These organizations like the one above and the one I used (Global) only speed the time to getting the documents to be apostilled to the Dept of State. They can not speed up the actual apostille process itself. The “rush” service that was available for an extra cost pre-COVID is not happening.
I did it about 3 weeks ago - I was frankly surprised to get it back so quickly. Even the company told me it would take 1.5 to 2 months. But I got the forms back and it looked legit and my lawyer said it was good.
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For anyone monitoring this thread and waiting on an apostille from the US State Department, I was told last week (week of November 9) that they were currently working on mail received the week of September 14 - - so about a 7 week delay just to open the incoming requests. He did also say that for FBI Background Check apostilles, they would typically be processed by Friday of the week that the request was opened.
Given the long delays in getting some apostilles back, I spoke with my legal team and wanted to share some information. Delays can lead to problems, such as crossing an important date (ex. in my case a child turning 18) or put you in danger of your documents (like FBI background checks) becoming outdated over 90 days old. If this is a concern, you can potentially submit your initial application to SEF with what you have (including any yet to be fully apostilled documents). What will happen is that SEF will review the documents, find something lacking and will reach out for your team to fix the gap. Hopefully, by then your documents have been completed and you will complete the file. Understand this is obviously less than ideal, and may lead to a delay down the road, but it can avoid up front problems. Of course, discuss this with your PT-based lawyer but I wanted to put it out there so people are aware of the possibility.
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Larry,
Not disagreeing with you here. In fact, I had the same idea. However, my lawyers advised against this approach and said I should have all documentation in line before filing. I don’t know whether they are right or wrong, but I assume they know more than I.
Based on what I have heard about the D7 process, you are right that if documents are missing or incorrect then SEF will follow up and ask for more details. I don’t know whether the ARI visa process works in the same way.
Obviously less than ideal under normal circumstances but you do what you have to do. My legal team has successfully done this before, so take that for what it is worth. I am told SEF reviews your initial application about 1-2 months after submission and the request for corrections will only delay you 1-2 weeks. So just putting it out there in case people need it in these extraordinary times.
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So, I’ve seen that the Spanish authorities have been forgiving/understanding regarding the 90 day FBI visa process and the US state department delays. Has anyone heard anything with regard to the Portuguese?
See our discussion immediately preceeding your comment.
My legal team also suggested submitting FBI background check without the apostille with the initial application. Then, resubmit the apostille afterwards.
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Did you do this? What was the result? Thanks.
We have not submitted the application yet. We are still finalizing fund subscription. But, the plan is to submit the background check without the apostille first.
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Thank you @wanderlust000 for posting your experience with apostille-legalization.com. After reading your post, we just had the same great experience - exactly 3 weeks after the scanned FBI reports were emailed to Ksenia in their office, we got the scanned apostilled documents emailed back to us (the print copies are on their way to us via priority mail at the moment). While they can’t guarantee faster turnaround, they have a particular way that they handle their submissions that seems to work very quickly, and their rates were quite reasonable - a total of $112 for 2 FBI reports, including the US DoS fees and priority mail of the print copies back to us.
Certainly better timing than the 2-3 month turnaround time after the US DoS opens mailed-in requests (per the US DoS website), and last I checked they are still 2 months behind on even opening mail.
Hope this information helps others in this process.
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@drlward, thanks to much for this fantastic guide. Just a quick question. Do you need an appointment with the post office? The FBI site seems to imply that but I can find no information on how to do that. Closest I’ve seen on the USPS site is passport applications.
Thanks!
Steve
@lonerockz, We called the closest post office that was listed that offered the fingerprinting service, and for that particular post office, no appointment was needed. I do not know if that holds true for other ones, so best to call. You do need to already have applied on the FBI site and take your “D#” in with you when you go in for your fingerprints.
FYI, by the time we got in the car after getting the digital fingerprints done, we had gotten our emailed PDFs from the FBI.
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You do not need an appointment. Just make sure you choose a PO that does fingerprinting. As @Jake-n-Ann mentioned, have your number with you that comes on your confirmatory email from the FBI when you apply. Much better to do this than the manual method using a fingerprinting card.
Thanks, folks. The odd thing is I applied on the FBI site and found no way to request electronic fingerprints. My Daughter signed up and was given the option and then sent a link to the post office to register and details on how to go and get it done. I was able to cut down the link to not autofill the details and register (https://ips.usps.com/IdentityCapture/), but I have no idea if the FBI will receive the details. I’ve contacted the FBI to see if I can change to electronic delivery. We shall see!
I remember now - you have to register on the USPS site. That is how they bring you up on their computer system once you give them the FBI number. It is not a set appointment date/time but you do pre-register.
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@anon16151502, At a high level, they bundle FBI report apostille request(s) (which are not eligible for urgent service) with apostille requests that qualify for urgent service. This does not always produce a fast turnaround for the FBI report apostille request, but it seems in our case and wanderlust000’s case, it did. Beyond that explanation, I recommend you call or email them. Hope this helps.
Awesome, glad to hear that it went for you as well!
In case anyone else has this problem, where you can’t select anything but mailing in the fingerprint card. The cause is they may not be able to map your zip code to some local post office that offers electronic services. My zip didn’t work. But I changed my mailing address to C/O my son (17 miles away) and then I could select electronic fingerprints and register at a post office that is 3 miles from me and 15 miles from my son. Hooray for low bid government web site contracts.
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