FBI background check apostille
Used for international adoption, work visas in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, digital nomad visas, and foreign employment in regulated fields.
This one works differently from the rest. An FBI Identity History Summary is a federal document, so it's apostilled by the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. — not the Washington Secretary of State. Pricing is quoted per case, since it depends on how the background check itself is obtained and how fast you need the apostille back.
What has to happen, in order
- Get fingerprinted through an FBI-approved channeler or by mailing an ink card directly to the FBI. I don't take fingerprints myself — a local channeler location or an ink-and-roll fingerprinting service handles that step.
- The FBI issues the Identity History Summary, either electronically through a channeler (days) or by mail (weeks).
- I submit that summary to the Department of State for the federal apostille and handle the mailing both ways.
Why this is worth coordinating rather than doing alone
The most common way this goes wrong is submitting to the wrong office, or submitting before confirming the destination country actually requires the federal apostille rather than a state-level one. I'll confirm what your specific destination needs before anything is mailed.