A Florida birth certificate cannot be apostilled just because it is a birth certificate. It has to be the right copy, from the right office, bearing the right signature — and the Division of Corporations in Tallahassee checks that signature against the date it was issued. Most rejections we see in this category are certificates that were perfectly valid documents and simply the wrong version for international use.
What Florida accepts
The certificate must be a certified copy from the Florida Bureau of Vital Statistics signed by the State Registrar, or from a County Health Department and still signed by the State Registrar. Either source works; the State Registrar's signature is the non-negotiable part.
Two age-related limits matter. Birth records issued before 2004 contain limited information, and several consulates refuse them outright — check with the mission for your destination country before paying for shipping. Separately, the Division confirms that the State Registrar's signature was valid on the date the certificate was issued, which is why an old certificate retrieved from a file drawer is frequently returned even though nothing about it is forged or altered. If yours predates the current Registrar's term, order a fresh certified copy.
What Florida will not accept: a photocopy of any kind, a hospital souvenir certificate, an abstract or wallet card, and — this one surprises people — a copy certified by a notary. Chapter 117 of the Florida Statutes prohibits a Florida notary from attesting copies of vital records, so that route is closed by law rather than by policy.
The state fee is $10 per document. Any fee charged by Vital Statistics or the County Health Department to issue the certificate is separate. Payment to the Department of State must be a check or money order drawn on a U.S. bank; the counter accepts no cash and no cards, including in person.
Where Florida birth certificates usually go
The heaviest demand we see runs through citizenship by descent. Italian and Spanish descent applications need the applicant's Florida birth certificate apostilled and translated, and often the parents' and grandparents' records as well. Portugal, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Mexico and the Dominican Republic all take apostilled Florida birth records for dual nationality, school enrollment, marriage abroad, residency applications and social security filings.
Each of those countries has its own translation rules, and they are not interchangeable — see the Italy, Spain and Brazil pages for the specifics, or the full country guide.
How the filing works
- Order a current certified copy from the Bureau of Vital Statistics or a County Health Department if you do not already hold one. We can order certified copies on your behalf.
- Send it to us with the destination country named. We check the Registrar signature, the issue date and the record's suitability for that country before anything is filed.
- We complete the Apostille and Notarial Certificate Request Form, issue the payment instrument, and present the document at the Division of Corporations counter in Tallahassee in person.
- If the destination requires a translation, our sworn translation runs in parallel — the translator and the notary are always different people, as Florida requires.
- The apostilled original is returned to you by trackable courier.
If the country is not in the Hague Convention
A Florida birth certificate headed for the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Egypt or another non-member state receives a notarial certification rather than an apostille, then needs federal authentication in Washington and legalization at that country's embassy. Our embassy legalization guide maps the sequence, and we run all three stages from one order.
Can I apostille a photocopy of my Florida birth certificate?
No. The Division requires a certified copy bearing the State Registrar's signature. A notary cannot certify a copy of a birth certificate either — Florida law specifically prohibits it — so the only path is a certified copy from Vital Statistics or a County Health Department.
How old can my birth certificate be?
Florida does not publish a maximum age, but it verifies that the State Registrar's signature was valid when the certificate was issued, which means older certificates are often refused. Many consulates separately require a record issued within the last six or twelve months. Records issued before 2004 contain limited information and are rejected by some missions.
How much does it cost?
The state fee is $10 per document. Vital Statistics charges separately for the certified copy. Contact us with your destination country for the all-in total including filing, translation if required, and return shipping.
Can I get this done in Miami or Orlando?
No. Every Florida apostille is issued at a single counter, the Division of Corporations in Tallahassee. No county office or notary can issue one, which is why documents from across the state are filed there in person or mailed into the queue.
Do I need a translation?
It depends on the destination. Most Spanish, Portuguese and Italian-speaking countries require a certified or sworn translation, and several require it to be produced by a translator their consulate recognizes. We handle certified and sworn translation in the same order.
Florida documents, filed in person in Tallahassee
Send us the document and the destination country. We confirm it is in acceptable form before anything is filed, quote the exact total, and walk it to the counter.
Start a Florida order Ask a question firstCall (760) 469-2997 or email submissions@federalapostille.org.
