Weâve used Monument Visa for the FBI apostille in the past and were happy with their service.
I just looked on their website and they are quoting 3-4 weeks for standard service ($75) and 10 business days for expedited service ($125).
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Great! Thank you for sharing.
Also a lot of places like UPS store have âLiveScanâ which transmits them electronically to the FBI for a fee.
I wasnât aware the UPS now offers such services. Thatâs good to know.
If you are lucky enough to be close to a USPS facility that does it (I live in San Diego and the entire county only has one facility), it really is the best way to go.
First you register with the FBI online and get an order confirmation number. Youâll need that to sign up the the USPS.
I have done it multiple times and each time the FBI report is in my inbox before I have walked back to my car!
I know, I lived in the Coastal North County as well. It was quite a cruise to get to that one-and-only USPS off the I-15. However, just as you said, it the quickest and easiest way to have FBI report instantly in your e-mail box, and you can move to Step 2.
Yes, and in the case of Monument Visa, you can simply forward the email version of the FBI letter to them. They can work with that to immediately start the apostille process with the State Department.
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There you go! At least that part should be quick.
I did the Post Office way and it was soooo easy! The FBI registration was pretty straight forward. Just KEEP that actual email with the PIN (not just the pin)! Just show up at a designated post office (FBI gives you the list). The results came in just a few hours!
$18 for FBI paid online
$50 to USPS when prints are taken.
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Yes, you need the PIN in the original email.
Also I encourage people to send the documents to the US Department of State directly for apostille. I have used the services and didnât have any difference in timing of receipt of the apostilled document directly using the State Deptâs form and the US Postal service. Save a bunch of $$.
Interesting⊠How long did it take during the last turn-around, and how long ago?
I think about 3 weeks but that was when things were still difficult due to COVID so perhaps faster now. Last time I needed to get that stuff was in 2022
Thatâs a big improvement over nearly 10 weeks in the end of 2021! Good to know - thanks!
The authentication office has updated their website and are now accepting walkins and appointments.
Services We Offer: Consider your travel date and our processing times when requesting services.
- Traveling in 3+ weeks: [Send your request by mail] We will process it within three weeks from the date we receive it.
- Traveling in less than 48 hours: You must [make an appointment] and show proof of urgent travel. We will process your request on the same day as your appointment.
- Traveling in 2 to 3 weeks: [Make an appointment] or walk-in to drop off your request. We will process the request in seven business days.
I assume this means the expeditors will be in the last bucket.
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A pricing update as of December 2024. Monument Visa currently charging $75 for appostille, plus $20 for mailing. So, effectively $95
If anyone reading this lives in the Carolinas - I can highly recommend Clear Voice Translations - I used them for the original apostiles for the D7 visa as well as another domestic service as well. I will need them to apostile my Birth Certificate sometime in 2025 as I will need that to marry in Portugal. I absolutely trust the team and their services are quick and efficient. clearvoicetranslations.com
Hi Wendy, did your Certificate for a True Copy documents work? We have our biometrics appointment in March and I did all of them 2 years ago (for pre-approval) using a similar template to yours. One other question is that, for the proof of dependency, I did them like you by having only one document per âcertificate for a true copy.â However, now I am going to get a couple more proofs ready and are considering combining them â for example, putting the semesterâs tuition bill and associated 529 payment together and making a certificate of true copy for both documents on the same page. I am thinking that might make it easier for them to connect the 529 tuition payment with the tuition bill? But maybe it is safer to have one certificate per document. 
Congratulations on the biometrics appointment! My true copy documents have been submitted, but there has been no biometrics appointment for us which means I canât say whether they are really accepted.
I agree that it would be easier to understand with those documents placed together in a single certificate for a true copy.
We are currently redoing submissions under the reset program and for that I ended up using South Carolinaâs apostle Service since it Takes less than a week including Mail time and I have easy access to either SC or NC notaries. (North Carolina is at 30 days for hand delivered documents. ) South Carolinaâs equivalent to the North Carolina True copy form has wording that makes putting it all in one document seem more reasonable. You attest
that the document is a true photocopy, consisting of X number of pages.
Good luck!
My lawyer is saying we donât need to translate any documents, just submit in English. Anyone else getting the same advice?
Your lawyer may be going from the recent discussion with AIMA in Braga. AIMA stated: Todos os documentos emitidos no estrangeiro tĂȘm que ser certificados na representação consular portuguesa ou apostilados.
[Sobre] a questĂŁo da tradução, regra geral de tradução Ă© para a lĂngua portuguesa, a exceção serĂĄ inglĂȘs, francĂȘs ou espanhol, sendo certo que sĂł Ă© admissĂvel se quem estiver a analisar o documento, dominar estas lĂnguas.âŠEu dou-vos o exemplo, jĂĄ falei nisto, eu dou-vos o exemplo do registro criminal do paĂs de origem americano. Por exemplo, Ă© em inglĂȘs, mas muitas das vezes o que vem lĂĄ escrito Ă© dĂșbio, mesmo em inglĂȘs.
AIMA stated that *all documents have to be certified in the portuguese consulate or apostilled. Regarding translation, the general rule is to have things in portuguese, but the exceptions are english, french or spanish. One can be certain that the document will be accepted if the person analysing the document is fluent in one of these languages. I give example of the police record from the US. It may be in English but [the text is] vague, in which case we ask for a translation.
AIMA added that it is normally the case that older [AIMA agents] are more familiar with french and today younger agents are used to english. Most understand spanish.
It is important that the document is clear, and if it is not clear, a translation will be sought.
I give the portuguese (and english) because Thomas has given both transcripts from the videoconference with AIMA. This means that you can check the transcript on this point yourself .
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