Rwanda has been a party to the Hague Apostille Convention since 5 June 2024, which makes this simpler than most people expect: a U.S. public document needs one apostille and nothing more. No consular legalisation and no step after it — and no reason to pay anyone as if there were.
What to do, in order
- If the document is private — a power of attorney, a declaration, a company paper — have it notarised first. The apostille certifies the notary.
- If it is already a public record — a birth or marriage certificate, a court order, an FBI check — order a certified copy from the office that holds it.
- Send it to the Secretary of State of the state that issued it, or to the U.S. Department of State for federal documents such as an FBI background check.
- That is the end of it. The apostille is recognised without any further step.
Never apostille a photocopy you made yourself: the certificate attaches to an original or to a certified copy from the record keeper.
Rwandan consular offices in the United States
Rwanda has a single consular office in the United States, in Washington, D.C. That removes the mistake that costs most people a wasted journey elsewhere — there is no wrong office to choose, because there is only one, and it serves all fifty states.
Documents this usually applies to
- Birth, marriage and death certificates.
- Court orders, including divorce decrees.
- FBI background checks and other federal records.
- Diplomas and academic transcripts.
- Powers of attorney and company documents.
Two things to settle first
Ask the receiving institution what it will accept. It is the only authority on its own requirements, and a document certified the wrong way has to start again from the beginning.
Ask whether a translation is needed, and into what. For Rwanda that normally means Kinyarwanda, English or French. Some offices require the translation itself to be certified alongside the original.
Office names, addresses and telephone numbers on this page come from our directory, and the count above is taken from the same records as the listing. Procedural rules come from the authority itself — always confirm with the office that covers you. Apostille status checked against the HCCH official status table on 2026-10-05.