Sri Lanka Document Legalization

The full legalization chain, in order

1. Get the correct base document (certified vital-records copy, or notarize the document)
2. State authority certification — ask for an authentication for a non-Hague country, not an apostille (state documents only)
3. U.S. Department of State, Office of Authentications — $20 per document
4. Embassy of Sri Lanka, Washington D.C. — consular authentication

Embassy details & fees

Embassy of Sri Lanka — 3025 Whitehaven Street NW, Washington, DC 20008. Consular legalization is about $60 per document. Authentication fee is US$60 per document, payable by money order or certified check to the Embassy of Sri Lanka (cash only if hand-delivered). Confirm the current fee before mailing. Embassy website →

Timeline & cost, worked out

For a state document: the state fee (roughly $10 in many states) + $20 federal authentication + $60 embassy = about $90 in government fees. Budget several weeks — federal authentication alone runs about 5+ weeks by mail.

Which documents does Sri Lanka usually ask for

• Birth certificate (state example: California)
• Marriage certificate (state example: California)
• Diploma / degree certificate (state example: California)
• Power of attorney (state example: California)
• Single status affidavit (state example: California)

State documents vs federal documents

The routing never depends on Sri Lanka — it depends on who issued your document. A birth certificate, diploma, or notarized paper is a state document, apostilled or certified by the issuing state. An FBI background check, IRS letter, or naturalization certificate is federal and goes only to the U.S. Department of State — Office of Authentications.