Apostille for an FBI background check

An FBI check is a federal document, so only the State Department Office of Authentications can apostille it, never a state office.

The rule is the same one that governs every American paper: the office follows the issuer. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is a federal agency, so its Identity History Summary belongs to the federal office at 600 19th Street NW in Washington. A state apostille on an FBI check is invalid, and foreign governments reject it. State offices know this and turn such requests away, which surprises applicants who assumed any apostille works anywhere.

Order the check first and let it arrive complete. The federal office works from the issued document with its seals and signatures. Do not open, laminate or alter sealed results where the instructions say to keep them sealed. Read the requesting-authentication-services page before you post: it states the form, the payment and the mailing address, and it covers both Convention apostilles and non-member authentications.

Plan around the destination. A Convention country takes the federal apostille and the file is done. Any other country needs the embassy step after the federal authentication, so check membership first with the checker tool on this site. Teaching contracts, residency visas and work permits often carry fixed start dates, so start the request as soon as the job offer lands rather than after the visa appointment is booked.

Do not confuse this with a state police check. A check from a state bureau of investigation is a state paper and goes to that state's office, with that state's form and fee. Only the FBI summary is federal. Read the issuing line on your document: the name in the letterhead decides the office, every time. When a recruiter says just get it apostilled, ask which check they hold and which country receives it before you choose the office.