If you hold US-issued documents and need to use them abroad — for residency, employment, or education — an apostille is the fastest and most widely accepted way to authenticate them internationally.
What is a US apostille?
A US apostille is a certification attached to your original document by a competent state or federal authority. It confirms the document’s authenticity for use in any of the 125+ countries that are members of the Hague Convention of 1961.
The US joined the Hague Convention in 1981. Since then, US documents do not need to go through a full embassy or consulate legalization — an apostille alone is sufficient for member countries.
Who issues apostilles in the United States?
The issuing authority depends on the document type and where it was issued:
| Document type | Issuing authority |
|---|---|
| Birth, death, marriage certificates | Secretary of State of the issuing state |
| FBI background checks (Identity History Summary) | US Department of State |
| Federal court documents | US Department of State |
| USCIS documents | US Department of State |
| Diplomas from US universities | Secretary of State of the state where the school is located |
| Notarized documents | Secretary of State of the notarizing state |
Important: State-issued documents use state-level apostilles issued by the relevant Secretary of State. Federal documents — anything issued by a federal agency, like the FBI or USCIS — go through the US Department of State’s Office of Authentications in Washington DC (with a satellite office in Sterling, VA). These are two completely separate systems with their own rules, forms, and processing times, and mixing them up is the single most common cause of delay for people apostilling US documents.
State-level apostilles: how each Secretary of State handles it
If your document was issued by a state agency — a birth certificate from a state Department of Health, a marriage certificate from a county clerk, a diploma from a state university — you apostille it through that state’s Secretary of State, not the federal government. Procedures and timelines vary noticeably from state to state:
California Secretary of State. California processes apostille requests by mail or in person at its Sacramento or Los Angeles offices. Standard processing typically runs in the range of several business days once the request is received, not counting mail transit time; walk-in service at the public counter is available for same-day turnaround if you can appear in person with the original document and a completed request form. California requires the document to be notarized by a California notary (or be a certified copy from a California state agency) before it can be apostilled.
Texas Secretary of State. Texas handles apostilles through its Authentications Unit in Austin. Documents can be submitted by mail or dropped off in person; in-person drop-off generally moves faster than mail because it skips the incoming mail queue. As with California, the underlying document must already be a certified copy or properly notarized by a Texas notary — the Secretary of State does not verify the content of the document itself, only the notary’s or issuing official’s signature.
Florida Department of State. Florida’s apostille function sits under the Florida Department of State (Division of Corporations handles the operational side of authentications). Florida is a popular jurisdiction for expedited service, including options to submit in person in Tallahassee. Because Florida has a large volume of international residents and businesses, its office is generally set up to move mail-in requests at a predictable pace, though exact turnaround depends on current volume.
New York Department of State. New York’s apostilles are issued by the Department of State’s Division of Licensing Services. New York City has a large volume of vital records requests (birth and marriage certificates issued in the five boroughs), so requesters sometimes see processing take longer than in smaller states simply due to demand. New York also distinguishes between documents notarized in-state versus certified copies from New York City’s own Department of Health, which can affect which office you submit to.
Common thread across states: every state Secretary of State can only apostille documents that were either issued by that state’s own agencies or notarized by a notary commissioned in that state. If your birth certificate was issued in Texas but you had it notarized in California, you generally need the Texas Secretary of State, not California’s — sending a document to the wrong state’s office is one of the most frequent (and time-costing) mistakes people make.
Most common use cases
- Spain residency (NIE / TIE): Birth certificates, background checks (FBI), marriage certificates
- Work visas for Latin America: Diplomas, transcripts, professional certifications
- Education enrollment abroad: Transcripts, diplomas, high school records
- Family reunification: Birth and marriage certificates, divorce decrees
Federal apostilles: the US Department of State process
If your document was issued by a federal agency — most commonly an FBI Identity History Summary (the official name for what people call an “FBI background check”), or a USCIS-issued document — it does not go to any state office at all. It goes to the US Department of State’s Office of Authentications.
The federal process has an extra step that state processes don’t: the FBI itself has to issue and, in most cases, certify the underlying document before the Department of State will apostille it. Two paths exist to get an FBI Identity History Summary:
- Electronic submission through an FBI-approved channeler. You submit your fingerprints and request through a private company approved by the FBI (a “channeler,” such as IdentoGO), and the FBI returns the summary electronically, generally within a couple of business days.
- Direct mail submission to the FBI. You send fingerprint cards (form FD-258) and a request directly to the FBI’s CJIS Division in Clarksburg, West Virginia. This route is slower because it depends on postal transit time in both directions plus manual processing, and has historically taken on the order of one to two weeks or more.
Once you have the FBI summary in hand, it goes to the Department of State for the apostille itself. The Department of State’s standard processing has historically run several weeks, with a faster option available if you can hand-carry the request to the Office of Authentications in person (by appointment) rather than mailing it in.
How long does it take?
Putting the state and federal paths together, here’s roughly what to expect. These are general ranges based on typical processing patterns; always confirm current turnaround directly with the relevant Secretary of State or the Department of State’s Office of Authentications before planning around a hard deadline, since government processing times fluctuate with volume and are not officially guaranteed.
| Document type | Issuing path | Typical timeline |
|---|---|---|
| State-issued (birth, marriage, diploma) | State Secretary of State, mail-in | Several business days, standard processing |
| State-issued, expedited/in-person | State Secretary of State, walk-in where available | Same day to a couple of business days |
| FBI Identity History Summary | Electronic via approved channeler | A few business days |
| FBI Identity History Summary | Direct mail to FBI CJIS Division | One to two weeks or more |
| Federal apostille (FBI summary or USCIS document) | US Department of State, mail-in | Several weeks, standard processing |
| Federal apostille | US Department of State, in-person appointment | Faster than mail-in, but requires traveling to the DC area office |
The bottom line: state documents are almost always faster to apostille than federal documents, because the federal path has an extra agency in the chain (the FBI, before the Department of State even sees the request) and the Department of State’s standard mail service tends to run longer than most state offices. If your timeline is tight and your document is federal, the electronic FBI channeler route combined with an in-person Department of State appointment is the fastest realistic combination — though it requires more coordination than a standard state-level request.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Requesting an apostille on a photocopy instead of an original — most authorities require originals
- Sending a document issued in one state to another state’s Secretary of State
- Not checking if Spain or your destination country also requires a certified Spanish translation
- Using an outdated background check (Spain requires checks issued within 3–6 months)
Do you also need a translation?
If your document is going to be used in a Spanish-speaking country, you will likely need a certified Spanish translation in addition to the apostille. We coordinate both — apostille and translation — in a single package, so you receive everything ready to submit.
Frequently asked questions
Can I apostille a document myself, or do I need a lawyer?
You don’t need a lawyer. Apostilles are an administrative process, not a legal one — you submit the correct form and document to the correct Secretary of State or the Department of State, and they issue the apostille. Many people do this themselves; the main challenges are figuring out which office handles your specific document and dealing with mail turnaround if you’re out of state or abroad.
What’s the difference between an apostille and consular legalization?
An apostille is a single-step authentication recognized by all countries that are members of the Hague Convention of 1961, including Spain and most Latin American countries. Consular legalization is a longer, multi-step process (involving the issuing authority, the US Department of State, and the destination country’s embassy) required only for documents headed to non-Hague countries. If your destination country is a Hague member, you want an apostille, not legalization.
My document was issued in one state, but I now live in another. Which Secretary of State do I use?
The state that issued the document, not the state where you currently live. A Texas birth certificate goes to the Texas Secretary of State’s Authentications Unit, regardless of where you live now. If the document was later notarized in a different state, that notarization needs to be apostilled by the state where the notarization happened — not where the original document was issued.
Does an FBI background check apostille expire?
The apostille itself doesn’t expire, but many destination countries — Spain among them — will only accept the underlying FBI Identity History Summary if it was issued within a limited window (commonly 3 to 6 months before you submit it). Check the specific requirement for your destination before you start the apostille process, since an apostille on a background check that’s too old may need to be redone from scratch.
Can I get a federal apostille without going through the FBI first?
No, if the document you need apostilled is an FBI Identity History Summary, you must obtain that summary from the FBI (or an approved channeler) before the Department of State can apostille it — the Department of State apostilles the document, it does not generate the underlying record. If you instead need to apostille a USCIS document you already have in hand, you skip the FBI step entirely and go straight to the Department of State.
Questions about your specific situation? Contact us and we will confirm exactly what you need within 24 hours.