Free U.S. Virgin Islands DIY guide
Obtain the correct U.S. Virgin Islands original or certified record, then request the Lieutenant Governor’s $25-per-document apostille or authentication. Use current forms: the ordinary estimate is 7–14 business days, with tracked prepaid return and applicant photo ID.
Reviewed 2026-10-26. Published instructions can change; estimates are not delivery promises.
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This guide concerns the U.S. Virgin Islands, a U.S. territory; it does not cover the British Virgin Islands. Its authority is the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, Notaries Public Division. It handles a USVI notary signature or a USVI elected/appointed official’s signature. A New York birth record, Florida notarial act or FBI check does not become territorial because the applicant lives on St. Croix. Incoming foreign records follow the originating country’s competent authority; U.S. domestic/territorial use is not foreign treaty use. [VI-03: p1; HCCH-01; FED-02; NG-01.]
Check the current HCCH status table, entry-into-force date, territorial coverage and objections for the actual pair. An applicable treaty apostille completes diplomatic/consular legalization; translation and recipient filing can still matter. Otherwise ask for authentication and establish the destination’s official federal/consular legalization chain. Do not call it an apostille plus embassy legalization. The apostille verifies the signature/capacity/seal, not the truth, academic quality or legal effect of the underlying document. [HCCH-01: Arts1–5,12–13; HCCH-02; VI-03: p1.]
Open the current Notaries Public index and its Apostilles/Certification links. The linked request form now says $25 per document and 7–14 business days; the 2023 sheet said 5–7. The revised credit-card authorization now directs postal return and prohibits unencrypted email; the old sheet preferred email. This guide follows the current linked request, process and payment form. Their 2026/08 upload paths are not proof of legal effective dates; the card form itself is revised April 2026. [VI-01; VI-02; VI-04; VI-05: footer; VI-06: historical conflict.]
VI-01 source VI-02 source VI-04 source VI-05 source VI-06 source
Send the original certified public record, rather than adding your own notarial act. The current fact sheet specifically covers registrar-issued vital records and clerk-certified court documents with the proper official certification/seal. Current process guidance permits original/certified records and eligible true copies properly authenticated by a notary, but prohibits notary certification of photocopies of vital/public records. The 2023 visibly-raised-seal sentence is not a universal reason to notarize an official record or reject all current official formats. For a particular flat-seal/electronic output obtain the Division’s exact acceptance instruction before mailing. [VI-03: p2; VI-04: steps2–3; VI-06.]
The off-island DOH application offers a $15 birth certificate containing fuller record details and a $6 verification containing name/date. For a recipient requiring a birth certificate, use the $15 certificate; saving $9 by choosing a verification changes the evidence. The form lists the adult named on the record, parent/legal guardian of a minor, court-entitled party or representing attorney. Supply the appropriate authority/appointment evidence and legible valid photo-ID copy. Its apparent death-verification sentence under birth eligibility is a template error, not permission for anyone to obtain a restricted birth certificate. [VI-08: p1 eligibility and type; p2 supporting records.]
For off-island birth and death orders the DOH form requires a completed notarized application; sign its sworn section before the notary as instructed. This notarization is on the application to obtain the record. The later issued birth/death certificate itself should not receive an added notarial act before apostille. For a birth order include a United States Postal Money Order for $15 payable to Virgin Islands Department of Health, ID copy, any certified court/guardian authority, complete event/contact details and a stamped self-addressed return envelope. No personal checks. [VI-08: pp1–2; VI-09: pp1–2; VI-03: p2.]
For St. Thomas/St. John use Virgin Islands Department of Health, Office of Vital Records and Statistics, 1303 Hospital Ground, Suite 10, St. Thomas VI 00802. For St. Croix use the same office title at 4006 Estate Diamond, Suite 104, St. Croix VI 00820. These are DOH record-order addresses, not the Lieutenant Governor’s apostille address. Obtain return carrier rates for the chosen lane and include the return address. The form lists Priority/Express Mail and commercial carriers for that record-order return; it does not establish that the later apostille packet is automatically transferred between agencies. [VI-08/VI-09: p2.]
Use the separate off-island death form. It lists a $15 certificate versus $6 verification; the certificate includes cause of death. Eligibility includes specified family/legal-guardian categories, court order, estate attorney or an established estate/benefits/other proper purpose. Include evidence of the reason, applicable certified court/appointment documents, valid ID copy, notarized application, $15 USPS money order to DOH and stamped return envelope, sent to the district of death. The forms warn that incomplete requests delay processing and can produce a Missing Information letter; no matching record produces a certified No Record Found letter. Neither result is the requested certificate. [VI-09: pp1–2.]
For a USVI marriage, the Superior Court Family Division says sealed certified copies of the marriage license cost $3 each. Formally request the certified copy from the district holding the record, identifying both spouses, ceremony/date, case/license details if known, contact information and return request. An E-File docket download is expressly uncertified; the $100 marriage-application charges elsewhere on the page are a different transaction. Ask the Family Division for the exact payment/return method before dispatching a record-copy payment; no universal mailed check payee was established here. The clerk-certified copy should not receive a second private notarization. [VI-10: after-ceremony copy paragraphs; VI-03: p2.]
St. Thomas/St. John: mail PO Box 70, St. Thomas VI 00804; physical Alexander A. Farrelly Justice Center, 5400 Veteran’s Drive, Suite 1, St. Thomas VI 00802; phone 340-774-6680. St. Croix: mail PO Box 929, Christiansted VI 00821; physical R. H. Amphlett Leader Justice Complex, 1st Floor, Room 101, RR1 9000, Kingshill VI 00850; phone 340-778-9750. Published division hours are Monday–Friday 8am–5pm; the marriage page gives shorter cashier hours. Use current official contacts for copy payment/return arrangements. These court addresses do not receive apostille applications. [VI-11; VI-12; VI-10: in-person/cashier paragraphs.]
For a divorce decree, probate order or judgment, find the case-holding division/district in the Superior Court clerk directory and request a sealed clerk-certified copy, with case number, exact order/date/pages and requester authority. Obtain the actual copy/certification charge and return instructions from that division before paying; the $3 marriage-copy fee is not a universal court-copy price. A public opinion or screenshot is not the certified record. USVI Superior Court records are territorial; U.S. District Court of the Virgin Islands records are federal judicial records and must use that clerk’s federal authentication guidance. [VI-17; VI-03: p2; HCCH-01: Art1.]
Use the Division of Corporations & Trademarks page and its Catalyst registry to find the exact entity and request the actual certified filing or certificate of status. The current apostille fact sheet requires original certified filed documents or original Certificates of Status bearing the Lieutenant Governor’s signature, and says the Director of Corporations & Trademarks must provide an affidavit in conjunction. Tell the registry the foreign-use/apostille purpose and request that required original/affidavit package. A plain search printout, private bylaws or new notarial cover cannot substitute for the registry signature and Director’s affidavit. [VI-03: p2 item5; VI-13; VI-15.]
The registry’s currently linked April 22, 2019 schedule lists $25 for good-standing/fact certificates in the relevant corporation/LLC/partnership rows; choose the exact entity/document row and confirm the live order, original format and any affidavit charge. Catalyst accepts Mastercard, Visa or ATH; its alternate-payment instructions apply after a filing exists and has been saved. Add the separate $25 apostille for each document requiring its own certificate. One listed $25 corporate certificate plus one $25 apostille starts at $50 before any additional certification/affidavit charge or transit; do not present it as a guaranteed complete quote. Registry $250 priority filing service is separate from apostille rush. [VI-14: pp2–8; VI-13: payment/priority FAQ; VI-02; VI-03.]
The current fact sheet requires a transcript bearing the registrar’s or issuing official’s signature, notarized at issuance, submitted with the seal unbroken. Arrange that physical package with the institution before choosing an ordinary transcript order; do not break its seal or add a fresh private cover. The fact sheet’s no-added-notarial-act heading does not erase its specific requirement for registrar/official notarization at issuance. For a diploma/degree or unusual electronic school record, request the Division’s document-specific preparation instruction; an ordinary downloaded official transcript is not automatically apostille-ready. [VI-03: p2 item3; VI-04: record eligibility.]
UVI’s official page offers Parchment ordering with electronic or USPS delivery and lists $10 per transcript including USPS. A third-party requester needs an account and the student’s authorization letter. Contact Access and Enrollment Services at 340-693-1160 or 340-692-4104 to arrange the registrar-signed/notarized-at-issuance, sealed physical output required by the Division, rather than ordering an ordinary electronic transcript and printing it. Once the qualifying package is obtained, one apostille adds $25: $35 listed transcript/apostille charges before any special preparation and apostille delivery. No UVI-specific apostille preparation transaction or fee exemption was tested. [VI-16: ordering/payment/contacts; VI-03: p2; VI-02.]
For an affidavit, power of attorney or other private document, establish the act/certificate and legal requirements before signing; use a lawfully acting USVI notary for a USVI-notarial-signature route. The current process calls for proper notarization/certificate in English. It requires an English translation with affidavit and proper English notarial certificate for foreign-language documents; the fact sheet specifically addresses Spanish/French true copies and translator certification. Obtain the actual required translation/record package without altering the public original. Notarization verifies the applicable act, not translator expertise or the truth of the text; the receiving office’s written translation requirements remain separate. [VI-04: steps3–4; VI-03: p1; NG-01.]
Enter the applicant’s name/date, full mailing/contact/email details, organization if applicable and any different pickup person. Identify the name on the document, its type and country of use; choose apostille or authentication as appropriate. State the number of documents, compute $25 times that number and complete the payment/return tracking fields. Include a copy of valid applicant photo ID even if paying by money order; the current form requires it for every application. Read, print your name, sign and date the acknowledgement about names/dates in the records. Leave the office-use receipt block to the Division. [VI-02: p1.]
Standard authentication/apostille fee is $25 per document: three documents cost $75, plus record/notary/translation/shipping charges. The current request/process forms permit check/money order payable to Government of the Virgin Islands or the card route. The older instructions specifically name cashier’s check and money order; to avoid that check-type uncertainty use a money order/cashier’s check or obtain confirmation before sending a personal check. Do not substitute the DOH record-order payee. For card payment use the current authorization, select the card type/purpose, authorize the actual amount, complete and sign it, and include legible government-issued cardholder photo ID in addition to the application’s applicant-ID requirement. [VI-02; VI-04: step6; VI-05; VI-06.]
The April 2026 card form directs postal return to 5049 Kongens Gade and its footer says not to send the completed form by unencrypted email. That supersedes the unsafe email preference printed on the 2023 sheet. Send sensitive payment/ID material only to the official Division using the current allowed channel; do not put it in a general chat, third-party support inbox or public repository. An inquiry email or telephone call is different from sending the card form. This is an actual current form instruction, not a new restriction invented by this guide. [VI-05: postal instruction and security notice; VI-06: conflict.]
Use Office of the Lieutenant Governor, Notaries Public Division, Apostille Processing, 5049 Kongens Gade, St. Thomas VI 00802. The current process gives this same street address for mail or delivery and lists Monday–Friday 9am–4pm. A visitor must present valid photo ID at the security post. No separate courier-only address or appointment requirement is stated in the current process; check closures, access and handover arrangements before an island trip. Do not infer same-day issuance from acceptance at the counter or use the St. Croix corporate-payment office as an apostille counter. A pickup designee is a field on the request, not proof of any runner’s rush entitlement. [VI-04: mail/deliver and walk-in tip; VI-02.]
The current request says all mailing transactions require a tracking number. It offers a self-addressed FedEx, UPS or DHL carrier label, or USPS Priority/Express Mail with tracking. The current process requires completed prepaid packaging or label; an address-only envelope does not pay postage. Supply the return address, funded label/postage and tracking number; verify the carrier serves your exact origin/return destination and the label remains usable during the handling interval. Originals and payment receipt are returned in the provided packaging. For international delivery confirm the label/pickup arrangement with the Division/carrier; no international delivery guarantee or carrier cutoff was verified. [VI-02: return section; VI-04: step5 and return panel.]
The current form gives standard 7–14 business days; add record procurement, notarization/translation, outbound transit, return transit and recipient filing. Its rush banner says add $50, Virgin Islands residents only, and excludes transactions or mailings extending beyond the Virgin Islands. It does not specify a rush turnaround or whether the extra charge is per request/document. Obtain the Division’s written eligibility, fee-unit and timing confirmation before requesting it, especially for a foreign-use packet; a resident runner does not bypass the beyond-territory restriction. Do not promise 24-hour, same-day or $75-per-document rush from that banner. [VI-02: top box; VI-06: historical5–7day conflict.]
An eligible adult who needs a full birth certificate sends the notarized DOH application, ID and $15 USPS money order to St. Croix Vital Records with its return postage. After receiving the certified record, submit it with the current apostille request, applicant ID copy, $25 apostille payment and a separate prepaid tracked return method to the St. Thomas Division. The two official fees total $40 before application-notary fees and both agencies’ delivery legs. Do not notarize the issued birth certificate, send the birth-order payment to Government of the Virgin Islands as though it were the apostille charge, or count the $6 verification as the requested full certificate. [VI-08; VI-02–VI-04.]
One sealed certified USVI marriage copy is $3 and its one apostille is $25, totaling $28 before delivery. A separate power lawfully notarized by a Florida notary follows Florida’s competent authority, even when both documents concern the same person. An FBI history check follows the federal route, not the USVI or DC notary route. These are separate authenticated signatures; combining papers under one private declaration does not create a single $25 territorial source-record apostille. [VI-10; VI-03; HCCH-01; FED-02; NG-01.]
VI-10 source VI-03 source HCCH-01 source FED-02 source NG-01 source
The current federal request is DS-4194 with country of use and $20 per document. For mail use the federal page’s check/money-order rules and Office of Authentications, U.S. Department of State, 44132 Mercure Circle, PO Box 1206, Sterling VA 20166-1206; USPS/UPS prepaid return is required and FedEx return is excluded. Its five-week mail estimate starts at federal-office receipt, not arrival at the Sterling facility. Federal drop-off and emergency-appointment timing/payment are distinct; consult FED-01 for the actual lane. A federal court document requires that court clerk’s judicial-authentication guidance rather than assuming all federal signatures are identical. [FED-01; FED-02.]
Retain scans, the official request, delivery/tracking/payment evidence and the written defect. Ask the Notaries Public Division, 340-774-2991 ext.4120, which signature, seal, affidavit, form, payment or return-delivery requirement failed and what correction/resubmission/payment is needed. Get a replacement through DOH, the clerk, registry or registrar as appropriate; do not break a transcript seal or add a notarial cover. For a recipient refusal obtain the approving office’s written reason, rule and escalation contact; an informal phone comment is not a formal decision. Ask the issuing authority to verify register particulars for a suspect certificate; no USVI online apostille-register endpoint was established. [VI-03/VI-04: contact; HCCH-01: Art7; NG-01.]
You can follow these official instructions without hiring or contacting Notary Geek. Greg Lirette’s attributed practical rule is to authenticate the real source signature and preserve the correct record, rather than replacing it with cover-sheet notarization. Paid help may add eligible record procurement, original/Director-affidavit preparation review, an authorized physical representative, delivery tracking, deficiency recovery and international shipment. A runner transports an eligible packet; it cannot waive document rules, create rush eligibility or guarantee government/recipient acceptance. No USVI runner network, current service price or automatic availability is asserted. [NG-01; VI-02–VI-04.]
Source confidence: High for current linked forms, ordinary fee, ID/return requirements and bounded record-order examples; conditional for rush scope/unit, particular electronic outputs, corporate affidavit logistics and international pickup. The live DOH index timed out, but actual official birth/death PDFs were independently read. No raw-byte archive, filing/payment/shipment or recipient acceptance was tested. Retrieval2026-10-26 is separate from printed form revisions and effective dates.
Electronic output: This guide establishes the ordinary physical-document process. Electronic notarization, an electronic source record, a scan-back and an e-Apostille are different products. No end-to-end e-Apostille issuance or electronic-to-paper conversion was verified for this jurisdiction. Resolve the exact electronic output with the issuing authority before submitting a printout.
Keep the packet intact: Preserve the complete document and all official attachments as returned; retain scans without detaching certificates or altering pages. If damaged or incorrect, seek issuer correction rather than adding stamps yourself. [HCCH-01; NG-01.]
Bracketed source IDs in the guide point to these records. Each record identifies the exact supporting section or PDF page and its checked date. A checked date is an observation, not an effective date or service guarantee.
Optional document review is available only within an agreed paid managed-service scope. This free guide does not include personal DIY consulting.
The guide above includes the free official route and explains where coordination or a runner can add value. Service availability, scope and price require a separate agreement.
