Department of State Apostille — Local services in New York

First off, this place is a joke. I’ve seen this place run all year long and almost every single time is the same experience. Long waiting times. You’d be lucky if you get your documents in 15 minutes. Other times you would have to wait up to 3 to 4 hours. At most, you would have to come back the next day to get your documents. The office is small and there’s barely any people working in the office. Only ONE, I repeat, only one person is in charge of the front desk to receive your paperwork. It would be ideal if it was at least two or three people at the front desk. But since this is not the case, the line starts to increase out into the main lobby. There’s people laying on the floor exhausted over the wait. People complaining on how things are run. I’ve been coming here for the past 4 years due to work related documents and nothing positive has changed. The only thing that’s been changed was the hours. Usually the hours is 9 am to 3:30 pm. They would rand not change it without notice either 2 pm or 2:30. Not very reliable when trying to get documents done. Some of the staff are very rude to everyone. If you get something wrong even if it’s the smallest mistake, you would get yelled at. No need for that. For some English is not their first language therefore help is needed. This place is government run joke. And there should be some serious changes. Avoid the bathrooms at all cost. The smell is horrendous!

Here’s a few tips: Make sure you have your check or money order ready. Each apostille is $10. They don’t accept cash. Make sure you have a front cover letter filled out. They can be found by the security desk. Make sure you have documents authenticated prior to coming...

I went on a Tuesday at 12:30pm in late April. The line was out the door, it was 85°F and very humid inside. There was a bathroom and about 50 chairs to sit on. There were many people waiting in line to borrow pens to fill out the Apostille request form. The appostile request forms were of terrible quality and had a serious case of that photocopied-too-many-times look. I waited for 45 minutes before my number was called. I handed them my documents, signed my name on a list and was told to return to my seat. Sporadically, a woman would come out of the back with a stack of completed documents and bark numbers for people to collect their documents. Approximately 90 minutes after returning my seat, my number was barked and I was given my completed documents and told to have a good day. Overall, I found it comically uncomfortable and bureaucratic. I would recommend just spending a whole day getting your NYC documents certified at the courthouse (only took 20 minutes) and then walking 9 minutes to this place and getting...

A short tan woman with the “platinum blonde” curly hair needs to go. Nasty, disgusting attitude. If they asked her a question, it was like you were talking to yourself. I was watching her the whole time, when she would call the numbers and the clients had to pick up the documents. She would throw the folder on the desk and give them out with an attitude. When I stood up and showed my ticket, she rolled her eyes, ignored me and called others number after mine. Seriously disgusting. I will say a positive comment out of the whole situation, there was a kind tall female with a jet black bob, who was very kind and helpful. But these workers need to go. If you can’t handle helping people (in a public GOVERNMENT building) while working QUIT your job. You’re getting paid to serve the public, with our tax dollars. It’s common sense to treat others properly. Education isn’t just a diploma it’s also your character. She...