Office of Authentications
Also called department of state authentications · DoS authentications
Definition
The office within the U.S. Department of State that authenticates federal documents for use abroad, issuing apostilles for Convention destinations and authentication certificates for others.
Context
This is the correct destination for an FBI Identity History Summary. Sending a federal document to a state Secretary of State does not produce a defective apostille; it produces none, because the state office has no authority over a federal document.
Government sources
Where this term comes from.
- Office of Authentications
U.S. Department of State · reviewed 2026-08-01
- Authenticate an official document for use outside the U.S.
USAGov · reviewed 2026-08-01
Related terms
- ApostilleA certificate issued under the 1961 Hague Convention that authenticates the origin of a public document so it can be recognized in any other Convention party without further legalization.
- Competent authorityThe body a Convention party designates to issue apostilles for documents originating within its jurisdiction.
- LegalizationThe multi-step process by which a document is certified for use in a country that is not a party to the Apostille Convention, ending with certification by that country's embassy or consulate.