governor authenticates eligible Alaska official or Alaska-notary signatures, regardless of where the owner lives or where the packet is mailed from. An Alaska resident’s California birth certificate stays on California’s issuer route. A private document notarized by a Florida notary follows Florida authentication, even if signed by someone in Alaska. A foreign-issued record coming into Alaska normally uses its country-of-origin authority, if authentication is required; Alaska does not issue the foreign record’s apostille. Federal agency documents, including an FBI history check or federal-court record, use the appropriate federal certification path and U.S. Department of State, rather than an Alaska notarized cover sheet. Diplomatic/consular documents and commercial/customs documents have Convention exclusions that need their own analysis. [AK-02: General Information and Document Requirements; HCCH-01: Art. 1; FED-01: federal document requirements.]
For the ordinary paper process, send the actual original notarized document or the official certified copy issued by Alaska Vital Records, the court or another Alaska custodian. A photocopy of the official signature is insufficient. Older certifications can bear signatures the authentication office cannot verify; have the signature screened before relying on an old record. For several authenticated copies, obtain separately certified records or separately notarized duplicate originals. Do not pay to notarize a vital/court/company record simply because an apostille is needed. [AK-02: Original Signatures, Document Requirements.]
Use Alaska Health Analytics and Vital Records (HAVRS) for an Alaska birth, death, marriage or divorce certificate. Follow the specific form linked from Vital Records Orders: an eligible applicant must sign and provide the required ID and relationship/authority evidence. A birth record may be ordered by a named parent, the person aged 14 or older with the specified ID, a documented guardian, or an authorized third party under the form’s consent rules. Other record types have different eligibility. Order a certified certificate, rather than an heirloom keepsake, hospital record, marriage license or self-made photocopy. A divorce certificate establishes the event; a divorce decree contains the court’s judgment and must be ordered from that court. [AK-05: Birth/Death/Marriage/Divorce eligibility and application links; AK-06: PDF p. 1.]
The April 2026 birth application lists $30 for the first certified birth copy and $25 for each additional copy of the same record ordered together. Its foreign-use apostille line adds $12 for the first copy and $2 for each additional copy; name the country. HAVRS lists $42 for the combined service including one certificate. The Lieutenant Governor says HAVRS can obtain the foreign-use certificate for you. Alternatively order only the certified record, receive it, and submit it separately to the Lieutenant Governor with its own $5 certificate fee. These are different orders: do not add a second $5 to the combined $42 request or assume every extra copy costs $42. Use the current form for the actual vital-record category. [AK-02: Official Certified Copies of Alaska Vital Records; AK-05: Other Services; AK-06: PDF p. 2, Order information.]
For a mailed birth order, send the signed form, ID copy, any required original/certified legal evidence and payment to Health Analytics and Vital Records, PO Box 110675, Juneau AK 99811-0675. The form accepts a check or money order payable to Alaska Vital Records Office or its listed Visa, MasterCard, Discover or American Express card details; cash is walk-in only. Fax orders use 907-465-3618, but legal evidence needing originals/certified copies cannot be faxed. Choose one submission method to avoid duplicate charges. Juneau walk-in: 5441 Commercial Blvd, Juneau AK 99801; Anchorage: 3901 Old Seward Hwy, Suite 101, Anchorage AK 99503; form hours Monday–Friday 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. These obtain vital records; they are not alternative Lieutenant Governor apostille counters. [AK-06: PDF pp. 1–2.]
The birth form offers free untracked regular domestic mail, $13 USPS Priority with tracking or $18 Priority with tracking and signature; call HAVRS at 907-465-3391 for international shipping instructions before ordering. Its webpage estimates at least 2–3 weeks for VitalChek birth/death requests and 2–3 months for mail/fax, depending on staffing; recent events must first be registered. Vendor expedited ordering has extra charges and does not create a guaranteed issue date. Corrections/adoptions can take much longer: the current webpage says 16 weeks for several Special Services categories, whereas the form describes three months for amendments. Use the category-specific current instruction; neither estimate includes shipping or automatically describes a combined apostille order. Respond to a missing-information letter before its 180-day application expiry. [AK-05: processing, expiration and Special Services; AK-06: PDF p. 2, shipping; PDF p. 1, amendments.]
An eligible applicant needing one newly issued Alaska birth certificate can select one $30 certified copy plus the $12 foreign-use service and state the destination. That is $42 before selected shipping; with the form’s $13 tracked domestic return, the listed total is $55. Ordering the $30 record first and later paying the Lieutenant Governor $5 totals $35 in official record/certificate fees, plus the extra shipment and any return upgrade. The lower fee is not necessarily the faster or cheaper total trip. An old pre-2005 court-issued vital copy may need replacement from HAVRS because the Lieutenant Governor generally cannot authenticate those old signatures. [AK-06: PDF p. 2; AK-05: fees; AK-02: vital records.]
Use TF-311 or the holding court’s local version, identify case name/number and the exact judgment, divorce decree, name-change order or filing. Send the request to the clerk where the case was filed using the court directory linked from the form, rather than sending every request to Anchorage. Select Certified copies; otherwise plain copies are supplied. Ask the clerk to print the certifying official’s name below the signature or supply identifying information for authentication screening. Court guidance estimates about two weeks for a normal request, longer for research/large requests; certified and exemplified copies must be mailed. Confidential cases need access authority and the form’s photo-ID/signature procedure. An emailed ordinary copy is not the required certified paper output. [AK-07: PDF pp. 1–2; AK-02: Court Documents.]
Administrative Rule 9(e)(2) lists $10 for a certified document, including copying, and $3 for another certified copy of the same document requested together. A party is entitled to one free certified final judgment/order in the party’s case and one free certified clerk’s name-change certificate under Civil Rule 84(c); use that entitlement where it fits. Exemplification is separately listed at $15, not a universal apostille prerequisite. TF-311 offers an emailed online-card invoice, mailed check/money order, or in-person payment options; let the court invoice any research or special services. A single $10 certified decree followed by one ordinary $5 Lieutenant Governor certificate is $15 before shipping, or $5 if the free-final-order entitlement applies. [AK-11: Rule 9(e)(2)–(5), PDF p. 11; AK-07: PDF p. 2.]
For articles, amendments, a biennial report, the entity file or a certificate of good standing/compliance, use Commerce form 08-562. Enter the entity name and Alaska entity number, identify the exact filings and number of copies, specify certification/apostille and the destination country, and give the return address/contact. Ordinary database images may be free and an online $10 compliance certificate is immediately printable, but those are not the same order as the paper foreign-use package. Commerce’s page and form offer an apostilled-record service limited to its own filed records. This is a procurement route; do not infer Commerce is an additional independent Convention competent authority or that its charges replace every Lieutenant Governor route. [AK-08: How to obtain copies; AK-09: PDF p. 1; AK-10: online versus hardcopy compliance certificate.]
Form 08-562 lists $10 per good-standing certificate or specified filing copy; $30 for an entire entity file up to 50 pages, then $1 per extra page; $5 for each certified-copy item and $25 for each apostilled-document item. The web guidance describes the $25 as additional to the copy fee, while the form has separate certification and apostille lines. For one $10 filing with both a $5 certification and $25 apostille selected, budget $40; if ordering the apostille package without separately selecting certification, the listed copy-plus-apostille charges are $35. Confirm which selections are required for the exact requested output before paying; do not assert the $5 certification is always included or always additional. Mail the form/payment to Corporations Section, PO Box 110806, Juneau AK 99811-0806. Checks/money orders are payable to State of Alaska; page 2 provides Visa/Mastercard payment and says mail or fax, never email card data. Commerce publishes 10–15 business days after receipt for hardcopy/certified-copy procurement, before transit; it does not separately establish completion time for the entire apostille package. [AK-08: fees/processing; AK-09: PDF pp. 1–2.]
Creation-document copy orders ordinarily include filings affecting the original creation document unless stated otherwise; mergers, biennial reports and other non-creation filings must be identified and paid separately unless requesting the full file. Bylaws, a manager’s declaration, resolutions or powers of attorney not on file are private documents, not Commerce-certified filed records. Prepare their proper signatory/notarial act, then use the authority for that notary’s state. A mixed company packet can therefore contain a Commerce order and a separate notarized-document order. A notarized cover statement does not authenticate an underlying government record as if its custodian signed it. [AK-08: IMPORTANT copy-request scope; AK-09: filed-record limitation; AK-02: Copy Certification by Document Custodian.]
Ask the school registrar or genuine record custodian for the required diploma/transcript and a certification with that official’s signature properly notarized by an Alaska notary. Alaska’s instructions prefer this route to a personal custodian statement. Specify paper output, destination, name/version and whether the school forwards directly or returns it to you. A transcript downloaded by a student, a digital diploma or a private photocopy is not automatically a notarized school original. Do not write new wording on a diploma yourself. [AK-02: School Transcripts and Diplomas.]
UAS publishes a reprint request with $25 per replacement diploma, including certificates/OECs. Enter student ID, contact/address, degree/year and any requested name details; a legal name change must first be made in university records. Select diploma notarization and either return to you or forwarding to the Lieutenant Governor. Pay by check to University of Alaska Southeast or the registrar’s emailed online payment link; do not send cash. Plan the separate $5 state certificate, request details and return materials with the registrar when using forwarding: the form does not establish that its $25 includes authentication or shipping. One replacement plus one ordinary state certificate therefore has $30 in listed base fees before extras. UAF likewise publishes registrar notarization/forwarding but its named forms and fees are school-specific. [AK-12: UAS PDF p. 1; AK-13: Apostille Diplomas.]
For a power of attorney, affidavit, consent or private declaration, first settle the required act, signer authority and certificate wording from the document/recipient’s actual requirements. Alaska’s guidance requires the principal’s signature, a notarial certificate, notary signature, commission-expiration date and a seal reproducible in copies. A stamp and signature alone without the certificate is insufficient. Its sample oath is an example, not permission to substitute an oath for an acknowledgment. Return a defective certificate to the notary for lawful correction; never fill in or change a completed notary certificate yourself. If a court official rather than a commissioned notary performs the act, signature-on-file screening matters. [AK-02: Notarizations Must Meet Statutory Requirements; Court Documents and Other Official State Documents.]
Alaska’s guidance describes a document-custodian statement as a statement by the custodian whose signature is notarized; it is not the notary independently certifying the underlying record. Even if eligible for an apostille on the notary signature, it may not satisfy the foreign recipient’s demand for an issuer-certified record. The office expressly refuses vital-record photocopies, including notarized custodian copies, and cites AS 18.50.320(5). This is the agency’s stated restriction; the linked statute was not independently retrievable in this review. The published authentication process requires wet/original signatures: do not assume a printed RON PDF, emailed scan or electronic signature receives a paper apostille. Obtain written instructions from the authentication office for that exact output before buying online notarization. [AK-02: Copy Certification, Original Signatures; AK-01: mail requirements.]
For an old record, unfamiliar official signature or questionable notarial certificate, use the state’s free screening option. Email only the relevant signed/sealed or notarized pages to apostille@alaska.gov with your name, contact details, destination and document type; the overview requests a subject of “Verify Document”. The office checks whether it can authenticate the signature and may need the issuing official’s cooperation to obtain a signature specimen. This is preliminary screening, not issuance, recipient acceptance or a guaranteed turnaround. Keep your original until you have resolved the defect. Official contact details and forms are on AK-01/AK-02; no Notary Geek contact is needed. [AK-01: verify-before-mailing; AK-02: Document Screening and Other Official State Documents.]
Use the Alaska Authentications Order Form: destination, customer, return address, phone/email and any special instructions. Include the entire original document, not just its signature page, and keep multipage records together; group documents by the official/notary signature. The overview says $5 per document; the detailed guidance counts certificates: one document with one notary costs $5, one multipage document with two acts by the same notary still $5, but two different notaries on that document require two certificates/$10. Separate documents are not combined merely because a notary is the same. For mixed officials or unusual signature arrangements ask the authentication office to confirm the certificate count. [AK-03: PDF p. 1; AK-02: Preparing Your Order and Fees.]
For the ordinary authentication request, personal checks, money orders and cashier’s checks are accepted; make checks payable to State of Alaska. For Visa/Mastercard use the separate Credit Card Payment Form with billing/name/contact/card/expiry and required signature, and send it with the order through the official channel. Do not send cash. This form is distinct from HAVRS and Commerce forms and payees. Fees are $5 per certificate; the detailed guidance says overpayments become credits for a later order, so do not casually overpay. [AK-02: Fees; AK-04: PDF p. 1, required fields and footer.]
Postal orders go to Office of the Lt. Governor, Authentications Department, PO Box 110015, Juneau AK 99811. Include “Authentications” so the mail can be sorted correctly. The state specifically gives FedEx a different address: Office of the Lt. Governor, Authentications Department, 240 Main Street, Room 301, Juneau AK 99801. Do not send FedEx to the PO Box or generalize the FedEx exception into a verified address for every courier. For another carrier confirm delivery arrangements with the state first. In person, only the Juneau office processes these certificates; call 907-465-4081 for an appointment. The overview describes the Capitol’s third floor, while the physical shipping address is 240 Main Street, Room 301; confirm the actual appointment entrance when booking rather than treating that shipping address as proof of the visitor entrance. [AK-01: mail, physical address and In-Person; AK-02: addresses and appointment notice.]
The $5 certificate fee includes untracked First Class USPS return to a domestic address. For tracking, faster return or a foreign destination, include a ready-to-use prepaid and pre-addressed mailer/label, retain its tracking number yourself and allow space/postage for the added certificate sheets and metal eyelets. The order form expressly requires prepaid/preaddressed mailers for international shipments. The detailed guidance strongly recommends stamped USPS Priority Mail Express returns and says not to use metered return postage. It warns FedEx pickup may add a day/weekend, discourages UPS for urgent returns and says do not use DHL for the Juneau return leg. These undated state operating observations are not verified current carrier schedules; confirm available service/cutoffs for your actual date and destination. A general provider preference for DHL international delivery does not override Alaska’s Juneau instructions. [AK-03: PDF p. 1 international note; AK-02: Shipping and More Shipping Notes.]
The overview says orders are typically processed and mailed back within 48 hours of receipt; the longer detailed page describes an effort to return them the same day. Treat those as office estimates/aspirations, not a purchased expedited tier, appointment completion promise or total door-to-door time. Record ordering, signature collection, correction, weekends/holidays and inbound/return carrier transit are additional. Juneau weather and carrier cutoffs can matter; select a currently available service rather than assuming the product name “overnight” guarantees next-day arrival. The detailed page’s old carrier/transit anecdotes should not be used as a live delivery quote. [AK-01: mail step 5; AK-02: turnaround and Shipping. Weather/deadline planning is practical caution.]
Before sending, keep an inventory and lawful copies of documents where allowed; Alaska specifically restricts vital-record copying. On return, compare destination, authenticated official, document and certificate with your request. The state attaches certificates permanently with metal eyelets; do not remove the attachment, insert pages, add stamps or split the document to scan it. If the state cannot authenticate a signature, ask for the written reason and whether a fresh custodian-certified record, signature specimen or notary correction is needed; then correct through the issuing office/notary before resubmitting. If the foreign receiving office refuses it, retain the intact packet and get the named approving office’s written reason/rule and escalation path. A casual refusal is not proof a valid Convention apostille needs another consular legalization. For certificate-register verification contact the issuing authentication office through its official page; no Alaska public online apostille lookup was verified here. [AK-02: Document Screening, attachment and document requirements; HCCH-01: Arts. 3, 7.]
A person living in Hawaii needs an Alaska court decree, a UAS diploma and an FBI check for a foreign application. Obtain the decree from the holding Alaska court with its certifying signature identified, obtain registrar-notarized UAS output, and route both eligible Alaska signatures to the Lieutenant Governor with the appropriate certificate count. The FBI check uses the federal route. A separate declaration notarized by a Hawaii notary needs Hawaii’s own court-certification/authentication sequence; living in Hawaii does not move the Alaska decree there. The destination decides which records it requires, not whether Alaska can authenticate a federal or Hawaii signature. [AK-02; AK-07; AK-12; FED-01.]
For an eligible federal document obtain the federal original/certified output required by the issuing agency and Department of State. The current federal request page calls for DS-4194 naming the country, the document, $20 per document and a prepaid USPS or UPS return envelope. Mailed checks/money orders are payable to U.S. Department of State; its page specifies printed name/address and a check number over 100, and prohibits mailed cash/card details. Mail using tracked USPS to Office of Authentications, U.S. Department of State, 44132 Mercure Circle, PO Box 1206, Sterling VA 20166-1206. The checked page says within five weeks of receipt, separate from transit; its Washington DC drop-off and emergency-appointment rules are different and must be read before travel. Federal payment, address and timelines are not Alaska instructions. [FED-01: federal prerequisites; FED-02: Request services, updated 2026-10-01; FED-03: DS-4194.]
This guide and the official instructions are free; government record, certificate, notary and shipping charges still apply. Greg Lirette / Notary Geek’s documented practical guidance is to separate record procurement, notarization, state submission, scan-back and outbound shipment, and to plan around actual carrier cutoffs. That is operating judgment, not Alaska law or a claim of a tested Alaska runner network. A capable local notary may execute an already chosen act; an optional managed service may coordinate separate issuers, check packet completeness, arrange receiving/labels and follow corrections. A Juneau runner may save your travel if an appointment and handoff are actually arranged, but cannot turn a bad record into a valid one or guarantee the state queue. Agree the exact work and price before handing over originals. No private service is required to use the official process. [Practical attribution: Greg Lirette / Notary Geek; official routes remain AK-01–AK-13.]
Use the issuer-certified record. A notarized copy statement authenticates a different signature and does not replace that record. [AK-90.]
Default domestic return is untracked USPS. Include an accepted prepaid return mailer for tracking or international return. [AK-90; AK-03.]
No. The overview describes typical 48-hour processing after receipt; record procurement, defects and transit add time. A service cannot guarantee official or recipient decisions. [AK-91; practical planning.]
Check the cited official instructions · Unresolved exceptions
Source confidence: High for cited current published forms and ordinary paper instructions checked 2026-10-26. Conditional for Commerce fee selections, foreign recipient requirements, electronic originals, old signatures, physical visitor entrance and undated carrier observations. Source retrieval is not a filing, shipment, issuance or acceptance test.
Electronic output: Published Alaska instructions require wet/original signatures and permanent paper attachment. This guide establishes the paper process, not an electronic apostille service or acceptance of a printed RON record. [AK-01; AK-02.]
Keep the packet intact: Keep the full record and certificate attached. Make only lawful copies before submission; do not remove the metal eyelet to scan, add pages or add stamps. [AK-02: Preparing Your Order.]
Bracketed source IDs in the guide point to these records. Each record identifies the exact supporting section or PDF page and its checked date. A checked date is an observation, not an effective date or service guarantee.
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