FBI Background Check Apostille for Germany — What Each Consulate Actually Requires

FBI apostille for Germany

Residence permit (Aufenthaltstitel)

Germany usually wants a German Führungszeugnis, not an FBI report — and you can order one yourself for 13 euros.

Verified 2026-08-04

What you will read everywhere else. Americans moving to Germany need an apostilled FBI background check.

What the consulates actually publish. 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.

Consulate by consulate

There is no single national answer to quote, because the instruction sheets are published per post and they do not match. Below is what each one says, in its own words, with a link so you can check us. Your jurisdiction is decided by where you live, and you cannot pick a different consulate because you prefer its rules.

Issuing authority Bundesamt für Justiz (Federal Office of Justice) “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.” Read 2026-08-04 · source →

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.

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.

The order matters

Apostille first, translate second. The apostille is a physical certificate the State Department attaches to your report, so a translation prepared beforehand does not cover it and has to be redone. This is the single most common way people pay a translator twice.

The caveat we would want told to us

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.

Working backwards from your appointment

The FBI issues the Identity History Summary electronically, and a printed electronic copy is accepted for apostille. Federal apostille takes about two weeks in person, five weeks or more by mail. Add a translation if your post needs one. Three to four weeks end to end is realistic through a courier; three months is realistic if you post everything yourself and nothing goes wrong.

We are a courier, not an adviser. You order your FBI report; we get it apostilled. We cannot tell you whether your application will succeed, and nothing here is legal or immigration advice. Confirm your own consulate’s current list before you rely on it — the pages we quote can change the day after we read them.

Start an order

Federal FBI background check apostille The full federal process, its fees, and the 15-a-day cap. Timing How long a federal apostille really takes Five weeks by mail per the State Department, about two in person. Destinations Every destination we have verified What each consulate publishes, quoted, with the date we read it.

We will tell you when your consulate changes the rules

Consulates revise their instructions without announcing it. When one of the posts we track changes a window, a fee, or what it asks for, we send a short note saying what changed and what it means. No more than that, and nothing else.

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