Submitting a Federal Government Background Check with Apostille
As part of the application process, all graduate and semester-abroad students studying in residence—as well as any spouses or family members over the age of 18 accompanying the student—are required to submit a copy of a federal government background check with an apostille. These documents will be used as part of the student visa application submitted to the Israeli Ministry of Interior.
Please note: the apostille process may take 4-11 weeks and should be started as soon as possible.
What is a Federal Government Background Check?
A federal government background check is a formal review conducted by a U.S. federal agency or your country of primary citizenship to verify a person’s identity, history, and suitability for a specific purpose—most commonly employment, security clearance, visas, and immigration.
For students whose primary citizenship is the United States, this is an FBI Background Check.
What is an Apostille?
An apostille is an additional level of authentication required for certain documents that will be used outside of your country of primary citizenship. For federal background checks, the apostille is issued at the federal level, not by individual states.
To obtain a federal apostille, you must first request a federal background check (typically for U.S. students an FBI Identity History Summary). Once you have received the background check, it must be submitted to the U.S. Department of State or your country of primary citizenship for apostille processing.
Because requirements and processing steps may vary, please search online for “federal background check apostille” for the most up-to-date instructions.
After you have obtained your background check with apostille, please upload the document to your JUC Portal.
Submit Federal Government Background Check (with Apostille)