Attesting US Documents (FAQs)

Yes - the United States is a member of the Apostille Convention.

US documents can be legalized for use abroad with an Apostille Stamp when destined for other signatory countries without additional certification by the destination country.

When US documents are required for non-apostille countries, such as United Arab Emirates - Taiwan - Malaysia - Thailand - Qatar they need additional authentication by the embassy of the destination country.

For further information about Apostille certification in the United States, see:
USA Apostille Services

Official documents that can be legalized in the United States with an Apostille stamp include birth, death, marriage certificates, divorce certificates, criminal record and police certificates, company registration and tax documents, court documents, university and academic diplomas, certificates signed by registered doctors etc., documents issued by government authorities. Other documents may require prior certification by a notary or other authority.

Documents required for submission to countries which have not acceded to the Apostille Convention will require additional attestation by the embassy of the recipient country.

To confirm whether your document is eligible for apostille authentication in the United States, please Contact us and we’ll check your document free of charge. For further information about our US apostille services and for assistance obtaining official copies of US documents, see:
USA Apostille Services

Depending on the State where the document was issued, Hague Apostilles in the United States can be obtained as quickly as one day, or it may take 2 – 3 weeks. Many states offer expedited services. Federal documents, such as FBI Background Checks take 7-10 business days (State Department, Expedited Service).

To authenticate documents required for non-apostille countries such as the United Arab Emirates or China, where US Department of State and Embassy Attestation is required, allow around 3-5 weeks depending on the State where the documents are issued.

USA apostilles are issued by the individual US States and by the US Department of State (Office of Authentications), depending on whether the document is a State or Federal Document. Apostilles for state documents, including documents certified by notaries public, are affixed by the Secretary of State where the document is issued or notary registered (See for example: New York Apostilles, Florida Apostilles, California Apostilles). Federal documents, such as FBI Background Checks, are submitted directly to the US Department of State in Washington DC.

Documents issued in US overseas territories have separate procedures (See Puerto Rico Apostille Service, US Virgin Islands Apostille Service).

Apostilles on vital records and notarized documents are issued by the Secretary of State in the state of issue. For more information see information per state: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Washington DC

Document legalization (or attestation) is a procedure which authenticates a public US document so that it can be submitted in another country for official or legal purposes - for example, if you need to submit a US birth certificate to the authority or embassy of another country, it will often need to be legalized.

Legalizing a document in the United States certifies the authenticity of the signature appearing on the document as that of an authorized public official in the United States and confirms the capacity of that official.

• Because the United States is a member of the Apostille Convention, US documents can be legalized by means of an Apostille Stamp when being submitted to countries that are also members of the Hague Apostille Convention
• If a US document is required for a country that is not a member of the Apostille Convention, it will need to be legalized both by US authorities and by the embassy of the recipient country (embassy in the United States or non-resident embassy accredited to the United States).
  See: Document legalization - Wikipedia

Isarey Certification Services provides a range of services in the United States including Apostille and legalization services, notarization services, certified translation services and document retrieval services.

You can see reviews from past clients who have used our attestation and apostille services:

• ISAREY reviews on Trustpilot
• ISAREY reviews on Google

USA Apostilles follow the standard format laid down in the Apostille Convention. Some examples of US documents certified with Apostille stamps:

• FBI Background Check with Apostille Stamp (PDF)
• USA High School Diploma with Apostille (PDF)
• USA University Diploma legalized by the United Arab Emirates (PDF)

See What does an Apostille look like?

In the United States, it is possible to obtain State police and even local police background checks certifying an absence of a criminal record (contact your local police force); these can then by certified by apostille in the State where they were issued.

However, many overseas authorities requiring a clean criminal record certificate as part of a visa or residency application will require a certificate from the FBI (Identity History Summary).

FBI certificates can be obtained online from within the United States or from abroad, and are available to US and non-US citizens. The FBI issues digital certificates that can then be certified by the US Department of State for use abroad.

To apply for an FBI Identity History Summary Check, you will need to provide a set of fingerprints, these must be submitted using the FBI's fingerprint form:
FBI fingerprint form (pdf)

In the United States, fingerprints can be taken and submitted electronically at any participating post office. If you are abroad, it is normally possible to have your fingerprints taken by the local police.

• Fingerprints for FBI certificates - Switzerland
• Fingerprints - UK (Metropolitan Police)
• Fingerprints - UK (Thames Valley Police)
• Fingerprints - UK (Greater Manchester Police)
• Fingerprints - UK (South Wales Police)
• Fingerprints - UK (South Yorkshire Police)
• Fingerprints - Ireland
• Fingerprints - Spain
• Fingerprints - France
• Fingerprints - Germany (PDF)
• Fingerprints - Qatar
• Fingerprints - UAE
• Fingerprints - India
• Fingerprints - Hong Kong
• Fingerprints - Portugal
• Fingerprints - Greece
• Fingerprints - Bahamas
• Croatia: at an administrative police station
• Greece: Police Directorate of Criminal Investigations, Fingerprinting Department, at 2-6 Antigonis Street & Leoforos Athinon in Kolonos area, Athens
• Hungary: Fingerprints can be taken at the Criminal Technique Division of the Budapest Police Headquarters
• Austria: Fingerprints in Austria are taken by the individual state’s criminal police office (Landespolizeidirektion)

If you need to Apostille a divorce judgement issued in the United States, in most cases, it is necessary to obtain a copy of the respective judgement from the court. In most states, we can do this for you - we just need the details of the court and case number.
Please Contact us for information.

US degree certificates required for Qatar are legalized at the Qatari embassy in Washington DC. The embassy requires:

• the original diploma authenticated at State level and by the US State Department.
• the original transcripts authenticated at State level and by the US State Department
• An additional set of sealed transcripts.
• A copy of an employment contract or job offer from Qatar.
• A copy of the applicant's US visa covering all periods of study (non-US passport holders).

To authenticate the original diploma and transcripts, in most cases the first step is to contact the issuing university to arrange for the originals to be certified by a notary public. The notary must certify the signature of the school official on the originals (notarized true copies are not accepted by the embassy). Notarization can normally be arranged by contacting the University Registrar's office.

US university degree certificates required for the United Arab Emirates can be attested at the UAE Embassy in Washington DC. The Embassy accepts notarized true copies and does not require submission of original diplomas or transcripts.

For submission to the UAE Embassy, the procedure is as follows:

• A true copy of the diploma should certified by a notary public. This can be done in any US State (it does not have to be the state where the university is based).
• The notarized copy of the diploma is then authenticated by the Secretary of State of the state where the certifying notary is commissioned.
• This authentication is then legalized with an additional authentication by the US State Department.

When these steps are completed, the diploma can be submitted to the UAE Embassy in Washington DC for final attestation.

Isarey can notarize and authenticate true copies of diplomas required for submission to the UAE Embassy in Washington DC. We also offer expedited processing at the US State Department. In most cases, true copies of US diplomas can be notarized from a good quality scan, so there is no need to send the original diploma.

To certify American school records and certificates, including High School certificates, for presentation outside the United States, Apostilles and authentication certificates can be affixed to a notarized true copy or on the original. To obtain an Apostille from the Washington DC Secretary of State on a notarized copy, we generally only require a good quality scan. If an Apostille is required on the original document, contact the issuing school in order to obtain a notarized copy that can then be authenticated by the Secretary of State of the State of issue.

If you need to notarize a US document while abroad, then you can use remote notarization. If the document needs to be signed, e.g. a Power of Attorney or Affidavit, then we can arrange a secure online session with a US notary public. The procedure is quick, and allows for documents to be notarized and apostilled in the United States from abroad.

If the document does not need to be signed, and th notary is satisfied with it’s authenticity, then a true copy can be made from a good quality scan and certified by apostille – this is a quick and secure way of authenticating school diplomas and degree certificates.

It should always be confirmed with the receiving authority whether remote notarization or notarization of a true copy is acceptable. Vital record certificates (Birth, death, marriage) cannot be notarized. Many Federal documents, including FBI Background Checks cannot be notarized for Apostille.

For further information about our notary and apostille services in the United States, see:
US Notarization and Apostille Services