https://www.commonwealth.virginia.gov/official-documents/authentications/

Virginia要求是近一年内拿到的文件。州政府打电话一般不会有人接，但是发邮件回复比较及时。
notary@governor.virginia.gov
michelle.thomas@governor.virginia.gov

VA 州的出生证、结婚证、委托书等证件要求是最近一年内颁发的文件。
委托书可以去公证员处公证，或者直接拿到Court处认证，任何一种方式都是可以被州政府接受的。
根据经验，证件类型如护照复印件公证员可能不给公证的，需要去Court处认证，再去州政府。

Why would a document be rejected?
Each Virginia Notary Public has taken an oath of office, in part, stating they will follow a specific set of guidelines when notarizing documents. A Notary acknowledgement can be rejected for a variety of reasons, including, but not limited to:
1. not having a proper acknowledgement on each document presented (notarial statement must reflect what is being notarized. i.e. – signature(s) or true copy of an original);
2. the State and city/county where the document is being executed is not indicated;
3. the notary’s registration number is either missing or incorrect;
4. the notary’s expiration date is either missing or incorrect;
5. the notary stamp or seal is either missing or incorrect;
6. the notary did not sign his/her name on notarized document;
7. notarization or issue date on the document is more than 12 months old;
8. document is not dated;
9. the acknowledgement must be in English.

Birth Certificate

从医院拿到的就是State Department of Health颁发的，可以直接进入州政府认证。

Policy

Need to submit the certified copy, no need to send to county prior to the submission to the Secretary of state.

a Vital Record (birth, death, marriage or divorce certificate), the document cannot be notarized and must be issued from https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/vital-records/applications-for-a-vital-record/ within the past 12 months.

Check List
• Original Birth Certificate
• Prepaid Envelope
• Check- The fee for authentication of documents is $ 10.00 per document, payable to the Secretary of the Commonwealth. If there are several documents signed by the same public official (notary public, deputy clerk, etc…) on the same date for the same country; the fee is $ 10.00 for the first document and $ 5.00 for each additional document.
• Cover Letter . They have their own cover letter.

Mailing address
Authentications Department
Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth
1111 East Broad Street, 1st Floor
Richmond, Virginia 23219