U.S. Department of State Apostille: How Federal Authentication Works
An apostille from the U.S. Department of State is the only federal authentication accepted under the Hague Convention, and it is issued by a single office in Washington, D.C. That office — the Office of Authentications, at 600 19th Street NW — sits at the top of the U.S. authentication system: it certifies the seals and signatures on documents issued by federal agencies so that foreign governments can accept them as genuine. If you have been asked for an "apostille" on an FBI background check, a USCIS record, or any other federal document, this is the office that must issue it, and this page explains how the process works from start to finish.
What the Office of Authentications does
The Office of Authentications is the arm of the U.S. Department of State responsible for certifying U.S. documents for use abroad. When it issues an apostille, it is not judging the content of your document — it is verifying that the seal and signature on the document belong to a genuine U.S. federal official or agency. That verification is what the Hague Apostille Convention requires: a single certificate, issued by a designated "competent authority," that member countries agree to accept in place of the older, slower chain of consular legalizations. For federal documents, the Office of Authentications is that designated authority, and no other U.S. office can perform this role. It operates from one location, 600 19th Street NW, Washington, DC 20006, and every federal apostille in the country — regardless of where the applicant lives — is issued from that building. For documents headed to countries that are not party to the Hague Convention, the same office performs the parallel service of an authentication certificate, which then continues on to the destination country's embassy for legalization.
Which documents need a federal apostille (vs. a state-level one)
The rule of thumb is simple: match the apostille authority to the level of government that issued the document. Documents issued by a federal agency must be apostilled by the U.S. Department of State. That includes FBI Identity History Summaries (the FBI background check most immigration processes require), certificates and records issued by USCIS, documents from federal courts, IRS records such as residency certifications, and agency documents from the USDA, FDA, USPTO, and the Department of Defense, including military records. Documents notarized in the District of Columbia also route through the Department of State, because DC has no Secretary of State of its own. By contrast, state-issued documents — birth certificates, marriage and death certificates, state court records, diplomas, and documents notarized by a state-commissioned notary — are apostilled by the Secretary of State of the state that issued them, not by the federal office. Sending a state document to Washington, or a federal document to a state office, is one of the most common causes of rejection and lost weeks.
How to submit documents to the Department of State
There are two ways to get a document in front of the Office of Authentications: by mail or in person. Mail-in submission means sending the original document (or the qualifying certified copy), a completed request form, payment of the federal fee, and a prepaid return envelope to the office in Washington, DC. The office processes mailed requests in the order received. In-person filing means physically presenting the documents at the 600 19th Street NW office, which moves the request into a much faster queue; this is the channel that professional facilitation services use on behalf of clients who do not live in or cannot travel to Washington. Whichever route you choose, the document itself must be in acceptable condition for authentication: federal documents generally need the issuing agency's original seal and an authorized signature, and some records must be recently issued to be accepted by the destination country. It is worth confirming the destination country's requirements before you submit, because the Department of State authenticates the document as-is — it will not fix an underlying problem with the record.
Federal apostille processing time
Processing time depends almost entirely on the submission channel. Mail-in requests to the Office of Authentications currently run roughly 8 to 12 weeks from receipt to return, not counting transit time in each direction. In-person filing runs roughly 10 business days. That gap — a few weeks versus a few months — is the single biggest planning factor for anyone with a visa appointment, a foreign job start date, or an immigration deadline on the calendar. Because there is only one issuing office for the entire country, there is no faster regional alternative and no way to "walk in" at a state office for a federal document; the choice is between the mail queue and in-person presentation in Washington, DC. If your deadline is measured in weeks rather than months, the in-person channel is usually the only realistic option, whether you handle it yourself or have a service present the documents for you.
Department of State apostille fees
The Department of State sets and collects a fee for each apostille it issues, charged per document rather than per request. That means a submission containing several documents — for example, an FBI background check plus a set of federal court records — pays the federal fee once for each document that receives its own apostille certificate. The fee is the same regardless of whether you submit by mail or in person; what changes between those channels is speed, not the government charge. If you use a facilitation service, its service fee is separate from and in addition to the Department of State's per-document fee. Always confirm the current fee amount on the Department of State's official website before submitting, since the department adjusts its fee schedule from time to time.
Federal apostille vs. state apostille: the key distinction
A federal apostille and a state apostille are the same kind of certificate under the Hague Convention — a foreign government will honor either — but they come from different authorities and apply to different documents, and they are not interchangeable. The federal apostille, issued by the U.S. Department of State in Washington, covers documents created by the federal government: FBI checks, USCIS records, federal court records, IRS documents, USDA, FDA, USPTO, and military records. A state apostille, issued by a state's Secretary of State, covers documents created or notarized within that state: vital records, state court documents, school records, powers of attorney, and other notarized papers. Many international processes require both. A common example is an immigration or citizenship application that asks for an apostilled FBI background check (federal) alongside an apostilled birth certificate (state) — those are two separate submissions to two separate offices, each with its own timeline. Mapping each document to its correct authority before you send anything is the most important step in the entire process.
Getting a federal apostille without the wait
Because the Office of Authentications accepts in-person filings at its Washington, DC office, the roughly 10-business-day in-person timeline is available to anyone — but only if someone physically presents the documents there. That is the service Federal Apostille™ provides: you send us your federal document, we review it for the issues that cause rejections, file it in person at the Department of State, and return the apostilled original to you anywhere in the world. The result is the same government-issued apostille you would receive by mail, on a timeline measured in days instead of months. If you have an FBI background check, USCIS record, federal court document, or other federal record that needs an apostille, you can start the process online in a few minutes.
Frequently asked questions
Can the Office of Authentications apostille my birth certificate or other state documents?+
No. Birth, marriage, and death certificates, state court records, and documents notarized by a state notary must be apostilled by the Secretary of State of the issuing state. The U.S. Department of State only apostilles federal agency documents and documents notarized in the District of Columbia.
Is the Department of State fee the same for every document type?+
Yes — the department charges a single per-document fee for apostilles regardless of document type, and it is the same whether you file by mail or in person. A request with multiple documents pays the fee once per document. Check the department's official website for the current amount, as the fee schedule can change.
What if my document is going to a country that isn't in the Hague Convention?+
The same office handles it, but instead of an apostille it issues an authentication certificate, which must then be legalized by the destination country's embassy or consulate before it is valid there. Confirm which process your destination country requires before submitting.
Federal Apostille™ is a private, independent courier and document-processing service. We are not affiliated with the U.S. Department of State or any government agency.