The U.S. Department of State: Authentication/Apostille Service
1. Documents issued from the federal government agencies, and documents that have been authenticated by the 50 States' Secretary of State can be apostilled or authenticated by the U.S. Department of State.
2. Be sure to include your country of use in the notes section.
The U.S. Department of State certification is divided into two types: Authentication and Apostille.
- Apostille is known as the Hague certification and can be used in the Hague Apostille countries. If your destination country is listed here, the certification type should be “Apostille”. No further authentication is needed.
- If the country is not listed, the certification type should be “Authentication”. Further authentication may be needed if your destination country is not a member of the Hague Apostille Convention. Besides the authentication from the U.S. Department of State, the document should also be sent to the embassy of the destination country which is located in Washington D.C. for legalization.
4. The Center also provides authentication, apostille, and embassy legalization services for various personal and business documents.
🕒Processing time: 4 weeks (estimated) (Most applications cannot be expedited, please be patient and arrange in advance.)
⚠️ Check the current processing time here.
U.S. Department of State Apostille / Authentication Service
You'll receive an order confirmation email immediately right after you place an order. Another more detailed instruction email from our customer service team will be sent to you within 12-24 hours after your purchase to let you know the next steps (responses during weekends and holidays may be slightly slower). Cases are processed in the order we receive them.