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Guide

Apostille or Legalization for an FBI Background Check

Whether you need authentication at all, which of the two kinds applies, the single most expensive mistake in the process, and what it costs.

Last updated 2026-08-01 · 7 min read

The short answer

Who apostilles an FBI Identity History Summary?

The U.S. Department of State's Office of Authentications, at $20 per document. [1] [2] A state Secretary of State cannot do it — the FBI summary is a federal document and state offices are not competent for it.

Basis
The Department of State publishes its apostille requirements and identifies itself as the competent authority for federal documents [1] [3]; the $20 fee is Item 46 of the Schedule of Fees for Consular Services at 22 CFR 22.1 [2]; whether your destination takes an apostille at all is determined by the HCCH status table for the 1961 Convention [4].
Caveat
Most people do not need this. An apostille is a requirement imposed by the receiving authority, not a finishing step on every summary. If nobody asked you for one, obtaining one adds cost and weeks for nothing.
Which of the two applies to you
Your destinationWhat it takesWho issues it
A party to the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention [4]An apostille — a single certificate, recognised by every other partyU.S. Department of State, Office of Authentications, $20 per document [2] [3]
Not a party to the ConventionConsular legalization — a chain, ending at that country's embassy or consulateThe Department of State first, then the destination's diplomatic mission, each with its own fee and queue
Asked for nothingNothing. Send the summary as issued.Nobody — and this is the most common case

Check the status table itself rather than a list on any commercial site; membership changes, and a recent accession is exactly the case a stale list gets wrong. [4]

The mistake that costs the most

The confusion is understandable: for the documents most people apostille — a birth or marriage certificate — the state office is the right answer, and most published advice about apostilles is written about those documents. It does not transfer. The competent authority follows the issuer of the document, and the issuer here is a federal agency. Apostille and Authentication of an FBI Identity History Summary

What an apostille actually certifies

Apostille
A certificate issued under the 1961 Hague Convention that authenticates the origin of a public document — the signature, the capacity of the signatory, and the seal. [6] It says the document is genuinely what it appears to be. It says nothing about the contents.
Also called hague apostille · apostille certificate

That distinction matters more than it sounds. An apostille does not make a summary more favourable, does not extend its recency window, and does not endorse the record. It removes one specific objection: that the receiving authority cannot verify a foreign seal. [6]

It also does not stop the clock. If your destination requires the summary to have been issued within, say, six months, the countdown usually runs from the FBI's issue date, not from the apostille — so the authentication step consumes part of the window rather than resetting it. Validity and Recency Requirements

The order to do things in

  1. Step 1: 1. Confirm it is actually required

    Read the instructions from the authority receiving the document. If they do not ask for authentication, stop here. The U.S. Police Clearance Certificate — What to Actually Order

    Most people stop here

  2. Step 2: 2. Check whether the destination is a Convention party

    Consult the HCCH status table for the 1961 Convention. [4] Party means apostille; non-party means the consular chain.

    Minutes

  3. Step 3: 3. Get the summary first

    Authentication is applied to an issued document. There is nothing to apostille until the FBI has produced the summary. How to Get an FBI Background Check

    The $18 step

  4. Step 4: 4. Send it to the Department of State

    The Office of Authentications handles federal documents, at $20 per document. [3] [2] Follow the Department's own current submission instructions — they set the method and change it.

    $20 per document

  5. Step 5: 5. If non-Hague, then the consulate

    Consular legalization continues after the Department of State, at the destination's embassy or consulate, on that mission's terms and fees. Each mission publishes its own.

    Only for non-parties

  6. Step 6: 6. Translate, if required

    Some authorities want the translation to cover the apostille as well as the summary. Read the requirement before commissioning it, so it is done once.

    Destination's rule

Government sources

The Department of State's own pages, the regulation that fixes the fee, and the Convention's status table — the three things that between them decide this entire question.

Common questions

Do I need an apostille on my FBI background check?
Only if the authority receiving it says so. It is their requirement, not a property of the document. Where it is required, the issuer is the U.S. Department of State. [1]
How much is it?
$20 for each basic authentication service, set at Item 46 of the Schedule of Fees for Consular Services. [2] Per document — so three documents is three fees.
Can my state Secretary of State do it?
No. State offices authenticate documents issued under state authority. An FBI summary is federal, and the Department of State is the competent authority for it. [1] [5]
Does the apostille need to be translated too?
Sometimes. Several authorities require the translation to cover every page presented, including the apostille certificate. Confirm before you commission the translation rather than after.
My destination is not in the Convention. What is different?
You need consular legalization: the Department of State authenticates the federal document, and then the destination's embassy or consulate legalizes it on its own terms. It is slower, it has more fees, and each mission publishes its own requirements. [4]
Can I get the apostille before the FBI summary arrives?
No. There is no document to authenticate until the summary has been issued. Plan the two as a sequence, and count both against your destination's recency window. How Long Does an FBI Background Check Take?

Next decision

  • Can I get an FBI background check while living abroad?

    Yes. Applying directly to the FBI is not restricted to people inside the United States. But Channelers are closed to you unless you are a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, you must arrange fingerprinting locally on an FD-258 card, and international post — not FBI processing — usually decides how long it takes.

  • I have been asked for a police clearance certificate from the United States. What do I order?

    An FBI Identity History Summary. That is the United States' federal police clearance certificate. The phrase "police clearance certificate" is not the FBI's own term, which is why searching for it on fbi.gov finds nothing useful — you are looking for the right document under the wrong name.

  • How much does an FBI background check cost?

    The FBI charges $18, and that is the same on every route. If a foreign government needs the result apostilled, the U.S. Department of State charges $20 per document. Everything else — fingerprinting, postage, a Channeler's fee, translation — is charged by private parties who set their own prices, and no government publishes those.

In depth

The reference layer, where these facts are set out at length and cited in full. You do not need any of it to act on this guide.

  • Apostille and Authentication of an FBI Identity History Summary

    Because the Identity History Summary is a federal document, it is authenticated by the U.S. Department of State — not by a state Secretary of State. This article explains that distinction, the Hague Convention fork, and what happens when the destination is not a Convention party.

  • Validity and Recency Requirements

    The FBI does not print an expiry date on an Identity History Summary. Any expiry an applicant encounters is imposed by the authority receiving it. This article explains where recency requirements come from and how to read them.

  • What Is an FBI Identity History Summary?

    The Identity History Summary is the FBI's official name for the record of arrest and related fingerprint submissions held on an individual. This article defines the document, explains what it contains, and identifies the legal authority under which a person may obtain their own copy.

References

Every source below is a primary publication of the body that controls the fact it supports. See the citation policy.

  1. [1]Apostille Requirements — U.S. Department of State. Reviewed 2026-08-01.https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/records-and-authentications/authenticate-your-document/apostille-requirements.html
  2. [2]22 CFR 22.1 — Schedule of Fees for Consular Services, Item 46 — Office of the Federal Register (eCFR). Reviewed 2026-08-01.Item 46 reads: “Authentications (by the Office of Authentications domestically): (a) Each basic authentication service $20.” Cited in preference to the Department's web pages because the regulation is the instrument that fixes the amount. The same schedule sets no fee for several categories of requester, listed at Item 45.https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-22/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-22/section-22.1
  3. [3]Office of Authentications — U.S. Department of State. Reviewed 2026-08-01.https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/records-and-authentications/authenticate-your-document/office-of-authentications.html
  4. [4]Status Table — Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents — Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH). Reviewed 2026-08-01.https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/status-table/?cid=41
  5. [5]Authenticate an official document for use outside the U.S. — USAGov. Reviewed 2026-08-01.https://www.usa.gov/authenticate-us-document
  6. [6]Full text — Apostille Convention (1961) — Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH). Reviewed 2026-08-01.https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/full-text/?cid=41

Change log

  • 2026-08-01First publication. The $20 Department of State fee read from 22 CFR 22.1 Item 46 rather than from a web page, after three failed attempts to retrieve the Department's own site.

Last updated 2026-08-01