Watch highlight video from September Apostille Pop-Up Shop

Pictures from San Diego Apostille Pop-Up Shop

San Diego, CA - San Diego County Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk (ARCC) Jordan Z. Marks and California Secretary of State Dr. Shirley Weber have been saving thousands of San Diego residents a freeway trip to Los Angeles or Sacramento with in-person apostille services offered at the ARCC Downtown San Diego office at the County Administration Center.

So far this year, three separate Apostille Pop-Up Shop events have been held on Sept. 17, June 11 and March 12 with 2,329 customers served and 6,237 apostilles issued. Those totals compared to three days of apostille events held last year in May and November 2024, when 1,329 customers were served and 2,854 apostilles were issued. Over the past two years, 3,658 customers have been served with 9,091 apostilles issued.

The final one-day, apostille event of this year will be held Wednesday, November 5 at the ARCC Downtown office. No appointment is necessary. Free underground parking is available at the entrance on Ash Street. Documents must be originals, no photocopies. Fees charged by the Secretary of State include $20 for processing each apostille document, plus $6 special handling fee for each public official’s authentication signature. Non-cash payments can be made with Visa or MasterCard, personal check or money order. For more information about the apostille event, visit www.sdarcc.gov/apostillepopup.

Apostille is the process for certifying the authenticity of documents for international use, including birth, death and marriage certificates, educational documents for university students’ international travel, military documents and other documents required for business on the border. The authentication involves a signature by a public official, specifically an official with the California Secretary of State.

Normally, in-person apostille services are available only at California Secretary of State offices in Sacramento and Los Angeles. Apostille services can be processed by mail, but there’s a chance of not correctly filling-out documents without review by government staff. Plus, there’s a four-to-six-week wait time. Marks said the San Diego Apostille Pop-Up Shop events have helped local residents avoid traveling to Sacramento or Los Angeles for in-person apostille services. 

Marks said apostille services have been provided for a variety of different documents for international use. At previous apostille events, Marks said individuals who were helped have included a military member getting a driver’s license certified for a deployment overseas, several marriage certifications and international students getting diplomas verified before returning to home countries. 

“These apostille events have been very successful and we’re grateful for Jordan Marks and his staff who have helped us serve the people of California in the best way possible,” said Weber.

Marks said, “As your elected advocate, I proactively sought out this great opportunity to partner with the Secretary of State and bring this Sacramento service to San Diego, so I can save San Diegans the tremendous expense in time and money from having to go to Los Angeles or Sacramento for this service. San Diego County is an international region, and our office is proud to host these events that cut the red tape and have saved San Diegans time and money.

“Our Apostille Pop-Up Shop showed there is a huge demand for this Sacramento service in San Diego,” Marks said. “Secretary of State Dr. Weber and I were able to see this demand firsthand and together we can advocate for this to become a permanent service in San Diego to better serve our military, students, families and small businesses that do business along the border.”

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The San Diego County Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk (ARCC) Office, with more than 450 employees and five offices in San Diego County, oversees assessing the value of real estate and personal property, which in San Diego includes planes and boats. Property taxes constitute the largest share of revenue for the county. San Diego is the fifth largest Assessor jurisdiction in the U.S. Since his November 2022 election to a four-year term, Marks has ushered in an award-winning, marriage appointment service and systems that provide record-high, property tax relief for veterans, homeowners, and seniors. He also has modernized systems leading to more online services and reducing paper waste. Marks was awarded the 2024 San Diego County Taxpayer Watchdog award for saving taxpayers millions of dollars in property taxes. Marks is a California Certified Property Tax Appraiser, a California licensed attorney and a certified cybersecurity executive from the University of San Diego. To contact the ARCC office, visit www.sdarcc.gov, or call 619-236-3771.