Editorial standards
This is YMYL content — the kind where an error costs someone money, weeks, or a rejected visa. These are the rules we hold to, and they are the same rules whether or not anyone is checking.
Real people, no invented experts
We do not publish fake authors, AI-generated portraits, or fabricated credentials. Content is written and maintained by the ApostilleCheck Editorial Team, and each page is reviewed by a real, named editor — Billy Reiner — who checks it against the official source. We describe the standard government process; we do not claim to be your lawyer, and we say so on every page. This is informational, not legal advice.
Every factual claim cites a primary source
Fees, addresses, processing times, forms, and Hague membership all trace to a primary government or HCCH page — shown near the fact and again in the page's sources list. We never take a number from a private apostille service; those are competitors and second-hand. The full reference list is on thesources page, and the method is on the methodology page.
When we don't know, we say so
This is the line that matters most: where data is not publicly disclosed, we write "not publicly disclosed" rather than estimate. Where an embassy's published fee is stale or ambiguous, we leave the number out and tell you to confirm it — we do not invent precision. Where a US territory's fee is not centrally published, its page is marked provisional and is not treated as a ranking target until a human confirms it. A false number is worse than an honest "verify with the office."
Dates tell the truth
Every page shows when its facts were last verified. That date only moves when a person or agent actually re-checked the fact against its source — it is never stamped automatically at build time. The same field drives the page's visible "last verified" line, its sitemap entry, and its structured data, so they can never drift apart. Pending treaty accessions flip on their real entry-into-force date, not on a guess. We re-check on a fixed cadence — see the schedule on themethodology page.
No unverifiable trust signals
You will not find review counts, star ratings, certifications, or "trusted by" badges here that we cannot back with a public source. We would rather show you the government page than a badge.
Corrections come first
If a fee changed, an office moved, or a country's status flipped and we have not caught it, tell us. Point to the official page and we will verify against that source, update the data, and bump the verification date. Corrections to primary-source-backed facts are prioritized over everything else. Email [email protected] or use thecontact page.
Current site-wide verification high-water mark: July 13, 2026.