Answers before you send anything

A federal document is issued by a U.S. government agency or a federal court — the FBI, IRS, SSA, USCIS, the Department of Defense, a U.S. District Court. Those authenticate through the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. Documents issued by a state — birth certificates, marriage licenses, state court records, diplomas — go through that state's Secretary of State instead. Send us the document details and we will tell you which route yours takes.

Where you obtained the document matters less than which authority issued it. An FBI background check requested from a Florida address is still a federal document, because the FBI issued it. A Florida birth certificate is a state document, because Florida issued it. If a federal agency's name is on the document, it almost certainly authenticates federally.

It depends entirely on the destination country. If the country is a member of the 1961 Hague Convention, an apostille from the U.S. Department of State is sufficient on its own. If it is not a member — the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Egypt and Taiwan among others — the document needs Department of State authentication first, followed by legalization at that country's embassy or consulate. Tell us where the document is going and we will confirm the correct path.

The Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 is an international treaty that replaced the slow chain of embassy legalizations with a single certificate: the apostille. Among member countries, an apostille issued by one member is accepted in all the others, no embassy step required. More than 120 countries are members. For any country that has not joined, the older legalization process still applies.

About 10–12 business days for a federal apostille (Hague countries) and 15–17 business days for Department of State authentication plus embassy legalization (non-Hague countries), plus shipping. The Department of State sets its own processing pace, so we confirm a current estimate when you place the order, review documents before submission, and keep you updated while your file is in Washington.

Prices are flat and include government fees and U.S. return shipping: $299 per document for a federal apostille (Hague countries), $399 for federal authentication plus embassy legalization (non-Hague), $149 for an in-person FBI background check or $399 with the apostille, $599 for the Florida full chain and $399 for other-state documents going to non-Hague countries. Certified translation is quoted per document. We confirm your exact total before any payment.

No — we don’t retrieve records. You request the document from the issuing agency (the NPRC, NARA, USCIS, the IRS, SSA, a federal court and so on), and we tell you exactly how; once you have it, we authenticate it. The one exception is the FBI background check, which we run in person, by appointment, at our West Palm Beach and Miami offices.

Yes, in person: at our West Palm Beach and Miami offices we take your fingerprints, obtain your FBI Identity History Summary through an approved channel, and carry the completed report straight through to apostille — book an appointment, Monday to Friday. Anywhere else, request the report from the FBI and mail it to us; we apostille it for $299.

No — and be cautious of anyone who says otherwise. Federal law restricts reproduction of naturalization and citizenship certificates. The correct procedure runs through USCIS, and we handle these documents under that procedure rather than by copying the certificate. Tell us which certificate you hold and we will walk you through what is actually permitted.

No. Because federal documents authenticate in Washington, D.C. rather than in your home state, where you live makes no difference to the process. Clients in all 50 states order online or by phone, ship documents to us with tracking, and we return the completed apostille to them or directly to a recipient overseas. Only our West Palm Beach and Miami offices are open to visitors, by appointment, for FBI background checks and document drop-off.

It’s our headquarters, on Connecticut Avenue close to the U.S. Department of State Office of Authentications, where documents are prepared and submitted. We also have offices in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Richmond, Atlanta, Charlotte, Memphis, Miami, West Palm Beach, Houston, Austin, Chicago, Denver, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland and Seattle — every order is processed through our Washington headquarters, which is not open to the public. Our West Palm Beach and Miami offices are open to visitors by appointment, for FBI background checks with fingerprinting and document drop-off. Our other offices are processing offices that handle orders by phone and online. See all locations.

Only our West Palm Beach and Miami offices are open to the public, by appointment, Monday to Friday from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Visit them for an FBI background check with LiveScan fingerprinting, or to drop off documents for apostille, embassy legalization or certified translation. Our Washington, D.C. headquarters and our other sixteen offices are processing offices: they handle orders by phone and online support and do not take walk-ins or appointments.

It depends on the document. Many federal records must be authenticated in their original, agency-issued form, and a plain photocopy will be rejected. Some require a certified copy from the issuing agency. Tell us which document you have and we will confirm exactly what the Department of State needs before you send anything.