Attesting Puerto Rico Documents (FAQs)

Yes - Puerto Rico documents can be legalized for use abroad with an Apostille Stamp when destined for other signatory countries without additional certification by the destination country.

When Puerto Rican documents are required for non-apostille countries, such as United Arab Emirates - Taiwan - Malaysia - Thailand - Qatar they need additional authentication by US Department of State and by the embassy of the destination country in Washington DC.

For further information see:
Puerto Rico Apostille Services

For further information about Apostille certification in Puerto Rico, see:
Puerto Rico Apostille Services

Apostille stamps can be obtained for documents signed by a Puerto Rico public official, including:

• Puerto Rico birth, death and marriage certificates
• Penal Record Certificates (Certificado de Antecedentes Penales)
• University diplomas and transcripts
• School Certificates
• Court Judgements

Other documents, such as powers of attorney, can be authenticated with an Apostille when certified by a Puerto Rico issued by the notary public.

To confirm whether your document is eligible for apostille authentication in Puerto Rico, please Contact us and we’ll check your document free of charge. For further information about our Puerto Rico apostille services and for assistance obtaining official copies of Puerto Rico documents, see:
Puerto Rico Apostille Services

Puerto Rican Apostille Stamps can normally be obtained from the Department of State in 3 business days (expedited service).

Document legalization (or attestation) is a procedure which authenticates a public Puerto Rico document so that it can be submitted in another country for official or legal purposes - for example, if you need to submit a Puerto Rico birth certificate to the authority or embassy of another country, it will often need to be legalized.

Legalizing a document in Puerto Rico certifies the authenticity of the signature appearing on the document as that of an authorized public official in Puerto Rico and confirms the capacity of that official.

• Because Puerto Rico is a member of the Apostille Convention, Puerto Rico documents can be legalized by means of an Apostille Stamp when being submitted to countries that are also members of the Hague Apostille Convention
• If a Puerto Rico document is required for a country that is not a member of the Apostille Convention, it will need to be legalized both by Puerto Rico authorities and by the embassy of the recipient country (embassy in Puerto Rico or non-resident embassy accredited to Puerto Rico).
  See: Document legalization - Wikipedia

Isarey Certification Services provides a range of services in Puerto Rico including Apostille and legalization services, notarization services, certified translation services and document retrieval services.

You can see reviews from past clients who have used our attestation and apostille services:

• ISAREY reviews on Trustpilot
• ISAREY reviews on Google

A Puerto Rico Criminal Record Certificate (Certificado de Antecedentes Penales) can be requested online:
Apply for a Puerto Rico Criminal Record Certificate (in Spanish)

Puerto Rican background checks only confirm a clean criminal record with the Puerto Rico Police Department. For a Federal background check, see: FBI Background Checks

Isarey can also obtain Puerto Rican penal record certificates for clients in need of an Apostille Stamp.

Apostilles to authenticate Puerto Rico university diplomas and transcripts can be obtained from the Puerto Rico Department of State.