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Apostille Definition

Public documents that are notarized or certified in the United States and sent to another country typically require authentication prior to acceptance by the receiving country. This is accomplished by certifying the authenticity of the signature on the document, the capacity in which the person signing the document acted, and, where appropriate, the identity of the seal or stamp which the document bears. The document can be in any language, but the notarial certificate (e.g. jurat, acknowledgment, attested copy certificate) or certified copy declaration must be in English.

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The Apostille process can only be used if both the country in which the public document originated and the country in which it is to be presented (destination country) are parties to the Apostille Convention (an international agreement conferred at The Hague). Those countries are listed in the right sidebar on this page and are updated as additional countries sign onto the Convention.

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For documents being sent to countries not listed in the right sidebar, the US Authentication process must be used as an alternative. Click on the Authentication tab, above.

Typical Uses for Apostilles

·  Transacting personal or corporate business overseas

·  Submitting professional or academic credentials to recipients overseas for employment or foreign school admission

·  Providing vital records (birth certificate, certificate of death, marriage license) overseas

·  Transmitting of medical records or criminal background checks overseas

·  Presenting translated documents overseas

Document Criteria for Apostille

Each US state as well as the US Department of State in Washington DC issues Apostilles. The entity which issues the Apostille is based on the origin of the document being authenticated—state documents at the state level and federal documents at the federal level.

For documents originating in the state of Florida, the document is sent to the FL Department of State. For an Apostille to be issued, the document must be signed (notarized) by a Florida Notary Public or signed by an elected or appointed official of the state. These include:

· Originals of documents notarized by a FL notary public
(Power of Attorney, Self-proof Wills, bank forms, transcripts from public schools or universities that have had the signature of the school registrar or issuing official notarized at the time of issuance, letters, corporate documents, translation affidavits, FDLE/Sheriff's Office Criminal Background checks, vehicle titles certified by the Florida Department of Motor Vehicles, etc.)

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· copies of originals attested to by a FL notary public
(college diploma, transcript from a private academic institution, a US passport, trust documents, some company documents, driver license, financial documents, wills, etc.). 

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· original certified copies of documents on record at state and local government agencies
(Clerk of Circuit Court, certificates from the Division of Corporations, state issued professional licenses, certificates from the Florida Bureau of Vital Statistics Office [signed by the State Registrar], etc.)

For documents originating at the federal level, the documents are sent to the US Department of State in Washington DC. Some examples include: 

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·  certified FBI background check results

·  filed 1040 forms

·  Certificate to Foreign Government

·  Armed Service records

·  documents issued by the Clerks and Deputy Clerks of the Federal Courts

·  ...any document issued by an agency of the federal government

  • Albania / Andorra/ Anguilla (UK)

  • Antigua and Barbuda / Argentina

  • Armenia / Aruba (NL)

  • Australia / Austria / Azerbaijan

  • Bahamas / Bahrain

  • Barbados / Belarus

  • Belgium / Belize / Bermuda (UK)

  • Bonaire (NL) / Bosnia and Herzegovina

  • Botswana, Republic of

  • Brazil

  • British Antarctic Territory (UK)

  • British Virgin Islands (UK)

  • Brunei Darussalam / Bulgaria

  • Burundi, Republic of

  • Caicos Islands / Cape Verde

  • Cayman Islands (UK)

  • Chile / China (Hong Kong only)

  • China (Macao only) / Colombia

  • Cook Islands / Costa Rica

  • Croatia / Curaçao (NL)

  • Cyprus / Czech Republic

  • Denmark / Dominica

  • Dominican Republic

  • Ecuador / El Salvador / Estonia

  • Falkland Islands (UK)

  • Fiji / Finland / France

  • French Guiana (FR)

  • French Polynesia (FR)

  • Georgia / Germany

  • Gibraltar (UK) / Greece / Grenada

  • Guadeloupe (FR)

  • Guernsey, Bailiwick of (UK)

  • Honduras / Hong Kong / Hungary

  • Iceland / India / Ireland

  • Isle of Man (UK) / Israel / Italy

  • Japan / Jersey (UK)

  • Kazakhstan / Korea, Rep of (South)

  • Kosovo / Kyrgyzstan

  • Latvia / Lesotho / Liberia

  • Liechtenstein / Lithuania / Luxembourg

  • Macau (China)

  • Macedonia, Former Yugoslav Rep of

  • Malawi / Malta

  • Marshall Islands / Martinique (FR)

  • Mauritius / Mayotte (FR)

  • Mexico / Moldova, Republic of

  • Monaco / Mongolia

  • Montenegro / Montserrat (UK)

  • Morocco

  • Namibia / Netherlands (Kingdom of)

  • Netherland Antilles (NL)

  • New Caledonia (FR)

  • New Zealand / Nicaragua

  • Niue / Norway

  • Oman

  • Panama / Paraguay

  • Peru / Poland / Portugal

  • Puerto Rico (see FAQs)

  • Reunion (FR)

  • Romania / Russian Federation

  • Saba (NL) / Saint Barthelemy (FR)

  • Saint Helena (UK)

  • Saint Kitts and Nevis / Saint Lucia

  • Saint-Martin (FR)

  • Saint Pierre and Miquelon (FR)

  • Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

  • Samoa / San Marino 

  • Sao Tome and Principe / Serbia

  • Seychelles / Sint Eustatius (NL)

  • Sint Maarten (NL) / Slovakia

  • Slovenia / South Africa / Spain

  • Suriname / Swaziland, Kingdom of

  • Sweden / Switzerland

  • Tajikistan (in relation to U.S.)

  • Tonga / Trinidad and Tobago

  • Turkey / Turks & Caicos Islands (UK)

  • Ukraine

  • UK of Great Britain & Northern Ireland

  • United States of America

  • Uruguay / Uzbekistan (in relation to U.S.)

  • Vanuatu (New Hebrides) / Venezuela

  • Virgin Islands (UK)

  • Wallis and Futuna Islands (FR)

  • (former) Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

Apostille Countries

Download Order

Services Provided

 

Process

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1.    Call or email us to discuss your specific needs: types of documents, document origination, translation requirements, destination country, expediency needs, etc.

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2.    If your documents were notarized in FL, you will be asked to send scanned images of the notarized page(s) to us before sending your originals. This is due to the large number of incorrectly notarized documents we were receiving. The Department of State will not issue Apostille/Authentication certificates for documents whose notarizations are not compliant with FL statutes.

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3.    If everything looks good, we will give you a Good Faith Estimate. Your estimate will be based on the number of documents, destination country and type of authentication required, translation requirements, expediency needs, return shipping, etc.

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4.    If the Estimate is acceptable, please download our Authentication Order Form from this page. You can fill out the form on your computer with Adobe Reader or Acrobat. Make sure you include names and addresses, the number and type of document(s), the destination country(es) and payment specifics. If you have questions--call or email us.

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5.    Ship your documents along with the Order Form to us or bring them by the office in Davenport FLORIDA. You can pay by Money Order, credit/debit card or PayPal (foreign clients). An itemized receipt will be provided to you.

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6.     You will be updated when your Apostille/Authentication Certificate has been issued, when we receive them back in our office, or when they are shipped back to you directly from the issuing agency, whichever is applicable.

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7.      You will be emailed a tracking number to monitor your return shipment.

Service Types

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For Apostilles issued by the FL Department of State and US Department of State, we provide two service types depending on your expediency requirements. Return shipping to U.S. addresses is $10-$20 for Standard Service and $29-$60 for Expedite Service. Shipping to addresses outside the U.S. will be quoted

SERVICE TYPES: Standard Service is the most cost effective but takes the longest. We use "FedEx" service for Expedite.

TURNAROUND TIMES: (Business days) These are approximate based on shipping method, whether mailed in or presented at the counter (walk-up) and the agency's workload and staffing level.

FEES: Fees are dependent on the service type since we use the agency's "walk up window" option for Expedite Service. The more documents to be authenticated, the lower the per-document cost. Return shipping charges are added to the fees above. We ship worldwide.

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