Compared · Updated October 2026
Apostille services, compared: who gets your visa file stamped on time
Almost every Portugal residence visa asks for apostilled documents. Your criminal background check, your birth certificate and your marriage certificate are the usual three, and the apostille goes on each original before anything else happens to it. The services on this page exist because the do-it-yourself route is slow and fiddly: mailing an FBI report to the US Department of State takes 5 to 8 weeks, and one wrong form sends it back. This page compares the firms people actually use for Portugal visa files, with 2026 per-document prices, published turnarounds and the honest gaps. Checked October 2026.
Last checked: October 2026
Key takeaways
- →Portugal's consulates want original documents carrying an apostille, not copies. The apostille goes on the original document first; the translation comes after, because some authorities want the apostilled original translated rather than the translation apostilled.
- →US applicants face two tracks: state apostilles for birth, marriage, divorce and diploma certificates (issued by each state), and a federal apostille from the US Department of State for FBI background checks. Pick a service that does your track, not the cheapest one in the search results.
- →Published per-document prices run from $120 to $350 in the US and £79 to £120 in the UK. Read the line that says whether the government fee is included before you compare headline numbers: $20 in the US and £45 in the UK sit on top at some firms.
- →Turnaround is the real variable. Mailing an FBI report to Washington yourself takes 5 to 8 weeks; a service that walks documents into the Office of Authentications finishes the same job in about 7 business days.
The short answer
Just the FBI background check? Federal Apostille does it for $120 flat with the government fee included, filed in person in about 7 business days. That is the best price-to-speed ratio on this page for federal documents.
A stack of state documents? AAApostille charges $130 for the first document and $55 for each additional one, which beats everything else once you have three or more documents to file. Apostilles.us starts at $149 a document and is the smoother online experience if you only have one or two.
Working from the UK? LegaliseNow gets your documents apostilled the next working day for £90 each, fee included, through the registered-business channel. Doing it yourself through the FCDO costs £45 but runs up to 25 working days.
On a real deadline? Pay for the in-person channel. EZ Apostille's same-day tier is $275 and LegaliseNow's next-day service is £90. The mail-in DIY route is cheaper but it is the thing that makes visa files late.
The rest of this page is the comparison: every firm's published price, what each one actually handles, and what the marketing leaves out.
The eight services, side by side
Prices are published entry rates, re-checked in October 2026. Government fees are fixed by the issuing authority: $20 per federal apostille in the US, $10–$20 per state apostille depending on the state, and £45 per paper apostille in the UK. "Fee incl." means the firm folds that into its price; otherwise add it on top. Shipping is extra unless the table says otherwise.
| Service | Price | Turnaround | Best for | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Federal Apostille Washington, DC | $120 / doc (fee incl.) | ~7 business days | FBI reports, naturalisation papers, other federal documents | Federal documents only; state documents are quote-based, not flat-rate. |
Apostilles.us Nationwide US | From $149 / doc | 4–6 business days; 1-day express available | Mixed files across several states at a mid-range price | Rush-tier pricing is not published up front; ask before you commit. |
AAApostille Nationwide US | $130 first, $55 each additional | Varies by state | Three or more documents, where the $55 add-on price wins | Turnaround depends on the issuing state; confirm it in writing first. |
EZ Apostille Nationwide US | $175–$275 / doc by speed | 1–3 days (rush) to 4–14 days (standard) | A deadline that justifies paying for speed tiers | Government fees sit on top of every tier, so add $10–$20 per document. |
FBI Apostille Group Nationwide US | $275 standard, $325 expedited | 8–10 weeks standard; 3–5 weeks expedited | Applicants who want one vendor from fingerprint to apostille | Slowest express option here; the in-person filers beat it by weeks. |
Oregon Fingerprinting Beaverton, OR | $350 first, $200 each additional | 7–10 business days | Fingerprint, FBI report and apostille in a single place | The priciest federal option; state apostilles start at $250. |
LegaliseNow UK | £90 / doc (fee incl.) | Next working day | UK visa files on a deadline | £120 with solicitor certification; a five-document file adds up fast. |
The Hague Apostille UK | £79 express / doc | 1–2 working days | Cheapest UK route with a published express price | Courier is extra; vital records cannot use the cheaper e-Apostille route. |
Federal Apostille: the federal-documents specialist
Federal Apostille is a Washington, DC document service that hand-delivers federal documents to the State Department's Office of Authentications. The price is $120 flat per document, and the $20 government fee, the document review, the in-person filing and the return shipping are all inside it. The timeline once filed is 7 business days. For comparison, mailing the same FBI report yourself is processed within 5 weeks of arrival.
It also does state apostilles from all 50 states, embassy legalisation for non-Hague destinations and certified translations, and it splits mixed batches by authority so everything comes back as one package. The honest limit: state pricing is quote-based, not a published flat rate, so this firm earns its place for federal documents first and everything else second.
Apostilles.us: the smoothest all-rounder
Apostilles.us is the most polished online option for US documents. Pricing starts at $149 per document with tracked shipping included and no hidden fees, standard turnaround is 4 to 6 business days, and a 24-hour express tier exists for rushes. It covers all 50 states and territories and accepts documents bound for 120-plus countries. It holds a 95% five-star rating on Trustpilot, which is unusually high for this industry.
The gap in the public pricing is the rush tiers: the homepage leads with the $149 figure and the express price only appears during checkout. If you are on a deadline, get the rush quote in writing before you upload anything.
AAApostille: the cheapest for multi-document files
AAApostille prices simply: $130 for the first document, $55 for each one after it. That structure makes it the cheapest option on this page the moment you have three or more documents, which is exactly the size of a typical Portugal visa file. Document review is free, tracking is online, specialists answer seven days a week, and same-day certified translations in over 100 languages are available in-house.
The thing to pin down before you order is the turnaround, because it varies by state and is not published as a single number. Its own site says it will not sell you an expedited tier where the state does not offer one, which is more honest than most of its competitors.
EZ Apostille: pay-by-speed tiers
EZ Apostille sells speed as a menu: Standard at $175 (4 to 14 business days), Rush at $225 (1 to 3), Same Day at $275, and Federal at $175 (10 business days). It handles all 50 states, and its online service takes FBI reports, police checks, single-status affidavits and academic documents without the paper shuffle. Vital records still have to be shipped as originals.
The number that changes the comparison is the one printed under the prices: government fees are not included in any tier. Add the state or federal fee to every figure before you compare it with the all-inclusive firms on this page.
FBI Apostille Group: the end-to-end FBI route
FBI Apostille Group does one thing: FBI background checks, from fingerprint to finished apostille. Standard service is $275 with an 8 to 10 week timeline; expedited is $325 with a 3 to 5 week timeline. Both prices are all-inclusive, covering the government fees, the submission coordination and the return shipping. You can submit an existing report as a PDF or have them mail you a fingerprint card for a fresh check.
It is a well-run service, but be honest about what the word expedited means here: 3 to 5 weeks, while the firms that walk documents into the Office of Authentications finish in about a week. Use it when you need the fingerprint-to-apostille chain in one place, not when you need it fast.
Oregon Fingerprinting: fingerprints to apostille, one vendor
Oregon Fingerprinting in Beaverton is built around the full chain: electronic fingerprinting (results in about 30 minutes through a channeler), the FBI report, and the federal apostille at $350 for the first document and $200 for each additional one, in 7 to 10 days with 2-day US return shipping included. State apostilles for Oregon and Washington start at $250, with faster tiers available.
It is the most expensive federal option on this page, and it knows it. You pay for never visiting a second vendor: if you still need the background check itself, the competitors can only authenticate a report you already have. Useful for Portland-area applicants who can walk in; mail-in federal work is available nationwide.
LegaliseNow: the UK next-day channel
LegaliseNow is a UK service that submits through the FCDO's registered-business channel, which is the only way to reach the next-day paper service. The price is £90 per document with the £40 business-rate FCDO fee included, or £120 when the document needs solicitor certification first (degree certificates, powers of attorney, passport copies). Embassy legalisation for non-Hague destinations starts at £150 plus the mission's own fee.
Its pricing guides, checked against gov.uk in August 2026, are also the clearest public statement of what the DIY route costs: £45 per document for the standard paper apostille with a published turnaround of up to 25 working days plus courier both ways, or £35 for the e-Apostille in up to 2 working days. The catch on the cheap e-route is that birth, marriage and death certificates, ACRO police certificates and DBS certificates are all excluded from it, which covers most of what a visa file needs.
The Hague Apostille: the budget UK express
The Hague Apostille sells an express apostille at £79 per document with a 1 to 2 working day turnaround, and an e-Apostille with QES solicitor certification at £92. Solicitor certification as an add-on is £35, and courier runs from £9.75 within the UK or £75 internationally.
It is cheaper than LegaliseNow on paper, so add the courier line before you compare the totals. And remember the e-route limit applies everywhere in the UK: if your file is built on a birth certificate and a police certificate, you are on the paper service whichever firm you pick.
State vs federal: know which track you are on
One question decides everything about a US document: who issued it. A birth, marriage, death, divorce or diploma certificate was issued by a state, so the apostille comes from that state's Secretary of State. An FBI background check was issued by a federal agency, so the apostille comes from the US Department of State in Washington. Sending an FBI report to a state office is the most common mistake in this process and it costs you weeks.
This matters for picking a firm because most of them are built around one track. The federal specialists walk into the Department of State daily; the state services know each Secretary of State's counter rules. If your file has both (and a Portugal visa file usually does), either pick a firm that does both tracks or order them separately and track the slower one.
After the apostille: the translation step
Portugal's consulates accept documents in Portuguese, Spanish, French or English, but anything in another language needs a certified translation, and the apostille certifies the original document, not the translation. The order that avoids paying twice is: apostille the original first, then translate the apostilled original if your authority asks for it. Our certified translators comparison covers the translation side, including the notary-recognition rule that decides which translations Portugal accepts.
Red flags before you order an apostille
Building the whole visa file, not just the apostilles?
Tell us your nationality, your visa route and your timeline. We will scope the documents, translations, NIF and bank account together, free and with no obligation.
Request a free quoteReplies within one business day
Frequently asked questions
What is an apostille?
An apostille is a certificate issued under the 1961 Hague Convention that authenticates a public document so it is accepted in another member country. Portugal is a member, so documents from any Hague country need an apostille, not embassy legalisation.
Which documents need an apostille for a Portugal visa?
Typically your criminal background check, your birth certificate and your marriage certificate if you are applying as a couple. The apostille goes on the original document, before any translation is made.
Do I need a state or a federal apostille?
It depends on who issued the document. State-issued documents like birth, marriage and divorce certificates get a state apostille from the issuing state's Secretary of State. Federal documents like an FBI background check get a federal apostille from the US Department of State.
How much does an apostille service cost?
Published prices in October 2026 run from $120 to $350 per document in the US and £79 to £120 per document in the UK. Check whether the government fee is included: it is $20 for US federal apostilles and £45 for UK standard paper apostilles.
How long does an apostille take?
It varies widely. Mailing an FBI report to the US Department of State yourself takes 5 to 8 weeks; services that file in person finish in about 7 business days. In the UK, the DIY FCDO route runs up to 25 working days, while registered providers offer next-day service.
Should I apostille first or translate first?
Apostille first. The apostille certifies the original document, and some authorities want the apostilled original translated. Doing it in the wrong order can mean paying for the translation twice.
Price moves? We track them.
Apostille firms reprice and reword their tiers without notice. We re-verify the numbers on this page monthly and log every change. Get the update the day it happens.
Now file the visa these documents are for
The D8 digital nomad visa document chain: income thresholds, insurance requirements, apostilles and the complete-application rule, verified October 2026.
Read the D8 guide