U.S. Department of State
Federal Apostille from the U.S. Department of State
Federal documents, such as FBI background checks and records signed by federal officials, are apostilled or authenticated by the U.S. Department of State, not a state office. We prepare and submit the request for clients anywhere in the U.S.
- Same-day apostilleMissouri and Kansas documents
- Every U.S. stateApostilles for documents from any state
- Four languagesEnglish, Spanish, Arabic, French
Who signed the document decides who authenticates it.
Not where you live, and not where the document is going.
State apostille
Secretary of State
Birth, marriage and death certificates, state court records, state business filings, and documents notarized by a state notary. Each goes to the Secretary of State of the state that issued or notarized it.
Missouri apostilleFederal apostille
U.S. Department of State
FBI background checks, documents issued or certified by federal agencies, and documents signed by U.S. consular officers. The Office of Authentications issues the certificate.
FBI background check apostilleWhat the Department of State issues.
For a country that belongs to the Hague Apostille Convention, the Department of State issues an apostille. For a country outside the Convention, it issues an authentication certificate, and the document then usually goes to that country’s embassy for legalization.
A state document going to a country outside the Convention can also need the Department of State: it is certified by the state first, then authenticated federally, then legalized by the embassy. Embassy legalization
Four steps.
- 01
Confirm the document is federal
We check who signed or certified it, and that it is an original or a copy the Department of State accepts.
- 02
Prepare the request
Form DS-4194 and the Department of State’s fee, currently $20 per document. We complete and review the form.
- 03
Submit and track
The request goes to the Office of Authentications; we follow it until the document comes back.
- 04
Next steps
Embassy legalization, translation and international shipping, when your destination needs them.
Mailing your document from anywhere in the U.S.
Federal authentication does not depend on where you live, so clients in every state send federal documents to our Kansas City office by tracked mail. We confirm the route and the price before you ship anything.
For FBI background checks, we can take fingerprints at our office through our partner or start from the FBI’s electronic results. FBI fingerprinting and apostille
We are a private service.
The apostille or authentication certificate is issued by the U.S. Department of State, not by us. Midwest Apostille & Notary Services is a private company that prepares, submits and tracks the request and returns the document. You can also submit directly to the Department of State; its instructions, fees and processing times are on travel.state.gov.
Requirements are set by the destination country and can change, so confirm what the receiving office expects.
Federal apostille questions.
Can a state apostille my FBI background check?
No. An FBI Identity History Summary is a federal document, so only the U.S. Department of State can apostille or authenticate it.
Can every document get a federal apostille?
No. The Department of State authenticates federal documents and documents signed by federal or U.S. consular officials. Birth, marriage and death certificates, state court records and documents notarized by a state notary go to the state that issued or notarized them.
How long does it take?
The Department of State publishes its current processing times on travel.state.gov. We confirm the expected timing when you order.
How much does it cost?
Our FBI background check apostille service is $155. Other federal documents are quoted per document, including the Department of State’s fee.
Next step
Get clarity before you send your documents.
Tell us what the document is and where it is going. We confirm the route, the price and a realistic timeline before anything is submitted.
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