Office of Authentications, Washington DC

This has to be the worst government agency in the US, and that’s not saying much. My document was received by their office on June 26th. I’ve been waiting for 12 weeks today. I’ve tried checking my status the past 2 weeks and no reply. When you call, you are on hold for hours and hours. I was on hold for an entire day this week. It’s gotten so bad that they have basically given up on their jobs. I think the only way to get a reply is to get a politician involved. This is the sad state of the country we live in. I’m worried it might be lost, and there’s really no way to find this information out. It’s frustrating at best.

Simply announcing that you need 11 weeks does not grant you the right to do subpar work for people. Just as you don't actually require that much time to obtain a document with two signatures and one stamp. The apathy and bureaucracy within your office are indeed disrespectful and disregard the needs and rights of all individuals. This is something that should never happen in such a powerful democratic society.

There are no words to describe how utterly ridiculous it is trying to have authentications done. There is no excuse after the pandemic to have to wait this long for something so simple. This is causing people to lose jobs, stress about obtaining visas, etc. They seriously need to get their act together! It isn't fair to the tax paying American people. Seriously, what is the point of paying taxes when simple things like getting a passport renewed or an attestation take months? Other countries do it the same day, or 1 or 2 weeks. Get your act together because we deserve better than this.
***UPDATE: July 31st. Still nothing. I am absolutely disgusted with this department. I pay taxes like everyone else, yet a simple attestation can't be done in a timely matter? Your department should be embarrassed! Do you not care that people are losing out on visas, job opportunities, etc, because of your ineptitude? I have literally reached out to my congressman. They even tried. I have no words.

The most ridiculous and utterly rude office and status update staff. First you are put on hold for almost hour and then finally when they answer, utterly rude. For a simple service (10min max) you have to wait for weeks. That's beyond ridiculousness and reason. There is no excuse for not having in person apointment, it will make it much easier on staff and speed up the process. Who ever is incharge of this office, should be ashamed and resign as this office is a disgrace to our great nation.
This attitude is even worse compare to a poor underdeveloped third world country. Even they have far more better and professional service.
Utterly disgrace and unprofessional.

Completely incompetent. Why does it take so long? They blame COVID but COVID has been over for a while now. It’s their incompetence and lack of staff.

The worst processing time, bad phone lines and no one ever answers. You sit for hours waiting for a response

This office used to be the epitome of efficiency (pre-pandemic). Why they do not go back to in person when the rest of the world has is beyond me. Luckily my annual authentication needs are not as time sensitive as others who have left bad reviews but it still makes no sense why it takes 3 months to process these documents. They are now the worst government office to deal with and I am sure they are not even looking at or care about these reviews

I usually never do a review but I followed a review done by Keith where I emailed my representative explained the situation and filled out paperwork for them to expedite the process. I called the office of authentications daily to see if they had received my paperwork. In less then 2 weeks I received the paperwork back.

Wish you could give less than 1.worst agency ever. You submit a status check online which tells you they will contact you within 7 days-but they do not. You call and they HANG UP ON YOU. They are HORRIBLE.

I wish I could put down zero stars. I can't believe this department is so inefficient and cannot even function. They need to hire more competent staff! How hard is it to staple two pieces of paper together? !? !? !

The one star rating is for Ms. Matthews, who found my envelope, gave it the apostille on the same day, and mailed it to me the following morning, after the OA had claimed that it could not be located for the previous three weeks! Otherwise, I would give the OA zero stars. Thank you Ms. Matthews, you showed that when there is a will, there is a way to process this apostille in less than 24 hours. That is the reality; the apostille for the CBC can be done in one day, but they insist on drawing it out, and potentially ruining your future job. I had to call for three weeks straight, being put off and hung up on each time, just to get someone to even try to find the bucket with my envelope in it. This office claims that it takes 10 days to open 2 days' worth of mail, and for that reason, my envelope could potentially sit in a bucket for a month or more. After they eventually open your mail, the young lady who hung up on me, told me that the Apostille itself could take from 10-12 weeks. I had to call every day, and keep calling at least 3-4 times, each time asking to be put through to a supervisor, in order for a different person to come on the phone. This kind of government slowness and complete ineptitude in 2023 is absolutely unacceptable.

I wanted to leave a review here since there are so many bad ones. My experience with the Office of Authentications was the exact opposite. I wanted to share how I handled getting my Apostilled documents back quickly (back in my possession within 17 days). I first sent the form and documents Next Day Air with UPS. Once I received the notice that it was delivered, I then immediately reached out to my Representative (John Joyce in my case) and did a casework request with their office to contact the Department of State and request that they be expedited given out situation. Joyce’s office responded immediately, and said they would reach out. I then called the Office of Authentications daily to check and see if it was entered and assigned a record number yet. I was a bit worried about doing this as all of the other reviews cited nightmare scenarios of being on hold VC for a whole day and not getting through. That was not my experience. I never waited on hold for longer than 12 mins and most times it was less than 5. I always selected “Option 1” for general information and then requested to be transferred to the application update folks. Perhaps this was the difference? Either way, each person I spoke to daily was super respectful and helpful. It did take 10 days for it to be entered into the system which they did say it could take up to 2 weeks. Lastly, I did not send return postage with my forms. Calling daily to get record number meant that I was able to purchase a UPS Next Day Air return label and email it to them the exact day my case was entered into their system. Make sure to request the email from them for you to do the same. And to include your Record Number in the subject. I sent this the next day after the Office notified me that my stuff was entered into their system and assigned a case number. Within 10 hours, I received notice from UPS that my package had been scanned into the UPS system. It was delivered that next Monday morning since it was late Friday evening when it was scanned. All in all, we had our fully Apostilled documents back in 17 days. Happy to see government work for those it seeks to serve! Well done Office of Authentications.

Worse service I send my document 45 days ago I ask about update about my status they said still 6 week more it's process. I need urgent that paper. Website shows 8 weeks process.

It's been more than 12 weeks since I mailed my FBI background check to the U. S. State Department Office of Authentications, and I still haven't received my apostilled document in the mail. I tracked my record via USPS, showing that you all received it. I also submitted an Office of Authentications contact form but have not heard from anyone. I don't know why I have yet received my documents back, but this has caused a huge setback in my visa application process. I NEED my documents ASAP, but from the negative reviews, other people are dealing with this, and I'm not sure when, if ever, I'll receive an answer. Such a nuisance.

Sent in my background check for the apostille seal 6 weeks ago. Have received nothing. Spent HOURS on the phone each day for the last four days. Even on hold while I’m working. Absolutely no answer. Called at 9: 00 on the dot and somehow all their agents are busy. One of those days I was on hold even until after they closed. They’re terrible. Meanwhile I need to get my visa and this document is holding me up.

EDIT: updated 1/31/23. It took 20 weeks to receive my document and I was unable to receive my visa because of it.

I just spoke with Cass from Authentications. I am so humbled at her patience with me, she explained the process I needed for our documents to be authenticated 4 times. She made sure I had the exact information. Step by step. Best experience ever. Thank you Cass.

The mission of the U. S.government is to serve its citizens not hide behind walls of automated phone prompts and outdated pandemic related excuses.

An apostille process that used to take 5-7 days now takes 2 to 3 months? ! What changed? This is beyond unacceptable.

It’s time to remind yourselves of your mission, and serve.

This place does not work at all. It’s been a month and they can’t even find my documents in their system because it’s not even entered into the system. They keep repeating they have “high volume of mail” They have no way of checking if your mail is even arrived there even though post office tracking says it did a month ago. Rude and unprofessional. They will hang up on you even though you’re not finished asking question.