Apostille and Notarized Transcripts

You will need your original diploma

If you have lost your original diploma, you will need to order a replacement.  Please see information on our Replacement Diploma page.

Notarized Transcript and/or Notarized Diploma

Notarized Official Transcripts and/or Notarized Diplomas are often required by other countries to verify the authenticity of a US degree. Some institutions or employers require only a notarized copy of the transcript or of the diploma, but the most common request is for an Apostille, which is issued by the State of Oregon – not Lewis & Clark College. We encourage you to carefully review what is required by your overseas institution or employer.

The Registrar’s Office can provide you with the notarized copies of transcripts and/or diplomas so that you may complete your process with either your overseas agency, or the State of Oregon. (If you attended the Graduate School or Law School, you should contact them directly. We can only notarize transcripts/diplomas for those who attended the College of Arts and Sciences.)

Steps to Request a Notarized Diploma and/or Notarized Transcript

  1. Gather your documents. If you need a notarized copy of your original diploma, you will need to return the original diploma to our office. (We do not maintain copies of your diploma.) Your original will be returned to you once the notarized documents have been created.
  2. Submit the completed Notarized Document Request Form to the CAS Registrar’s Office. If you are ordering a notarized copy of your diploma, be sure to include your original diploma. (If the original diploma has been lost, see instructions below for ordering a replacement diploma.)
  3. Students may elect to pick up the documents, or have them mailed.
    1. Please note that we will return the notarized documents and original diploma (if applicable) to the student at either the street or mailing address listed on the form.
    2. For domestic addresses, the items will be sent in one package via the US Postal Service, and we will provide the student with a tracking number.
    3. Mailing to an international address may require you to provide a pre-paid shipping label through eShipGlobal. Our office will provide specific instructions to you after reviewing your order.
  4. IMPORTANT: Our office cannot send the documents to the State of Oregon to complete the Apostille process. The State requires payment with that process and we cannot forward funds. The student must complete this process directly with the State, and/or any applicable overseas agency or organization.
  5. There is a $10.00 charge per order. An order includes up to 3 notarized transcripts and/or 3 notarized copies of the diploma.

ORDER FORM: NOTARIZED DOCUMENT REQUEST FORM

Information about the Apostille

The Apostille treaty is an international treaty drafted by the Hague Conference on Private International Law and signed on October 5, 1961. The Hague is a city in the Netherlands and is the location of the International Court of Justice. This treaty defines the ways through which a document issued in one of the countries that signed the treaty or convention can be certified for legal purposes in all the other countries that signed the treaty. Within many countries it is the notarization of a document that makes it legal evidence of authenticity. For the signatories of the Hague Convention it is the certification by the approved state or national office of a country that authenticates the notarized documents.

An Apostille is a legal document that certifies that a copy of a diploma and/or an official transcript from an American college or university is authentic and notarized. The State of Oregon issues the Apostille - not the College.  However, the College can provide the necessary notarized copies of the diploma and/or official transcript. The most common request is for an Apostille for the diploma. That is especially true for East Asian nations. European countries more often request an Apostille for both the diploma and transcript.

Completion of the Apostille Process

The diploma (original and notarized copy) and the transcript (official notarized transcript) are returned to the student who must then work with the Oregon Secretary of State’s office to complete the actual Apostille. A staff member in the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office creates the Apostille. 

Please refer to the information on the Secretary of State’s website.