How to Fill Out and Submit Form DS-4194: Fees, Mailing, and Timeline

Form DS-4194, the Request for Authentications Service, is the cover sheet you send to the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Authentications when you need an American document certified for use in another country. You fill out four short sections, attach your original documents and a $20-per-document payment, include a prepaid return label, and either mail the package to Sterling, Virginia, or walk it in to the D.C. office. The office then attaches either an apostille or an authentication certificate, depending on your destination country.

What the Form Actually Gets You

The Office of Authentications verifies the signature and seal of the U.S. official who signed your document. It does not verify what the document says. What comes back depends on where the document is going, and you do not choose between the two options.

If the destination country belongs to the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention, you get an apostille, and that is the final step before the document is usable abroad.
If the destination country is not a Hague member, you get an authentication certificate, and you still need to take the document to that country’s embassy or consulate in the United States for a separate legalization.¹

Check your destination country’s status before you file anything. If it is not a Hague member, contact its consulate first, because there is no point running a five-week State Department timeline only to learn the embassy wants a different format.

Prepare Your Documents First

Most DS-4194 rejections come from documents that arrive without the intermediate certifications the federal office needs to verify a signature. Sort your documents into three types and follow the chain for each.

State-issued documents such as birth certificates, marriage licenses, court orders, and diplomas need certification from the secretary of state in the issuing state before you send them on. The state secretary of state confirms the local official’s signature, and then the federal office confirms the secretary of state’s signature. State-level fees generally run between $2 and $26.

Federal documents such as FBI background checks, certificates of naturalization, and patent or trademark copies go directly to the Office of Authentications. No intermediate step.

Notarized documents such as powers of attorney, affidavits, and corporate resolutions need the notary’s signature, seal, and a complete notarial statement. Some states require a county clerk to certify the notary’s commission before the document reaches the secretary of state; others do not. Confirm the chain with your state’s secretary of state office.

Send originals or certified copies. Photocopies are not accepted.²

Filling Out the Four Sections

Download the current version of the form from the State Department’s website before you start. Older versions still float around online.

Section 1: Your Contact Information

Full name (or company name), mailing address, email, and phone number. The office uses this to reach you if something is wrong with your submission, so a typo in your email can mean weeks of silence while your documents sit unprocessed.²

Section 2: Return Shipping

Indicate your carrier (USPS, UPS, DHL, or other), the tracking number of the prepaid return label you are including, and the complete return address. All documents go back to a single address. The office does not return documents by FedEx and will not split a request across multiple envelopes. For international returns, make sure your prepaid label covers international shipping.²

Section 3: Courier or Representative

Only fill this out if someone else is submitting or picking up on your behalf. If your representative is retrieving documents in person, their name must also appear in Section 2, and they will need a government-issued photo ID at pickup.²

Section 4: Document Information

List every document in the table. For each one, give the destination country, the number of copies, and the document type (state-issued, federal, or notarized). If the same document is going to two different countries, list it as two separate line items. Classifying a state-issued birth certificate as federal will send the request down the wrong verification path and get it bounced back.²

Fees and Payment

The fee is $20 per document, not per page. A ten-page notarized contract is one document at $20; five separate birth certificates are $100. The fee is not refundable under federal law, so count carefully before you pay.³

How you pay depends on how you submit. Mail submissions take a check (personal, corporate, certified, cashier’s, or traveler’s) or money order made payable to the “U.S. Department of State.” The customer’s name and address must be preprinted on checks, and the check number must be over 100. Do not mail cash or credit card information. Walk-in submissions take credit card, debit card, or contactless payment such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay. The walk-in office does not accept cash, checks, or money orders.³

If a mail-in payment is short, the entire package comes back unprocessed.

Where to Mail It

Send the completed DS-4194, your documents, payment, and prepaid return label to:

U.S. Department of State
Office of Authentications
44132 Mercure Cir.
P.O. Box 1206
Sterling, VA 20166-1206⁴

Use a trackable service. These are original legal documents, and the office does not confirm receipt. USPS Certified Mail, UPS, and DHL all work. Hang on to your tracking number.

Walk-In Submissions

If you cannot wait five weeks, you can drop off in person at:

Office of Authentications
600 19th Street NW
Washington, DC 20006

Walk-in hours are 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m., Monday through Thursday. The office processes requests on Fridays but does not accept walk-ins or appointments that day. Each visit is limited to one request per day and a maximum of 15 documents. Walk-in requests are processed within seven business days.⁴

Same-Day Emergency Appointments

Same-day processing is available by appointment if you need to travel to a foreign country within the next two weeks because an immediate family member abroad has died, is dying, or has a life-threatening illness or injury. Immediate family covers parents, legal guardians, children, spouses, siblings, and grandparents. Bring proof of the emergency, such as a hospital letter on official letterhead or a death certificate, and proof of international travel within two weeks, such as a flight itinerary.⁴

How Long It Takes

As of late 2025, the posted processing windows are:

Mail-in: five or more weeks from the date the office receives your package.
Walk-in drop-off: seven business days.
Emergency appointment: same day.⁴

The office does not give individual status updates by phone during processing. Your carrier tracking numbers, outbound and return, are the practical way to follow the package.

If a document cannot be authenticated because it lacks an intermediate certification, has an incomplete notarial statement, or arrived as a photocopy, the office returns it with an explanation. You still lose the processing time. Getting the prerequisites right before you mail is worth the extra week up front.

After Your Documents Come Back

If your destination country is a Hague member, you are done. The apostille is the final step, and the document is ready for use abroad.

If your destination country is not a Hague member, the authentication certificate is not the finish line. Take the document to that country’s embassy or consulate in the United States for legalization. Each embassy sets its own fees, requirements, and turnaround times, so confirm what they need before you file the DS-4194, not after.

1
Hague Conference on Private International Law. Apostille Section
2
U.S. Department of State. DS-4194 Request for Authentications Service
3
U.S. Department of State. Requesting Authentication Services
4
U.S. Department of State. Office of Authentications