{ "$schema": "https://expatpapers.com/data/consulates.json", "description": "What each consulate publishes about the FBI Identity History Summary for US applicants. Every row is quoted from the consulate’s own instructions and carries the date it was read. Where consulates inside one country disagree, the disagreement is preserved rather than averaged.", "licence": "Free to use and cite. Attribution to expatpapers.com appreciated, not required.", "caveat": "Consulates revise instructions without notice. Every entry carries a checked date; treat anything older than a few months as needing reconfirmation. Not legal or immigration advice.", "generated": "2026-08-22", "federal": { "office": "U.S. Department of State, Office of Authentications", "address": "600 19th Street NW, Washington, DC 20006", "fee": "$20 per document", "form": "DS-4194", "byMail": "Five weeks from receipt, per the State Department. Applicants commonly report six or more.", "inPerson": "No appointments. Couriers walk in, drop off, and collect on a pick-up slip roughly two weeks later.", "dailyCap": "One request per day, maximum 15 documents, per customer or company.", "source": "https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/replace-certify-docs/authenticate-your-document/office-of-authentications.html", "checked": "2026-08-04" }, "keyFindings": [ "Recency windows are set per consulate, not per country. Consulates in the same country disagree.", "Spain is six months, not the 90 days published across most of this industry. Four consulates checked.", "Portugal is 90 days, which is almost certainly where the industry-wide figure originated.", "Italy depends on the post: San Francisco requires the FBI check, Miami and Chicago do not list it.", "Germany usually wants a Fuehrungszeugnis from the Bundesamt fuer Justiz, not an FBI report.", "New Zealand requires no apostille at all. Immigration New Zealand asks for an FBI police certificate under six months old, for stays of 24 months or more, and never mentions apostille, authentication or legalisation.", "South Korea requires the federal apostille, but for the E-2 the consulate never sees it: the apostilled check is filed to Korean Immigration Service in Korea to obtain the visa issuance number the consulate later asks for.", "The window runs from the document issue date to the submission date. An apostille does not reset it.", "The FBI releases an Identity History Summary only to the applicant or their attorney." ], "countries": [ { "country": "Spain", "slug": "spain", "visa": "Non-lucrative visa (NLV)", "verified": "2026-08-04", "summary": "Six months, and every Spanish consulate we checked says the same thing.", "apostilleRequired": true, "apostille": "Required, and it must be the federal apostille from the U.S. Department of State in Washington. A state apostille on an FBI report is refused, because no state issued the document.", "verdict": null, "translation": "Required, into Spanish, by a sworn translator (traductor jurado). The Miami consulate states plainly that the apostille itself does not need translating and the translation does not need its own apostille.", "caveat": "The window runs to the date you submit the application, not to the date of your appointment letter and not to the date Spain decides. Book on the assumption that submission day is the deadline.", "commonlyPublished": "Spain gives you 90 days from the date the FBI issues your report.", "whatSourcesSay": "Six months. We read four Spanish consulates and all four say six months, three of them in those words. The 90-day figure is repeated across this industry without a source, and it pushes people into paying for rush handling they do not need.", "page": "https://expatpapers.com/destinations/spain", "consulates": [ { "post": "Consulate General of Spain in Miami", "fbiReportRequired": true, "recency": "Six months", "quote": "Issued within six months prior to the submission of the visa application. The translation does not need an Apostille and the Apostille does not need a translation.", "source": "https://www.exteriores.gob.es/Consulados/miami/en/ServiciosConsulares/Paginas/Consular/Visado-de-residencia-no-lucrativa.aspx", "checked": "2026-08-04" }, { "post": "Consulate General of Spain in San Francisco", "fbiReportRequired": true, "recency": "Six months", "quote": "The Criminal record check certificate cannot be issued more than 6 months preceding the submission of the visa application.", "source": "https://www.exteriores.gob.es/Consulados/sanfrancisco/en/ServiciosConsulares/Paginas/Consular/Visado-de-residencia-no-lucrativa.aspx", "checked": "2026-08-04" }, { "post": "Consulate General of Spain in Chicago", "fbiReportRequired": true, "recency": "Six months", "quote": "It cannot be older than 6 months from the application date. The certificates must be translated into Spanish by a certified translator.", "source": "https://www.exteriores.gob.es/Consulados/chicago/en/ServiciosConsulares/Paginas/Consular/Visado-de-residencia-no-lucrativa.aspx", "checked": "2026-08-04" }, { "post": "Consulate General of Spain in New York", "fbiReportRequired": true, "recency": "Six months", "quote": "The certificate cannot be older than 6 months.", "source": "https://www.exteriores.gob.es/Consulados/nuevayork/en/ServiciosConsulares/Paginas/Consular/Visado-de-residencia-no-lucrativa.aspx", "checked": "2026-08-04" } ] }, { "country": "Italy", "slug": "italy", "visa": "Elective residency visa", "verified": "2026-08-04", "summary": "It depends entirely on which consulate holds your jurisdiction. Some require it, some do not list it at all.", "apostilleRequired": true, "apostille": "Where the FBI check is required, it is a federal document, so the apostille comes from the U.S. Department of State. Italy is a party to the Hague Convention.", "verdict": null, "translation": "Set by the consulate. San Francisco lists the FBI check without attaching a translation requirement to it. Others require a translation into Italian. Confirm with the post handling your file before paying a translator.", "caveat": "A consular officer can ask for documents beyond the published list at their discretion, and the San Francisco instructions say so directly. A consulate not listing the FBI check is not a promise it will never be asked for.", "commonlyPublished": "Italy requires an apostilled FBI check issued within 90 days, for every elective residency application.", "whatSourcesSay": "Neither half holds. San Francisco does require it and says six months, not 90 days. Miami and Chicago do not list it on their published elective residency instructions at all. Which consulate holds your jurisdiction is decided by where you live, and you cannot choose it.", "page": "https://expatpapers.com/destinations/italy", "consulates": [ { "post": "Consulate General of Italy in San Francisco", "fbiReportRequired": true, "recency": "Six months", "quote": "FBI Criminal Background check (\"Identity History Summary\") issued within the last six months. Applicants can find instructions for ordering their background checks through www.fbi.gov. Please note that these require fingerprinting by a local police authority.", "source": "https://conssanfrancisco.esteri.it/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/ELECTIVE-RESIDENCY-VISAS-SF-Consulate.pdf", "checked": "2026-08-04" }, { "post": "Consulate General of Italy in Miami", "fbiReportRequired": false, "recency": null, "quote": "Its published elective residency instruction sheet lists passport, proof of residence, photograph, application form, lease or deed, proof of private income, mailing declaration, return envelope, bank statements, two banking or accountancy references, tax returns and a letter of intent. No criminal record certificate appears on the list.", "source": "https://consmiami.esteri.it/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/ELECTIVE_RESIDENCY_VISA_istruzioni_Miami.pdf", "checked": "2026-08-04" }, { "post": "Consulate General of Italy in Chicago", "fbiReportRequired": false, "recency": null, "quote": "Its elective residence checklist runs to twelve items and does not include a criminal record certificate or an FBI background check.", "source": "https://conschicago.esteri.it/en/servizi-consolari-e-visti/servizi-per-il-cittadino-straniero/visti/visa-categories-and-requirements/elective-residence-national-long-term-visa/", "checked": "2026-08-04" } ] }, { "country": "Germany", "slug": "germany", "visa": "Residence permit (Aufenthaltstitel)", "verified": "2026-08-04", "summary": "Germany usually wants a German Führungszeugnis, not an FBI report — and you can order one yourself for 13 euros.", "apostilleRequired": true, "apostille": "German missions cannot issue apostilles, and a Führungszeugnis obtained from the Federal Office of Justice is a German document, so no U.S. apostille applies to it. Where a German authority does ask for the FBI report, the apostille is federal and comes from the U.S. Department of State.", "verdict": null, "translation": "A Führungszeugnis is already in German, which is the point. An FBI report generally needs a certified translation (beglaubigte Übersetzung), which is a cost the Führungszeugnis route avoids entirely.", "caveat": "Requirements differ by permit type and by the Ausländerbehörde handling your case, and some employers ask for a U.S. check separately. Ask which document is wanted before ordering either one.", "commonlyPublished": "Americans moving to Germany need an apostilled FBI background check.", "whatSourcesSay": "Often not. The Federal Office of Justice issues the Führungszeugnis to anyone aged 14 or over, including people who have never set foot in Germany, for 13 euros. Any U.S. notary can certify your signature on the application. That is a cheaper, faster document in the language the authority reads, and it is frequently the one actually being asked for.", "page": "https://expatpapers.com/destinations/germany", "consulates": [ { "post": "Bundesamt für Justiz (Federal Office of Justice)", "fbiReportRequired": null, "recency": null, "quote": "If you are aged 14 or over, you can apply for a certificate of conduct. Applicants living outside Germany may apply in writing with their signature officially certified by a German diplomatic or consular representative, a public authority, or a notary. The fee is 13.00 euros.", "source": "https://www.bundesjustizamt.de/EN/Topics/FederalCentralCriminalRegister/CertificateofConduct/CertificateofConduct_node.html", "checked": "2026-08-04" } ] }, { "country": "Portugal", "slug": "portugal", "visa": "D7 and D8", "verified": "2026-08-04", "summary": "Ninety days, and this is the one country where that number is actually correct.", "apostilleRequired": true, "apostille": "Required, and the checklist names the Hague Convention explicitly. Because the FBI report is federal, the apostille comes from the U.S. Department of State in Washington, never from a state.", "verdict": null, "translation": "The Washington checklist does not attach a translation requirement to the criminal record certificate itself. AIMA and individual posts may still ask for a certified Portuguese translation, so confirm with the post handling your file before assuming you can skip it.", "caveat": "Ninety days is genuinely tight. The window runs from the FBI issue date to the day you submit, and the federal apostille alone takes about two weeks in person or five or more by mail. Order the report only once your appointment is booked, not before.", "commonlyPublished": "Ninety days is the rule for FBI checks across southern Europe.", "whatSourcesSay": "It is the rule for Portugal, and we could not find a single Spanish consulate that applies it. Portugal is almost certainly where the figure originated. It then got copied onto Spain, where all four consulates we read say six months. One number, two countries, and it is only right for one of them.", "page": "https://expatpapers.com/destinations/portugal", "consulates": [ { "post": "Embassy of Portugal in Washington, D.C.", "fbiReportRequired": true, "recency": "90 days", "quote": "Se o requerente tiver residido nos EUA por mais de um ano, o certificado de registo criminal deve ser emitido pelo FBI, devidamente apostilado (Convencao de Haia) e emitido ha menos de 90 dias antes da apresentacao do pedido de visto. (If the applicant has resided in the USA for more than one year, the criminal record certificate must be issued by the FBI, duly apostilled under the Hague Convention, and issued less than 90 days before the visa application is submitted.)", "source": "https://washingtondc.embaixadaportugal.mne.gov.pt/images/d7_-_visto_de_residencia_para_residencia_de_reformados_religiosos_e_pessoas_de_rendimentos_-_pt.pdf", "checked": "2026-08-04" } ] }, { "country": "South Korea", "slug": "south-korea", "visa": "E-2 language instructor and F-4 overseas Korean", "verified": "2026-08-06", "summary": "Korea does require an apostilled criminal record check. For the E-2 the consulate never sees it, and it is due weeks before the appointment people count back from.", "apostilleRequired": true, "apostille": "Required, and federal. The Seattle consulate names the office by hand — an \"apostille confirmation by US Department State office of Authentications (Washington D.C)\". An FBI report carries no state seal, so a state Secretary of State has nothing on it to certify.", "verdict": "Yes, you need it — but the two sources are describing two different desks, not disagreeing. The F-4 applicant hands the apostilled FBI report to the consulate. The E-2 applicant does not: the apostilled check goes to Korean Immigration Service inside Korea, normally filed by the employer, to produce the visa issuance number that the consulate then asks for. Counting backwards from your consular appointment is how E-2 applicants miss it by a month.", "translation": "Not stated on any Korean source we read. Neither the ministry’s E-2 requirements nor the Seattle consulate attaches a translation requirement to the criminal record check. We also found nothing ruling one out, so ask the office handling your file rather than reading silence as a no.", "caveat": "The six-month clock runs from the day the FBI issues the report, not the day the apostille is attached — Seattle states that in those words, so a slow apostille eats your window rather than resetting it. Separately, the ministry warns that immigration \"will not recognize the criminal records issued by online website or E-mail notarized by consulate’s office in Korea\". We read that as aimed at records notarised inside Korea rather than at a printed electronic FBI report, but we have not found a Korean source that says so outright. If your employer is filing on your behalf, ask them which form they were given before you order anything.", "commonlyPublished": "You bring your apostilled FBI check to the Korean consulate with your E-2 application.", "whatSourcesSay": "Not to the consulate. Seattle’s published E-2 list contains no criminal record check at all, because by then Korean Immigration Service has already issued your visa issuance number — and the apostilled check is part of what produced it. The document is due at the start of the process, in Korea, not at the end of it in the United States.", "page": "https://expatpapers.com/destinations/south-korea", "consulates": [ { "post": "Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Seattle — F-4 overseas Korean visa", "fbiReportRequired": true, "recency": "Six months", "quote": "Criminal history record check issued by FBI and apostille confirmation by US Department State office of Authentications (Washington D.C) It must be issued within 6 months before application submission (No Exceptions). FBI criminal background check is only valid for 6 months from its date of issuance by the FBI (Not from the date of Apostille).", "source": "https://overseas.mofa.go.kr/us-seattle-en/brd/m_23042/view.do?seq=1", "checked": "2026-08-06" }, { "post": "Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Seattle — E-2 foreign language instructor", "fbiReportRequired": false, "recency": null, "quote": "Its published E-2 document list asks for the visa application carrying a visa issuance number already granted by Korean Immigration Service, the passport, a photograph, the fee, the consul’s checklist, proof of residency and two nationality documents. No criminal record check and no apostille appear anywhere on it.", "source": "https://overseas.mofa.go.kr/us-seattle-en/brd/m_23042/view.do?seq=8", "checked": "2026-08-06" }, { "post": "Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Korea — E-2 visa requirements", "fbiReportRequired": true, "recency": null, "quote": "A criminal record check which covers your whole country, and also from your country’s government. The records must be affixed with the relevant nation’s Apostille. According to the Korean immigration law a criminal background check from the Korean Ambassador of your country will not be accepted.", "source": "https://overseas.mofa.go.kr/ch-en/brd/m_7996/view.do?seq=700052", "checked": "2026-08-06" } ] }, { "country": "New Zealand", "slug": "new-zealand", "visa": "Visas for a stay of 24 months or longer", "verified": "2026-08-06", "summary": "You need an FBI police certificate for a stay of 24 months or more. You do not need an apostille — Immigration New Zealand never asks for one.", "apostilleRequired": false, "apostille": "Not required. Immigration New Zealand’s police certificate guidance and its guidance on supporting documents do not mention an apostille, authentication or legalisation anywhere. The certificate is uploaded with the online application. We sell apostilles, and we are telling you not to buy one for this.", "verdict": "Both sources agree, and neither mentions an apostille. Order your FBI Identity History Summary, keep it inside the six-month window, upload it with the application. That is the whole requirement. There is nothing on this page for us to sell you.", "translation": "Only where the certificate is not in English. An FBI Identity History Summary is issued in English, so nothing to translate arises for a US applicant.", "caveat": "Two things still catch people. The six-month clock runs to the day you submit, not to the day New Zealand decides, and INZ says it may ask for a fresh certificate if your original reaches a year old while the application is still open. And the 24-month threshold is about the stay you intend, so a shorter visa you plan to extend can put you over the line.", "commonlyPublished": "Americans moving to New Zealand need their FBI background check apostilled.", "whatSourcesSay": "Immigration New Zealand asks for a police certificate, not an apostille, and the word does not appear in either of the pages that set the rule. What it does set is a six-month window and a 24-month threshold, and for US applicants it names the FBI or an approved channeler as the issuer. An apostille on top of that is roughly three hundred dollars and three weeks spent on a stamp nobody asked for.", "page": "https://expatpapers.com/destinations/new-zealand", "consulates": [ { "post": "Immigration New Zealand — police certificates", "fbiReportRequired": true, "recency": "Six months", "quote": "If you plan to stay in New Zealand for 24 months or longer, you must provide a police certificate. The police certificate is less than 6 months old when you submit your visa application.", "source": "https://www.immigration.govt.nz/process-to-apply/applying-for-a-visa/providing-evidence-and-documents-to-support-your-visa-application/good-character-requirements-and-police-certificates/police-certificates/", "checked": "2026-08-06" }, { "post": "Immigration New Zealand — US police certificates (Visa Pak 306)", "fbiReportRequired": true, "recency": null, "quote": "Applicants who require a police certificate from the United States of America (USA) to obtain this through either the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) or an approved channeler.", "source": "https://www.immigration.govt.nz/formshelp/visa-paks/2017-apr-21-united-states-of-america-police-certificates-issued-by-the-federal-bureau-of-investigation-or-an-approved-channeler", "checked": "2026-08-06" } ] } ] }