We are getting so many different and conflicting answers about how best to do it;
1-Do the documents need to be notarized first?
2-Do we ever send out original documents, as has been requested by one vendor?
3-What is the best way/where is the best place to get documents apostilled?
4-FBI clearance-what is the best way to obtain?
Our Portuguese attorney is just not guiding us adequately.
Any guidance would be greatly appreciated, feel free to DM as well. Thank you!!
Hi Cyndy. This has been answered in other places on the forum. You could see this thread for some more discussion about it: Apostille and document preparation for US GV investors.
But in general, for documents issued in the US, you do not need to notarize them if they were issued directly by a government agency. For example, your birth certificate is an official document, hence no notarization is required.
You would need to apostille those documents, and you will always need to send the original document for apostille. You can’t send in a photocopy. Keep in mind you can always request official copies of birth/marriage certificates from your home state, which count as an “original” for this purpose.
You can get these documents apostilled yourself pretty easily by mail. Depending on which government issued the document (state or federal), you need to send it to that government for apostille.
So, for federal documents, like your FBI background check ( which you can get here, by the way ), needs to be sent to the U.S. State Department once you get it back: Requesting Authentication Services.
For state-issued documents, like your birth and marriage certificates, those need to go to their state of origin. So for example, in my home state of Oregon, I’d send it to the Oregon Secretary of State. State of Oregon: Business - How to Get an Authentication (or Apostille). You can look up your own home state.
The process is generally similar for all of them, you need to print off and fill out a cover sheet, mail your documents in with a check for the fee, and often give them a self-addressed, stamped envelope which they’ll use to return your documents. The specifics vary by state and agency, but pretty much all of them lay it out on their respective website for you.
You could pay an agency extra to do this, but all they are really doing is submitting the document for you and charging you a fee. It’s not hard at all to DIY this.
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sj-to-pt put forth an excellent summary of the process, with good direction to additional resources from this board.
I will add that at the state level, apostilling non-official documents (documents other than birth, marriage, or death certificates) is done by attesting that the document (or statement) is “true and correct.” This needs to be signed in front of a notary. The language each signs must be specific, so check the requirements.
The reason I bring this up is that people sometimes have difficultly figuring out how to apostille documents like their state background checks. My state has no apostille process for that akin to the US State Department’s one so I had to print a statement at the bottom of the report that “this is a true and correct copy of my state background check,” and have it notarized. The apostilling process is effectively confirmation that the notary is licensed and has witnessed the signature.
You can do the same with declarations. For example, if you need to prove your child is a dependent, you can get a declaration signed by a school administrator that the child is enrolled. Have a mobile notary come and sign it and boom, you’re ready to have it apostilled.
One final thing, depending on your state, make sure the notary signs with the name exactly as it appears on their stamp - it will help the apostilling process. I’ve had documents rejected because the notary stamp says “John A Smith” and the notary signed it either “J A Smith,” “J Smith,” or even “John Adam Smith.”
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Great summary @sj-to-pt ! One additional thing is once you get them back from being apostilled you need to send them off to someone for translation. Your attorney can also usually assist with that (but I have found it’s expensive). I used Languex. Just sent them a copy via email and they send back a certified translation.
We just can’t thank you all enough! This is the most clear and comprehensive explanation of the process that my husband and I have seen. We also appreciate the referrals and the links to resources. This will be invaluable to us. What a great community!
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Our pleasure. Hope you’ll stick around, and pay it forward - many of us plan to eventually apply for nationality ourselves, and would love to hear you report back down the road on how it went. 
We look forward to it! Thank you again…
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Has anyone gone the route of taking them to the Portuguese Consulate to be done? I live fairly near to the Canadian one (US Citizen). I am thinking to trying the route instead of getting them apostilized. Thinking this may be easier.
You can only do either apostille OR consulate legalization, and the choice is determined not by yourself, but by your home country’s membership (or the lack thereof) of the Hague convention.
Thank you, it seems since both Canada and the USA are part of the Apostille Convention we will have to go the route of getting them apostilized. I was hoping to avoid this as it seems time consuming. Thanks Tommy
I looked at using the SF Consulate but between their wonky website and what seemed to be a complete lack of appointments, I quickly jettisoned that idea. If you have the documents, it’s usually pretty easy to mail them to whatever office authenicates. Maybe Canadian consulates are better functioning…
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I did this over the last month:
- Do not notorize. If you do thevdocument cannot be Apostilled.
- Get 2 copies of everything done. Send two copies of your birth certificate to the state you were born in. Send two copies of your marriage certificate to the state you were married in. Send 2 copies of your fbi report to the US State Department.
- All documents can be sent directly to your Secretary of State. Google your state for the specific form annd the cost. Same with FBI report to US State Department. You do not need to pay a second service to do this for you.
- The US Post Office can do the fingerprints for the FBI report. Go to the FBI site, submit the request to them. Then take your case number to the US Post Office website - Pay for the fingerprints. Go to post office with your barcode and they will finger print you. You will have your fbi report before you get home.
Your lawyer doesnt know the US system - they probably will not be able to guide you on what form your state requires.
Our lawyer says that scanned copies of our documents are ok for the inital application. We need our originals when we go to Portugal. That means we will need to redo our FBI report because it is only good for 90 days.
Good luck
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Just to be clear, @BM_Nomad is correct that for official documents (FBI background checks, birth certificates, marriage certificates), you do not notarize them - they get apostilled as they are. For state issued official documents, you may need to specify that they are going to be apostilled when you request them - for example, in some states if you don’t request it with the official seal, it can’t be apostilled. State documents go to the Secretary of State of the state that issued the document. FBI reports go to the US State Department.
However, there are unofficial documents that you need to have notarized to be apostilled. This can include state police reports, declarations and affidavits, copies of Social Security cards, copies of passports, etc. These documents are apostilled by the Secretary of State in the state where the notary is licensed.