The Central African Republic is not a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, so an apostille is not valid for a document destined there — whatever a notary or a courier service may tell you. What applies instead is the full consular legalisation chain: four steps, in a fixed order, each with its own fee. They are set out below.
The legalisation chain for this country
- Have the document notarised, if it is a private document rather than one issued by a government office.
- Certify it at the Secretary of State of the state that issued it.
- Authenticate it at the U.S. Department of State in Washington.
- Legalise it at a Central African consular office covering your state.
Each stage charges its own fee and each adds time. Ask the consular office what it charges for the final step before paying for the federal stage, which is the slowest and least refundable part.
Central African consular offices in the United States
The Central African Republic has a single consular office in the United States, in Washington, D.C. That removes the mistake that costs most people a wasted journey elsewhere — there is no wrong office to choose, because there is only one, and it serves all fifty states.
Documents this usually applies to
- Birth, marriage and death certificates.
- Court orders, including divorce decrees.
- FBI background checks and other federal records.
- Diplomas and academic transcripts.
- Powers of attorney and company documents.
Two things to settle first
Ask the receiving institution what it will accept. It is the only authority on its own requirements, and a document certified the wrong way has to start again from the beginning.
Ask whether a translation is needed, and into what. For the Central African Republic that normally means French. Some offices require the translation itself to be certified alongside the original.
Office names, addresses and telephone numbers on this page come from our directory, and the count above is taken from the same records as the listing. Procedural rules come from the authority itself — always confirm with the office that covers you. Apostille status checked against the HCCH official status table on 2026-10-05.