Apostille for students going abroad to study or teach

Which documents students apostille, and which office handles each

Students apostille school records, FBI background checks, birth certificates and the letters parents sign before a notary for a visa. The office depends on who signed the document: the school's state for school records, the U.S. Department of State for an FBI check, your birth state for a birth certificate and the notary's state for a letter.

The FBI check is one of several federal records that take the federal route only. The others are a naturalization certificate, a DD-214, an IRS or Social Security letter and a USCIS notice, and a notarized copy of any of them cannot be apostilled. A properly notarized copy of an ID, such as your passport or driver's license, is the exception: the state where the notary is commissioned can apostille it. Our guide to the Secretary of State apostille explains the state and federal split, and the apostille by state directory lists every state office and its fee.

Some documents on a visa checklist need no apostille at all. Spain's consulate in Boston says its medical certificate does not need one, and Italy's list for semester programs and the Brazilian and Mexican consulate lists we read ask for none. Paying for an apostille nobody asked for helps no one, so we check the list with you first. If the terms are new to you, start with what an apostille is.

Diplomas and transcripts for study and teaching abroad

A diploma or transcript is apostilled in the school's state, usually after the registrar signs a certified copy or statement in front of a notary. The apostille confirms that notarization, not your grades. If a program also wants sealed transcripts, order two sets from the registrar: one to certify and apostille, and one that stays sealed.

Most state apostille offices cannot check a registrar's signature on its own, which is why the notary comes in. A few states accept records signed by certain school officials as they are, and a few accept a notarized copy of the diploma. The rules for each state are on our diploma and transcript apostille page, and we confirm yours in the free review.

• The school's state decides. A degree from a Pennsylvania university is apostilled in Pennsylvania even if you now live in Boston. High school and college records from different states go to different offices, in one order with us.
• County steps. In New York, the county clerk certifies the notary before the Department of State apostilles the record, and in Maryland the Clerk of the Circuit Court does.
• A copy you can spare. EPIK recommends apostilling a notarized copy of your diploma, because it cannot promise to return what you send. Keep the original at home.
• One apostille per document. EPIK asks for each document to be apostilled separately, not in a bundle, and each record is one document on our price list.
• Sealed sets stay sealed. EPIK wants transcripts in the school's envelope, marked across the seal to show it was never opened, and showing when the degree was completed or conferred.

If you graduate after you apply, EPIK accepts a letter of intent to graduate from the registrar as a placeholder, but the apostilled diploma copy must reach EPIK by the deadline it sets each term. For graduate programs and licensing boards, ask each office which records it wants apostilled and when, then order enough certified copies from the registrar at the start.

FBI background checks for student visas and teaching jobs

An FBI background check for use abroad is the Identity History Summary you request from the FBI, apostilled by the U.S. Department of State. Spain's consulates and EPIK refuse state or local checks, and Portugal wants a certificate with the Hague apostille. Start it first, because it is the slowest part of a student file.

Getting the check

• Request it from the FBI. Apply online at edo.cjis.gov or by mail. The FBI charges $18 per person, and you cannot pay extra for faster service.
• Give your fingerprints. Online applicants can visit a participating U.S. Post Office for electronic fingerprints, where additional fees may apply. Otherwise the local police or a fingerprinting service takes them on a card. Abroad, U.S. embassies generally do not take fingerprints for this purpose.
• Expect the FBI's posted times. As posted in September 2026: within 48 hours of electronic fingerprinting at a Post Office for online requests, about 10 days after the FBI receives a mailed card, and up to 15 days for a request sent entirely by mail, plus mail time.
• Send it for the apostille. The FBI will not forward your result to the U.S. Department of State. The result carries an FBI official's signature, and the Department of State apostilles that signature.

What each destination wants

• Spain. For applicants 18 and over staying more than 180 days: the FBI check only, with the federal apostille and a Spanish translation by a sworn or certified translator.
• Portugal. A criminal record certificate with the Hague apostille for applicants 16 and over, from your country of nationality or any country where you lived for more than a year.
• EPIK in South Korea. A national check apostilled by the U.S. Department of State Office of Authentications. A state-level apostille will not be accepted, and if you have lived in another country for two years or more and live there now, EPIK may also want that country's check.
• Brazil. An FBI or local police clearance for the VITEM IV study visa, with no apostille on the Boston consulate's list.

Our FBI report apostille costs $199.95 with the U.S. Department of State fee included, takes 2 to 6 weeks and is fully remote: you email us the electronic FBI result, and we return the apostilled check by priority mail. For help with the request itself, see how to get an FBI background check and the FBI's own Identity History Summary instructions. A state record such as a Massachusetts CORI is not a national check, so it does not meet EPIK's rule.

Teaching English in South Korea: EPIK and private academies

For EPIK, Korea's public school program, U.S. applicants send an FBI check apostilled by the U.S. Department of State, an apostilled copy of the bachelor's diploma and sealed transcripts, according to its Spring 2026 guide. Private academies hire on a different visa and send their own lists, so confirm yours before you order anything.

The EPIK file

• Criminal record check. The FBI check, issued at the national level and apostilled by the U.S. Department of State. EPIK names the earliest date the check may carry for each intake, so time your FBI request to its current guide.
• Bachelor's diploma. An apostilled copy. A master's diploma cannot replace it, though an apostilled master's can support a higher pay level. EPIK recommends a notarized copy.
• Sealed transcripts. Alongside each apostilled diploma, in envelopes marked across the seal.
• Each document separately. Apostilled one by one, not in a bundle.
• Not graduated yet. A letter of intent to graduate can hold a placement, but the apostilled diploma copy must reach EPIK by its deadline for the term.

Visas: E-2-2 for EPIK, E-2-1 for academies

The Korean Consulate General in Los Angeles lists EPIK and TaLK teaching assistants under the E-2-2 visa, and teachers at private schools and institutes, often called hagwons, under the E-2-1 visa. For an E-2-1, you need a visa issuance number from Korea's Ministry of Justice before you apply at the consulate. Ask your school or recruiter for the document list for that step and compare it with EPIK's rules.

Intakes and timing

EPIK runs a Spring intake starting in February and a Fall intake starting in August. Its guide warns that processing times for criminal record checks can be heavily delayed and recommends starting as early as possible. Our FBI apostille takes 2 to 6 weeks once you email us the result, while a diploma apostille takes 1 to 3 weeks on Economy or 1 to 5 business days on Express in most states, so start the FBI check first and prepare the diploma copy in parallel. See our apostille guide for South Korea for other Korean documents.

Student visa apostilles, country by country

Student visa lists differ more than most students expect. Spain and Portugal ask for an apostilled criminal record check on long stays, Italy asks for recognition documents only on full degree programs, and the Brazilian and Mexican consulate lists we read ask for no apostille. Always work from the current list of the office that serves you.

Spain

Spain's consulates in Boston, New York and Los Angeles ask applicants 18 and over who will stay more than 180 days for a criminal record check from the FBI. State and local police checks are not accepted, the check needs the federal apostille from the U.S. Department of State, and a sworn or certified translator translates it into Spanish. Boston says the translation needs no apostille and the apostille needs no translation. Count your days carefully: Boston's student visa now starts 30 days before your program and ends 15 days after it, and those days count toward the 180. If you spent six months or more in another country during the last five years, Boston also wants that country's police record. The consulates need an authorization from Spain before they can issue the visa, which cannot be expedited, and Boston says the whole process lasts around two months. See our apostille guide for Spain.

Portugal

Portugal's official visa portal lists a criminal record certificate for residency visas for higher education and for temporary stay visas for study of less than a year. It must come from your country of nationality or any country where you lived for more than a year, carry the Hague apostille where the Convention applies, and it is not required for applicants under sixteen. For most U.S. applicants that is the FBI check, apostilled by the U.S. Department of State, but confirm with the consulate or visa center that serves you. See our apostille guide for Portugal.

Italy

It depends on the program. For semester and year-abroad students, the Italian Consulate General in Boston lists enrollment letters from the Italian and U.S. universities, insurance, funds and, if your own funds fall short, a notarized affidavit of support from a parent, with no apostille. Appointments are in person, no earlier than six months and no later than seven days before departure. Students enrolling in a full Italian degree pre-enroll through Universitaly and may need a Declaration of Value, which is built on apostilled, translated school records, as the degree recognition section explains. See our apostille guide for Italy.

South Korea

Degree students apply for a D-2 visa with a Certificate of Admission issued by the Korean university, according to the Korean Consulate General in Los Angeles, which notes that requirements may vary by consulate. The university sets its own admission documents, so ask it whether it wants apostilled diplomas or transcripts. The same consulate asks applicants of Korean ancestry for a long-form birth certificate, not an abstract, to review dual citizenship. Teachers should read the EPIK section above.

China

China has applied the Apostille Convention since November 7, 2023. The Chinese Consulate General in New York says its embassy and consulates in the United States stopped consular authentication that day, so U.S. documents only need a U.S. apostille. Your school or employer in China sends the list of documents, and each one is apostilled by the office that fits it: the state for school and vital records, the U.S. Department of State for an FBI check. See our apostille guide for China.

Brazil

For the VITEM IV study visa, the Brazilian Consulate General in Boston lists an FBI clearance or a local police clearance and a copy of your birth certificate, among other items, and it does not list an apostille for either. For a minor, it wants the original birth certificate or a notarized copy and an authorization form notarized by both parents. Brazil has applied the Convention since 2016, so if your school in Brazil asks for apostilled records, they come from the U.S. offices described above. See our apostille guide for Brazil.

Mexico

The Mexican Consulate General in New York lists a letter of acceptance and proof of funds for the temporary resident student visa, with no apostille, and processes applications in 10 business days. Applicants under 18 must attend with both parents. Degree recognition or professional work in Mexico is a separate process with its own document list. See our apostille guide for Mexico.

Germany

Many German universities take international applications through uni-assist, which asks you to upload certificates in their original language. Certificates issued in German or English need no translation, unless its country notes say otherwise, so U.S. records usually go in as they are. For any other language, it accepts translations only from translators authorized to translate under oath or for the courts, or from the issuing school, not from standard translation agencies. Ask your university whether it wants an apostille or certified copies when you enroll. See our apostille guide for Germany.

France

Campus France USA runs the Etudes en France application for students heading to French universities. Ask your school and the French consulate that serves you whether any U.S. document needs an apostille or a sworn translation, and send us that list. See our apostille guide for France.

Other destinations follow the same logic. Check whether the country applies the Convention in our Hague apostille country list, and read apostille vs authentication vs legalization if the office asks for something else.

Birth certificates and parents' documents for student visas

Student visas ask for a birth certificate mostly to prove who your parents are: when they sign a letter promising to support you, or when you are under 18. It must be a certified copy from your birth state, apostilled by that state, and some consulates also want it translated. A photocopy or a keepsake certificate will not work.

• Parents' support letters. Spain's consulates accept a notarized letter from your parents promising financial support, with their bank statements and your birth certificate to show the relationship. The New York consulate wants the letter and the birth certificate apostilled or legalized and translated into Spanish by a sworn translator.
• Living with your parents. Spain's Boston consulate, which serves Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Maine and Vermont, accepts a birth certificate to show that you live with your parents. It must be apostilled but does not need a translation.
• Students under 18. Spain wants the minor's birth certificate apostilled and translated, and a notarized authorization from the parents naming the adult responsible in Spain, apostilled too. Italy's Boston consulate asks for the original birth certificate and a notarized consent from a parent who cannot attend, and Brazil's Boston consulate for the original or a notarized copy and a form notarized by both parents.
• Korean ancestry. The Korean Consulate General in Los Angeles asks D-2 applicants of Korean ancestry for a long-form birth certificate, not an abstract.

Order the birth certificate from the vital records office of the state where you were born, not the one where you live, and send it to us for the apostille from that state. A letter your parents sign before a notary is apostilled by the state where that notary is commissioned, which may be a different state. Our birth certificate apostille page covers long and short forms, and power of attorney apostilles covers notarized authorizations. Studying in a parent's home country on a second citizenship? Start with our citizenship by descent guide.

Degree recognition: what happens after the apostille

Recognition is a separate decision from the apostille. The apostille proves the signatures on your diploma are genuine, and a university, ministry or recognition center abroad then decides what your degree counts for. Most start from apostilled, translated copies of your diploma and transcripts, and some want your high school records as well.

The national recognition centers of 56 countries work together in the ENIC-NARIC networks under the Lisbon Recognition Convention of 1997. Their shared website points to each country's procedure for recognizing foreign qualifications, which makes it a good first stop to learn what a destination will ask for.

Italy: the Declaration of Value

The Italian Consulate General in Boston issues Declarations of Value for degrees from schools in its consular district, so an Italian university can evaluate them. As published in September 2026, a bachelor's degree file includes:

• a copy of the diploma, signed by the registrar before a notary and apostilled by the Secretary of State
• a copy of the transcript, prepared the same way
• the high school diploma and the four-year high school transcript, signed by the principal or registrar before a notary and apostilled
• Italian translations that keep your grades exactly as they appear on the originals
• the application form and a copy of your passport

A master's degree adds the bachelor's records, and a doctorate adds both. Full degree students pre-enroll through Universitaly, and the Boston consulate lists a copy of the Declaration of Value, where applicable, among the visa documents. If your records come from schools in different consular districts, ask the consulate which one issues the declaration.

Graduate school, work permits and licenses

Graduate programs, employers and licensing boards abroad may each want apostilled records at a different stage. Ask each one which records it wants apostilled and when, and order extra certified copies from your registrar at the start, because every apostille goes on its own certified record. A professional license is a state record, apostilled by the state that issued it, which may not be your school's state. Our diploma and transcript page covers each state's rules for school records.

Sequencing your documents around semesters and appointments

Work backward from your consulate appointment or document deadline, not your flight. Start the FBI check first, order registrar and vital records next, then file the apostilles and add translations last. Offices abroad may want recent records, so leave enough time without starting so early that a document is too old for the office's own rule.

A sample sequence for a year in Spain

1. As soon as you are admitted. Get the consulate's list and your program dates, and count the days, including the extra 30 before and 15 after that Boston adds, to see whether you pass 180.
2. Before you request the FBI check. Ask how recent the check must be on the day you apply, then request it so it is recent enough then, leaving time for the FBI and our 2 to 6 weeks at the U.S. Department of State.
3. In parallel. Order your birth certificate and have your parents sign any support letter before a notary, if the consulate wants them.
4. When the apostille is back. Have the FBI check translated into Spanish by a sworn or certified translator.
5. Inside the consulate's window. Apply between six and two months before the program in New York and Los Angeles, with originals and copies.

Teaching in Korea follows the same pattern, with EPIK's intake dates in place of a semester: FBI check first, diploma copy in parallel, sealed transcripts ordered at the same time. An apostille never expires, but the document under it can be too old for the office receiving it, and each office sets its own rule, so confirm it with the consulate, university or program. See how long an apostille takes and whether apostilles expire. Deadline close? Same-day rush is available for Massachusetts and New Hampshire documents.

What student apostilles cost

Our prices are per document, with the government fee included: Economy $149.95 (1 to 3 weeks, first-class mail return), Express $199.95 (1 to 5 business days in most states, priority mail return) and the FBI report apostille $199.95 (2 to 6 weeks, fully remote). Massachusetts and New Hampshire documents can go same-day for $385.95.

Example orders

• Teaching in Korea through EPIK. A diploma copy on Economy ($149.95) plus an FBI check ($199.95) comes to $349.90, government fees included.
• A year in Spain. An FBI check at $199.95, plus a Spanish translation quoted before you pay. If your parents sponsor you and the consulate wants their letter and your birth certificate apostilled, add $149.95 for each on Economy.
• A degree program in Italy. A bachelor's diploma, a college transcript, a high school diploma and a high school transcript are four documents, or $599.80 on Economy, plus Italian translations quoted with your order.
• A close deadline. Express at $199.95 per document, or same-day rush at $385.95 for Massachusetts and New Hampshire documents, with guaranteed 24-hour turnaround.

Your registrar, the FBI ($18) and your birth state's vital records office charge their own fees for the documents themselves. Certified translation, notary service at our office and courier upgrades are optional add-ons, and embassy legalization for a non-Hague country is quoted per country. Sending records for a class, a program or a group of teachers? Ask us about a volume discount. See all our apostille services and how it works.

Mistakes that cost students a semester

Most student delays come from the FBI check: a state apostille on it, a state or local check where the consulate wanted the FBI, a notarized copy, or a request made too late or too early. The rest are school record mix-ups, such as opening the sealed transcripts or filing a diploma in the wrong state.

1. Sending the FBI check to a state. Only the U.S. Department of State can apostille it, and EPIK rejects state-level apostilles.
2. Using a state or local check. Spain's consulates and EPIK want the national FBI check.
3. Apostilling a notarized copy of the FBI check. It cannot be apostilled. File the FBI's own result.
4. Requesting the check too late, or too early. Ask how recent the check must be on your appointment day, then time the FBI request and our 2 to 6 weeks to land inside that rule.
5. Missing Spain's 180-day count. Boston adds 30 days before and 15 days after your program to the visa.
6. Opening the sealed transcripts. If the program wants them sealed, keep one set closed and apostille another.
7. Filing a diploma in your home state. The school's state apostilles it.
8. Removing staples or the apostille. Spain's Boston consulate refuses damaged criminal record certificates, and the HCCH says never to detach an apostille.
9. Paying for apostilles nobody asked for. Italy's list for semester programs and the Brazilian and Mexican consulate lists we read asked for none.
10. Using the wrong route. China and Vietnam take apostilles, Thailand needs legalization until February 28, 2027, and the United Arab Emirates and Qatar need embassy legalization. See apostille for non-Hague countries.

Ready? Start your order or send us your checklist for a free review, and we will confirm each document's route and the total price before you pay. The U.S. Department of State's authentication guidance covers the federal step, and our pages for Americans moving abroad and Golden Visa applicants cover families relocating together.