Florida Apostille: Requirements, Submission, and Processing Time

To get a Florida apostille, send the Division of Corporations in Tallahassee an eligible original Florida document, a completed request form, a check or money order for $10 per document ($20 for court-certified records), and a prepaid return envelope. You can also walk your request in during business hours and, in most cases, leave with the authenticated document the same day.¹

An apostille is a certificate that confirms the signatures and seals on your document are genuine so it will be accepted in another country that participates in the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention.² If the destination is not a Hague country, Florida issues a notarial certificate instead, and you must state the destination country on your application so the Division knows which one to issue.³

Which Florida Documents Qualify

Florida will only authenticate documents that originated in the state and carry the signature of a Florida official or a Florida notary public.⁴ Eligible documents fall into four groups:

Certified copies of birth, death, and marriage certificates from the Florida Bureau of Vital Statistics, bearing the State Registrar’s signature.
Court records certified by a Clerk of the Circuit Court, such as divorce decrees and marriage licenses, with the Clerk’s original seal.
Records from Florida state agencies, including corporate filings and Certificates of Status from the Division of Corporations.
Private documents notarized by a commissioned Florida notary public, such as powers of attorney, affidavits, diplomas, and transcripts.

Every document must be an original or an original certified copy from the issuing agency. Photocopies are never accepted.¹

Preparing the Document

The Division verifies signatures and seals, not content. Preparation is where most applications succeed or fail, and the rules differ by document type.

Vital Records

Birth, death, and marriage certificates must be certified copies ordered from the Florida Bureau of Vital Statistics in Jacksonville. Copies from local county health departments will be rejected even if they look identical.⁴ Check the certificate for the State Registrar’s printed or stamped signature.

You can order certified copies directly from the Bureau or through VitalChek, the state’s contracted vendor. The Florida Department of Health also offers a combined VitalChek service that orders the certified copy and submits it for apostille in one transaction, for a $7 processing fee on top of the standard agency fees and shipping.⁵

Notarized Documents

Private documents must carry a complete notarial statement with the notary’s original signature, stamp, and seal. The Division checks the notary’s signature against its commission records; if the notarization is incomplete or the commission has expired, the package comes back.¹ Florida notaries may charge up to $10 per notarial act.⁶

Court Documents

Divorce decrees, custody orders, marriage licenses, and similar records must be original certified copies bearing the Clerk of the Circuit Court’s original seal. If you only have an uncertified copy, contact the clerk’s office in the county where the case was filed and request a certified version.⁴

Fees

Florida charges two fee levels depending on the document source:

$10 per document for notarized documents, vital records, and state agency records.
$20 per document for records certified by a Clerk of the Court in Florida, which covers the $10 apostille plus a $10 Certificate of Incumbency.

Payment must be by check or money order payable to the Florida Department of State.¹ The combined VitalChek service accepts credit cards.

How to Submit

Your package needs four things: the completed request form (a PDF on the Division of Corporations website), the original document or certified copy, your payment, and a prepaid return envelope or air bill.⁷ The form asks for your name, mailing address, daytime phone, email, destination country, and the number of documents. A cover letter carrying the same information works if you don’t use the official form.

By Mail

Send USPS mail to:

Division of Corporations
ATTN: Apostille Section
P.O. Box 6800
Tallahassee, FL 32314-6800

By Courier or in Person

Use the physical address for FedEx, UPS, or walk-in service:

Department of State
Division of Corporations
2415 N. Monroe Street, Suite 810
Tallahassee, FL 32303

Walk-in service runs during regular business hours, and most walk-in requests are completed while you wait.¹

How Long It Takes

Requests are processed in the order received, and the Division does not offer expedited service.³ Official guidance suggests allowing at least five business days for mail-in requests, though actual turnaround depends on current volume and can stretch well beyond that during busy periods.⁴ Walk-ins are typically handled the same day. The Division will not return your documents without a self-addressed stamped envelope or a prepaid, pre-addressed courier air bill.

Why Applications Get Rejected

The Division returns packages without processing when something is wrong. The recurring problems are:

Photocopies instead of originals or original certified copies.
Vital records from a county health department rather than the Bureau of Vital Statistics in Jacksonville.
Incomplete notarization: missing stamp, missing seal, or an incomplete notarial statement.
Documents issued or notarized outside Florida, which the Division has no authority to authenticate.
Missing payment or missing return shipping.

Everything comes back together when a submission is rejected, but you lose the transit time in both directions. Checking these basics before mailing saves weeks.

Federal and Out-of-State Documents

Florida cannot apostille federal documents. FBI background checks, immigration records, and federal court orders go to the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Authentications in Washington, D.C., which runs its own separate process and fee schedule.⁴ The FBI check trips people up often because it’s one of the most common documents requested for working or studying abroad. Documents issued or notarized in another state go to that state’s secretary of state or equivalent office.

Non-Hague Countries

An apostille only works in countries that participate in the Hague Convention. For a document headed to a non-member country, Florida issues a notarial certificate that serves as the first step in a longer legalization chain.³ After Florida certifies the document, you submit it to the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Authentications, and then to the destination country’s embassy or consulate for final legalization. Some embassies require in-person appointments; others accept mail. The full chain takes significantly longer than a straight apostille, so start early. You can confirm whether a country participates on the Hague Conference’s website.²

Does a Florida Apostille Expire?

The apostille certificate itself has no expiration date. The receiving institution or country, however, may impose freshness requirements on the underlying document. Some countries require vital records issued within the past six months, and criminal background checks commonly must be no older than three to six months. Confirm the receiving institution’s timing rules before ordering the underlying document, because a valid apostille on a document the destination considers stale is still a wasted trip.

1
Florida Department of State. Authentications (Apostilles and Notarial Certifications)
2
HCCH. Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents
3
Florida Department of State. Division of Corporations – Frequently Asked Questions
4
Florida Division of Corporations. Notary Commissions and Apostille/Certification
5
Florida Department of Health. Apostille Certificates
6
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 0117.05
7
Florida Department of State. Apostille or Notarial Certification Request Form