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Using a U.S. document in Venezuela
Step by step
- Get a certified copy of the document from the issuing office.
- Get an apostille from the competent authority of the U.S. state where the document was issued (generally the Secretary of State); federal documents (e.g., FBI background check) are apostilled by the U.S. Department of State, Office of Authentications.
- Present the apostilled document to the Venezuelan authority that requested it; under the Apostille Convention, no Venezuelan consular legalization is required.
Translation
No official Venezuelan government page about translating foreign documents could be retrieved, so the translation requirement is not confirmed.
Important
The U.S. Embassy in Caracas suspended operations on March 11, 2019. The U.S. Department of State's Venezuela country page says the State Department began a phased resumption of embassy operations in January 2026, and that 'the Venezuelan embassy and consulates in the United States are not open' (for visas it refers people to the Venezuelan Embassy in Mexico). The U.S. Embassy Caracas website is active again and lists consular and notarial services for U.S. citizens. Because Venezuela and the U.S. are both Apostille Convention parties, the apostille itself comes from U.S. authorities and does not depend on a Venezuelan consulate.
Which state issued your document?
Apostille fee and processing time in that state.
Sources
See the official sources (5)
- https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/status-table/?cid=41
- https://www.hcch.net/en/states/authorities/details3/?aid=353
- https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Venezuela.html
- https://ve.usembassy.gov/
- https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/records-and-authentications/authenticate-your-document/office-of-authentications.html
Editor's note
HCCH: accession, in force 1999-03-16; no objection or declaration listed. The travel.state.gov Venezuela page shows 'Last Updated: October 30, 2024' but mentions January 2026 events, so the 'Venezuelan consulates not open' statement may be out of date. News media (not official sources, not used) report that Venezuela regained its diplomatic premises in the U.S. in 2026; no official Venezuelan or U.S. page confirming that Venezuelan consular services in the U.S. have resumed was found, so consulate_url and consulate_name are null. No official Venezuelan page (MPPRE, SAIME, civil registry) on requirements for foreign documents or translation could be retrieved, so translation_required is null and common_uses is empty. The State Department Judicial Assistance page for Venezuela could not be retrieved.