An FBI background check apostille is an apostille attached to a U.S. FBI Identity History Summary — the federal criminal record check most foreign governments and employers require for visas, work permits, residency, and adoption. Because it is a federal document, the FBI background check apostille can only be issued by the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., not by any state Secretary of State.
When You Need an FBI Background Check Apostille
- Long-stay or work visas in countries that require proof of a clean U.S. criminal record (e.g., UAE, Spain, Germany, Australia, China, South Korea)
- Permanent residency applications abroad
- Teaching English abroad — most TEFL employers and government programs require it
- International adoption — Hague-process adoptions require an apostilled background check
- Foreign professional licensure (medicine, nursing, law, finance)
- Citizenship by investment or descent programs
- Marriage abroad in countries that require background screening of foreign spouses
How to Get an FBI Background Check Apostille
- Order your FBI Identity History Summary through the FBI directly or an FBI-approved channeler. The result is a one- or two-page report on FBI letterhead.
- Submit the report to the U.S. Department of State Office of Authentications in Washington, D.C. Walk-in, courier, and mail-in options are all available.
- Pay the federal apostille fee — currently $20 per document.
- Receive the apostilled background check. Mail-in turnaround is currently 8–12 weeks; in-person window service is faster but requires a courier or trip to D.C.
Our apostille services handle the courier hand-off so you don’t have to fly to D.C. or mail in originals yourself.
Important Notes
- Date sensitivity: most foreign governments will only accept an FBI background check that is less than 3–6 months old at the time you submit it. Don’t apostille a stale report — order a fresh one.
- The State Department will only apostille FBI reports that include a signature from an FBI official — older reports without a signature must be re-issued.
- If your destination country is not a Hague member, you’ll need consular legalization instead — the report goes from the U.S. State Department to the destination embassy.
- Most countries also require a certified translation of the apostilled report into the local language.
- State-level criminal background checks are different documents and are apostilled by the state Secretary of State, not by the federal government.