How to Get an FBI Background Check Apostilled

If a foreign government, employer, university, or visa office has asked you for an “apostilled FBI background check,” they’re asking for two separate government processes, done in the right order: an FBI Identity History Summary (the “FBI background check”), followed by a federal apostille from the U.S. Department of State. Neither office does both steps — and doing them out of order, or with the wrong document type, is how applicants lose months. This guide walks the whole process, including the do-it-yourself mail-in path and what actually gets requests rejected.

What “Getting an FBI Background Check Apostilled” Actually Means

Two documents, two federal offices:

1. An FBI Identity History Summary (what most people call an “FBI background check”) — a record request from the FBI itself, based on your fingerprints.
2. A federal apostille — a certificate from the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Authentications that confirms the FBI’s seal and the signature on that document are genuine, so the receiving country can accept it without further verification.

The FBI issues the background check; the State Department apostilles it. You (or a service acting for you) have to carry the document between them, in order, correctly formatted — or the second office will reject it and send it back, often weeks later. For the mechanics of the apostille side specifically, see our complete federal apostille guide.

Step 1: Get Fingerprinted

The FBI does not accept a background check request without fingerprints. There are two ways to submit them:

• Ink-and-card (Form FD-258). Any local police station, notary, or approved fingerprinting service can take ink prints on the FBI’s official FD-258 card. This is the only method the FBI accepts if you’re applying directly by mail.
• Channeler (electronic submission). FBI-approved private companies (“channelers”) can submit your fingerprints electronically, which is faster and is how most expedited requests are processed. If you’re outside the U.S., a channeler is usually the only realistic option, since most countries don’t have a reliable way to get ink cards to the FBI by mail without long delays.

Step 2: Submit the Request to the FBI

Once fingerprinted, the request goes to the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division in Clarksburg, WV, along with:

• The fingerprint card or electronic submission
• A completed Applicant Information Form
• The processing fee (currently $18, payable by credit card, check, or money order for mail submissions — channelers typically bundle this into their own fee)

Direct-to-FBI turnaround is typically 2–4 weeks by mail once the request is received — but that clock doesn’t include the time to get fingerprinted, mail the request, and get it back, which routinely stretches the real-world total to 6–10 weeks before you even have the base document to apostille.

Step 3: The FBI Returns Your Identity History Summary

If your fingerprints match a criminal record, the Summary lists it. If not, it comes back as a “no record” letter — this is normal, and it’s what almost every visa or employment applicant receives.

Step 4: Submit the Summary for a Federal Apostille

This is where the document goes to the U.S. Department of State, Office of Authentications in Washington, DC. The office verifies that the signature and seal on the FBI Summary are genuine and attaches the apostille certificate — a physical page permanently bound to your document.

DIY mail-in submission requires:

• The original FBI Identity History Summary
• A completed DS-4194 form (request for authentications service)
• The correct fee per document (check the current fee at time of submission — fees change periodically)
• The destination country, stated correctly — the apostille is issued for use in a specific Hague Convention country

Mailed directly to the State Department, this step alone typically takes an additional 4–8 weeks, on top of however long the FBI check took — which is why a document requested “from scratch” by mail can easily take 2–3 months start to finish, matching what most people report in visa-deadline forums. Our processing time guide breaks down where those weeks actually go.

Common Reasons an FBI Apostille Gets Rejected

• Fingerprint card illegible or incomplete — sent back by the FBI before an Identity History Summary is even issued.
• Submitting a photocopy or scanned printout instead of the original sealed document.
• Missing or incorrectly completed DS-4194 form.
• Document too old. Many receiving countries (commonly within 3–6 months of issuance) won’t accept an apostille on a background check that’s aged out — even though the apostille itself has no expiration under U.S. rules. This is a receiving-country requirement, not a State Department one, so always confirm with whoever is requesting the document.
• Wrong apostille type. An FBI background check is a federal document — it needs the federal apostille from Washington, DC, not a state apostille from a Secretary of State’s office. Sending it to the wrong office is one of the most common (and most time-costly) mistakes, because it isn’t caught until the wrong office rejects it.

Wondering about notarization? It’s not part of this process — here’s the full answer on notarization.

DIY Mail-In vs. Using an Expedited Service

Every step above can be done yourself, by mail, for the cost of government fees alone. The trade-offs:

If you want the DIY route, we’ve written an honest step-by-step DIY federal apostille guide — no upsell, just the process.

Country-Specific Notes

What the receiving country expects beyond the apostille itself — translation, document age limits, which visa categories actually require the check — varies. We maintain dedicated guides for the highest-volume destinations:

• Colombia — M-type and R-type visas
• Spain — non-lucrative and digital-nomad visas
• South Korea — E-2 teaching and F-6 marriage visas
• China — Z-visa work permits (apostille accepted since Nov 2023)
• Philippines — SRRV retirement and 13(a) marriage visas
• Mexico — naturalization, adoption, and INM procedures
• Dominican Republic — residencia provisional
• Costa Rica — pensionado and rentista residency
• Panama — Pensionado and Friendly Nations visas
• Ecuador — jubilado and rentista visas
• Brazil — marriage and retirement residency
• Portugal — D7 and digital-nomad visas

For any other destination, first confirm it’s a Hague Apostille Convention member (non-member countries need embassy legalization instead), then check with the receiving institution on translation and document-age requirements — apostille rules are federal and uniform, but what a given embassy, employer, or registrar accepts on top of the apostille is not.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the FBI background check need to be notarized before it’s apostilled?

No — see our dedicated answer on notarization. The apostille itself is the authentication; adding notarization on top is not required by the State Department (though double-check if your receiving country asks for it specifically).

How long is an FBI apostille valid?

The apostille certificate itself doesn’t expire under U.S. rules. However, many receiving countries won’t accept the underlying FBI background check if it’s more than 3–6 months old — confirm directly with whoever requested the document.

Can I apostille a copy instead of the original FBI document?

No. The Office of Authentications apostilles the original signed, sealed document. A photocopy or scan cannot be apostilled.

What if I need it fast?

See our guide on same-day and expedited federal apostille service for what’s realistically possible versus what isn’t.