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Federal Apostille and Notary Processing

How to Apostille a University of the People Diploma or Transcript

University of the People records are apostilled by Delaware — not by the U.S. Department of State, and not by California. UoPeople's institution of record sits in Wilmington, and a diploma or transcript is an academic document, so it reaches an apostille through a notary acknowledgment rather than directly. The step that catches most graduates: Delaware will not accept a remotely or electronically notarized document, so a PDF transcript cannot be apostilled as it stands.

Delaware, Not Federal Paper Original Required Wet-Ink Notarization Translation Available

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Why This One Confuses People

An Online University Still Has a Home State

UoPeople has no campus, students study from everywhere, and the documents arrive by post from an institution most people cannot place on a map. That leads graduates to guess — some send transcripts to Washington on the assumption that an online school must be federal, others to California because the accreditor is based there. Both packets come back untouched.

The answer is simpler than the confusion suggests. An apostille follows the official whose signature is being certified, and for an academic record that official is the notary who witnesses it. Notarize in Delaware, where the university's administrative office sits, and Delaware issues the apostille. That is the whole mechanism, and everything below is detail about doing it in the right order.

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What You Need

The Six Pieces of a UoPeople Apostille

The Paper Diploma

UoPeople mails physical diplomas to the address on your graduation application. That printed original is what gets apostilled — a scan or a screenshot of it will not do, however official it looks.

The Official Transcript

Ordered through the Self-Service Portal and mailed out. Order early: the registrar's published turnaround runs to several weeks, and that clock starts before any apostille work can begin.

Verification Letters

Some ministries and employers want a degree or enrollment verification letter rather than the diploma itself. It is apostilled the same way, and it is often easier to replace than a diploma if something goes wrong.

A Delaware Notarization

In ink, in person. Delaware's apostille office does not accept documents notarized remotely or electronically, which rules out the online notary services most people reach for first.

A Translation, If Required

Many receiving countries want the record in their own language, and some want the apostille translated too. Delaware asks that a translation be notarized separately from the document it accompanies.

The Destination Rule

An apostille only works for Hague Convention countries. Everywhere else the same document needs a consular legalization chain instead, and the two are not interchangeable.

Simple · Tracked · Reliable

The Order of Operations

Each step depends on the one before it, which is why doing them out of sequence is the usual cause of a wasted month. The document has to exist on paper before it can be notarized, and it has to be notarized before any Secretary of State will look at it.

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Get the Paper Original

Request the diploma or transcript from UoPeople and have it mailed. Allow for the registrar's processing time before anything else can start.

Notarize, Then File

A wet-ink notarial act is executed on the document, and the notarized original is lodged with the Delaware Division of Corporations in Dover.

Apostille Attached & Returned

Delaware attaches the apostille certificate and the document is couriered back to you — or on to a consulate if your destination needs legalization.

Common Mistakes

Four Ways This Goes Wrong

None of these are exotic. They are the four that account for nearly every UoPeople record that comes back without an apostille on it.

Trying to apostille the PDF A digitally delivered transcript is convenient and completely unusable here. The apostille attaches to a physical page carrying an original notarial act.
Using an online notary Remote and electronic notarizations are expressly not accepted for Delaware apostilles. It is the single most common wasted step, because it is the most convenient one to take.
Sending it to Washington The U.S. Department of State authenticates federal documents. A university record is not one, no matter how international the university is, and the packet is simply returned.
Ordering the translation first Translate before the apostille exists and you may have to do it again, because some authorities want the apostille itself translated along with the record.

Questions & Answers

UoPeople Apostilles — Questions & Answers

Which state apostilles a University of the People degree?

Delaware, in the ordinary case. UoPeople's institution of record is in Wilmington, and its academic documents are routed through a Delaware notarization to the Delaware Division of Corporations in Dover. It is not a California matter, despite the university's accreditor being based there, and it is not a federal matter.

Can I apostille the digital transcript I downloaded?

No. An apostille is a certificate physically attached to a paper document bearing an original signature and seal. A downloaded PDF — or a printout of one — has neither. You need the mailed original, or a properly executed notarial copy of it.

Why won't an online notary work?

Delaware's apostille office does not accept documents that were notarized remotely or electronically. Remote online notarization is valid for many purposes and this is not one of them, which surprises people who have used it successfully elsewhere. The notarial act has to be a traditional in-person one.

What does the state charge, and how fast is it?

Delaware charges a flat fee for personal documents submitted together — a single charge whether you are apostilling one record or several — and the Division of Corporations typically processes submissions on the same business day they are received. Because fees and timings are set by the state and change without much notice, confirm the current figures before you budget around them. The slow part of this job is almost never Delaware; it is getting the paper document in the first place.

How long does the university take to send the document?

Longer than most people expect — the registrar's published processing window runs to several weeks, and documents go out by ordinary post after that. If you have a visa appointment or an enrolment deadline, order the transcript the day you know you will need it rather than once the deadline is close.

My country isn't in the Hague Convention. What then?

Then an apostille will not be accepted and the record needs consular legalization instead: the state authentication, then the U.S. Department of State, then that country's embassy or consulate. It is a longer chain with more moving parts, and the requirements are set by the destination rather than by us — tell us the country before anything is filed.

Do you handle the whole thing, including the notarization?

Yes. Send us the mailed original and we handle the notarial act, the Delaware filing, certified translation if your destination requires it, and the return shipping — anywhere in the world. If you are also apostilling an FBI background check or a state birth certificate for the same application, those travel on different routes and we file them in parallel so the set arrives together.

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How to Apostille a University of the People Diploma or Transcript