Apostille US Degree for SENESCYT Ecuador: State Guide 2026

To apostille a US degree for Ecuador's SENESCYT registration, send the degree (or a notarized true copy) to the Secretary of State in the state where the degree was issued, not where you currently live. Total turnaround runs 2 to 4 weeks for most US states, costs $10 to $25 per document, and is a hard prerequisite for the professional visa.

We have processed degree apostille and SENESCYT cases for hundreds of US engineers, nurses, teachers, and IT professionals over the last 25 years from our Cuenca office. The single most common reason a professional visa stalls is not income, age, or even SENESCYT itself. It is an apostille that was issued by the wrong state, attached to the wrong document, or sequenced in the wrong order. This guide walks through the exact apostille process for the four states our US clients ask about most: California, New York, Texas, and Florida.

Why the Apostille State Matters

Apostilles in the United States are not federal. With one narrow exception (FBI background checks, which require the US Department of State), every state issues its own apostilles through its Secretary of State or equivalent office. The state that apostilles the document must be the state where the underlying document was issued or notarized.

For a US university degree, that means:

• A degree from UC Berkeley gets apostilled in California, even if the graduate now lives in Florida
• A degree from NYU gets apostilled in New York, even if the graduate now lives in Texas
• A degree from the University of Texas gets apostilled in Texas
• A degree from the University of Florida gets apostilled in Florida

Mailing a Berkeley diploma to the Florida Department of State will get it returned. We see this mistake every quarter. If your degree, your field of study letter, and your transcript come from three different states, you may be dealing with three Secretary of State offices simultaneously.

There is one way around this: a notarized true copy. Any US notary public can certify a photocopy of your degree as a true and correct copy of the original. The apostille then attaches to the notary's signature, which is registered in the state where the notary is commissioned. This lets a New York graduate living in Texas get a Texas-issued apostille on a notarized copy of a New York degree. The cost is one notary fee plus the state apostille fee, and it is typically faster than mailing originals across state lines. Confirm with your local notary before relying on this path; a handful of states (Pennsylvania, for example) restrict notaries from certifying academic credentials.

What SENESCYT Actually Needs Apostilled

Per the CES Reglamento on foreign degrees, SENESCYT requires the following US-issued documents, each individually apostilled:

Each document must be apostilled separately. SENESCYT does not accept bulk apostilles. For more detail on what each document needs to say and how SENESCYT reviews them, see our SENESCYT registration breakdown.

California: $20 per document, 5 to 10 business days by mail

California's Secretary of State Notary Public & Authentications Unit handles apostilles through offices in Sacramento and Los Angeles.

Cost. $20 per document apostilled, payable by check, money order, or credit card. Walk-in apostilles include a $6 special handling fee.

Walk-in service. Both Sacramento and the LA office accept walk-in apostille requests. Walk-in turnaround is typically same-day if you arrive early in the business day. The LA office handles fewer requests than Sacramento and tends to move faster for in-person service.

Mail-in service. Mail processing time is published as 5 to 10 business days plus mail transit. In practice, California regularly runs longer during peak periods. Add 2 to 4 weeks of buffer if mailing.

Documents from California public universities (UC, CSU systems). Some California Secretary of State offices have historically required that public university documents be authenticated by the issuing institution before apostille. In practice, the cleanest path for UC and CSU graduates is to request an officially sealed transcript and a certified diploma copy directly from the university registrar, then submit those to the Secretary of State.

Common California pitfalls.

• Sending a photocopy without notarization. The Secretary of State will not apostille a plain photocopy.
• Forgetting that the field-of-study letter is a separate document requiring its own apostille and its own $20 fee.
• Underestimating peak season (May through August, when graduations and US summer travel coincide).

New York: $10 per document, 4 to 6 weeks by mail

The New York Department of State handles apostilles in Albany (main office) and through county clerks for documents notarized by New York notaries.

Cost. $10 per apostille, payable by check or money order. Credit cards are accepted in person.

The county clerk step (a New York-specific quirk). New York requires an extra layer for notarized documents. A New York notary's signature is filed with the county clerk in the county where the notary is commissioned. Before the Department of State can apostille a notarized degree, the county clerk must first authenticate the notary's signature. This adds a step that does not exist in most other states. Plan on one trip (or one mailing) to the county clerk, then a second mailing to the Department of State in Albany.

Mail-in service. Albany processes mail-in apostille requests in roughly 4 to 6 weeks during normal periods, longer during peak season. New York is the slowest of the four states covered here. Build extra buffer into your timeline if your degree is from NYU, Columbia, Cornell, or any other New York institution.

Walk-in service. The Albany office accepts walk-in requests but the office is in Albany, not Manhattan. NYC graduates often find it faster to FedEx documents to Albany than to drive up themselves.

Common New York pitfalls.

• Skipping the county clerk authentication step for notarized documents.
• Mailing to the wrong address (Albany has separate intake addresses for different document types).
• Using a notary commissioned in a different state to certify a copy of a New York degree (the apostille then has to come from that other state, defeating the purpose).

Texas: $15 per document, 10 to 15 business days by mail

The Texas Secretary of State Authentications Unit handles all Texas apostilles from a single office in Austin.

Cost. $15 per apostille, payable by check, money order, or credit card.

Walk-in service. The Authentications Unit accepts walk-in requests Monday through Friday. Walk-in apostilles are typically returned the same day for clean documents. Expect 30 to 60 minutes wait time at the counter.

Mail-in service. Texas publishes a 10 to 15 business day processing target, though shorter turnarounds are common when the queue is light. Texas tends to be one of the more responsive states for mail-in apostilles.

Documents from Texas public universities (UT, A&M, Texas State systems). Texas universities issue diplomas under their own seal. The Secretary of State will apostille a notarized true copy of the diploma signed by a Texas notary. For an official sealed transcript, the registrar can either provide a paper transcript that you have notarized, or some universities will send the transcript directly to a notary on your behalf.

Common Texas pitfalls.

• Not including a self-addressed return envelope with sufficient postage. Texas will not return your documents without one.
• Submitting a credit card payment form without the security code (Texas requires the full CVV).

Florida: $10 per document, 5 to 10 business days by mail

The Florida Department of State Division of Corporations Apostille Section handles Florida apostilles from Tallahassee.

Cost. $10 per apostille, by check or money order made payable to "Florida Department of State."

Walk-in service. Walk-in apostilles are processed at the Tallahassee office during business hours. Same-day return is typical for documents brought in by 10:30 AM.

Mail-in service. Florida publishes a 5 to 10 business day processing target. Florida is generally one of the fastest states for mail-in apostilles, second only to walk-in service in Texas.

Florida and US Virgin Islands degrees. Florida is the jurisdiction for documents from Puerto Rico (which has its own separate Department of State apostille office) only if the document was notarized in Florida by a Florida notary. A Puerto Rico-issued degree should be apostilled by the Puerto Rico Department of State, not Florida.

Common Florida pitfalls.

• Sending personal checks (Florida requires payment by check from a US bank, money order, or cashier's check).
• Failing to include a cover letter identifying the destination country as Ecuador and the language of the underlying document.

Quick Comparison Table

The Sequence That Saves the Most Time

The single biggest sequencing mistake we see is translating the degree before apostilling it. The apostille must attach to the original English document. If you translate first and then apostille, the apostille certifies the translator's signature, not your degree. Ecuador needs the apostille on the underlying degree itself. We then handle certified Spanish translation in Cuenca through Consejo de la Judicatura-authorized translators (see our document requirements reference).

The clean US-side sequence is:

1. Request your diploma, sealed transcript, and field-of-study letter from your university registrar. Allow 2 to 4 weeks; large public universities are slower than private ones.
2. If your university only issues paper diplomas (most do), get them notarized as true copies by a US notary in the same state.
3. Apostille each document at the issuing state's Secretary of State office.
4. Mail the apostilled originals to Ecuador.
5. We coordinate certified Spanish translation in Cuenca after the apostilled documents arrive.
6. Submit to SENESCYT through the SIAU portal and attend the in-person appointment.

We also recommend running the FBI background check apostille on a parallel track, because that one has a 180-day clock and takes its own 4 to 8 weeks through the US Department of State.

When to Use a Commercial Apostille Service

Commercial apostille services charge $50 to $150 per document on top of state fees. They are worth the cost when:

• Your degree, transcript, and field-of-study letter were issued in different states (you are juggling 2 or 3 Secretary of State offices at once)
• You no longer live in the issuing state and cannot easily mail documents through a notary you know
• You are on a tight timeline (a service in Sacramento can hand-walk a California apostille same-day, then FedEx it to you)

They are not worth the cost when you have a single document, you live in the issuing state, and you can walk into the Secretary of State office yourself. Texas and Florida walk-ins, in particular, are fast enough that paying $100 to a third party is pure overhead.

What to Do If You Are Already in Ecuador Without an Apostille

If you are already in Cuenca or Quito on a tourist visa and discovered your apostille is missing, you have three options:

Option 1: Mail your degree to a relative in the issuing state. They notarize a true copy, send it to the Secretary of State, and FedEx the apostilled original to Cuenca. Allow 3 to 6 weeks total.

Option 2: Apostille service with overnight return. Several commercial services will accept documents shipped from Ecuador, process the apostille, and overnight-ship them back. Allow 2 to 3 weeks total. Cost runs $200 to $400 per document including shipping.

Option 3: Declaracion juramentada (Ecuadorian sworn declaration). A recent change to the CES Reglamento allows temporary or permanent residents who cannot obtain an apostille to substitute a sworn declaration before an Ecuadorian notary. This option does not apply to first-time visa applicants on tourist status. If you already hold a temporary residency visa from a different category (for example, you came in on a rentista visa and now want to register your degree), this can save weeks.

We do not recommend planning around Option 3 if you are still abroad. Get the apostille right the first time.

Cost Summary for a US Graduate

These figures do not include legal fees or courier costs.

A Note for US Public University Graduates

If your degree is from a US state university system (UC, CSU, SUNY, CUNY, the UT system, the Florida State University System, or others), some Secretaries of State have historically refused to apostille a notarized copy of a public university diploma without first authenticating the original through the state Department of Education. In practice in 2026, the cleanest path is:

1. Request a sealed paper transcript and a certified diploma copy directly from the university registrar
2. Have a US notary certify these as true copies (or accept the university seal as primary authentication)
3. Apostille at the Secretary of State

If the Secretary of State rejects the apostille request and tells you to go through the Department of Education first, that adds 2 to 6 weeks and a separate authentication fee. We have seen this happen most often in California and New York for older diplomas.

Keep reading:

• Ecuador Professional Work Visa 2026: Legal Requirements, Costs, and Process
• SENESCYT Registration for Professional Visas: Why Your Degree Might Be Rejected
• Foreign Degree Recognition in Ecuador: Who Needs SENESCYT and How to Do It Yourself

Need help sequencing your apostilles before you arrive in Ecuador? Contact us or call 651-621-3652.