How to choose an apostille service

Don't have your FBI Identity History Summary yet?

You'll need that first. It's the one document we (and every service on this page) actually apostille, not the fingerprints themselves. The FBI's approved channelers for a digitally-issued, apostille-ready copy include IdentoGO and Fieldprint; see the FBI's own full list of approved channelers for every option, including ones with a location near you. Neither IdentoGO nor Fieldprint handles apostille authentication. Once you have the PDF back from whichever channeler you use, that's exactly where a service like ours picks up.

Original document, or a digital PDF?

Not every apostille needs a physical original. Some documents (including a digitally-issued FBI Identity History Summary) can be authenticated from an unedited, high-quality printout of a properly signed digital PDF. If a service insists on mailing them your only original when a compliant digital copy would do, you're taking on shipping risk you don't need to. Ask directly: does this specific document require an original, or is a digital copy enough?

Is the turnaround time realistic?

Expect a minimum of two weeks of processing within the Department of State itself, regardless of who submits your document. That clock is mostly outside any courier's control, and current volume can push it well past two weeks. Be skeptical of a flat guaranteed turnaround with no caveat for government processing time. The honest version of a turnaround promise sounds more like "we submit fast, but the government's own queue sets the floor" than a fixed number.

Is the price actually all-in?

Watch for return shipping, rush fees, or the government's own authentication fee getting added after the fact. Ask for one number that includes everything before you commit, and get it in writing.

For what it's worth: our own checkout price is genuinely all-in, the government's $20/document authentication fee and standard return shipping are already folded into the number you see, not added afterward. The only things that cost extra are ones you'd actively choose (the next-business-day rush add-on, for example), never a surprise line item at the end.

What happens if something's rejected?

Documents get rejected for fixable reasons: wrong document type, a PDF that's been resized or recompressed, information that doesn't match. Ask upfront, not after. If it's their error, do they redo it for free? If it's genuinely unclear whose fault it was, how do they decide? A service that won't answer this before you pay is telling you something.

How many other documents move through the same order?

Some services batch different customers' documents (birth certificates, diplomas, background checks) through the same office run. That's not inherently wrong, but it's also where document mix-ups and mislabeled shipments actually happen. If it matters to you, ask how your document is tracked separately from everyone else's in the batch.

Is it clear who you're actually dealing with?

Federal documents (like an FBI background check) go through the U.S. Department of State. State-issued documents, like a birth certificate or marriage license, go through that state's Secretary of State instead: a different office entirely. A service that's vague about which one applies to your document, or implies a government affiliation it doesn't actually have, is worth a second look.

Could you just do this yourself?

Honestly, maybe. The U.S. Department of State accepts mail-in requests directly from anyone: fill out Form DS-4194, print your document, mail both along with a check or money order for $20 per document to the Office of Authentications, 44132 Mercure Circle, P.O. Box 1206, Sterling, VA 20166-1206. No company, courier, or fee to us required. It's genuinely simple if you're comfortable with government forms, just budget real time for it: the State Department's own published estimate for mail-in is 5+ weeks, but the realistic current turnaround, whether you mail it in yourself or go through a service like ours, is running over two months.

Where a service like ours actually earns its fee: catching a document that would get silently rejected (a re-saved PDF that's lost its digital signature is the single most common failure we see), filling out the DS-4194 correctly the first time, and getting it submitted in person, which is faster than mail-in queues. If none of that matters to your situation, we'd rather tell you that than have you pay for something you didn't need.

If you like the idea of someone else handling the paperwork but don't need the speed of an in-person submission, that's exactly what our own mail-in service is for: same free pre-check, we prepare and mail everything correctly, at a lower price than our in-person service since no courier trip is involved. See pricing on the request form for details.

We're fine with you checking around first

Go compare us to a few other services before you decide. Genuinely, we mean that. While you're looking, here's what we'd suggest you watch for, since it isn't always obvious on a polished landing page: a turnaround promise with no mention of the government's own processing queue (see above), a site that never quite mentions you could do this yourself for free (also above), and pricing that either omits required add-ons until you've already reached the final checkout screen, or skips a real price entirely in favor of "contact us for a quote." Not by accident, that last one also gets your phone number and email into their system before you've agreed to anything.

We built the opposite of that on purpose. You see the whole process, including the do-it-yourself option, before you've paid us anything. Our checkout price is the number you're actually charged, add-ons and all, before it ever reaches your cart. No quote request, no follow-up calls. If you look around and still come back, we're glad to have earned it. If you don't, that's fine too. Either way, you'll know what to look for.