The U.S. Department of State – Office of Authentications in Washington, D.C. attaches both apostilles and certificates.  Apostilles are attaches for countries who are members of the Hague Apostille Convention, while certificates are attaches for countries who are not members.

There are currently over 100 countries who are members of the Hague Apostille Convention.  If you plan to travel to, obtain dual-citizenship, study, work, or move to another country who is a member of the apostille convention, you will be required to provide an Apostille on your FBI background check.  The most popular countries we obtain FBI apostilles for are Spain, South Korea, Italy, Ecuador, Costa Rica, China, Russia and Panama.

Our office in Washington, D.C. submits FBI background checks to the U.S. Department of State every morning.  Documents received by 2pm are processed the following business morning.  The current processing time is four business days plus 1-2 business days for the return FedEx shipping.  We recommend that you mail-in your documents by FedEx, UPS, or DHL to our Washington, D.C. office in order to avoid any delays.

During the summer months (June, July, & August), our office processes hundreds of FBI background checks. Many FBI channelers routinely refer their client to us for expedited apostille service.  If you are in a time-crunch and need the fastest service in Washington, D.C., download our order forms and mail-in your documents to our office for processing.

Mailing your documents to the U.S. Department of State can be time-consuming.  If you have a job offer or another time-sensitive plan, you cannot risk mailing in your documents to the U.S. Government.  We can get you the apostille in four business days with FREE FedEx 1-2 day return shipping.  We also can provide you FedEx international priority shipping.  Call or email us for details.

Because of the recent changes in how the FBI channelers process FBI background checks, you can either request a digital copy or a hard copy.  If you receive your background check by email (digital copy), you can simply email us the background check with our order forms.  If you elect to receive your background check by mail (hard copy), all you will need to do is mail in your documents to our office.

Have a question?  Call us at 1-888-810-4054 or 1-202-897-4070.