How a Florida birth certificate is used in Brazil
A Florida birth gets into the Brazilian civil register one of two ways. Many families register a Florida-born child at the Brazilian consulate in Miami or Orlando, following the consulate's own list, which may not involve an apostille. If the birth was never registered at a consulate, it can be transcribed (traslado) in Book E of the 1º Ofício de Registro Civil where the family lives in Brazil, or in Brasília if there's no address. That route needs the apostilled certificate and a translation by a Brazilian public translator. The certificate must be signed by the current State Registrar.
Translation for Brazil
Our general rule for translations is certified by the translator, notarized by a separate notary and apostilled in Florida, but Brazil instead requires its own public translators. Under Law 14.195/2021, only a tradutor e intérprete público registered with a Brazilian Junta Comercial gives a translation public faith in Brazil, and the original-language document must accompany it. Apostille in Florida first, then have a Brazilian public translator translate the apostilled original, and ask whether the apostille page must be translated too.
What your Florida birth certificate must look like
The Florida Department of State apostilles the signature of the State Registrar, so you need a certified copy issued by the Florida Bureau of Vital Statistics or a county health department — not a hospital certificate, a photocopy or a scan. Copies certified before 2014 carry an older signature and are not accepted; order a fresh certified copy through VitalChek or your county health department before you send it. The certified copy itself (about $9–$14 from the issuing office) is the only cost on top of our $220.
Step by step: birth certificate apostille for Brazil
- Order online — pick "Birth certificate" and "Brazil" on the order form; $220 per document, $380 for two, $160 each for three or more.
- Send a photo — reply to the confirmation email with a picture of the document. We check the certification before anything ships, so a defect is caught before it costs you a round trip.
- Drop it at FedEx — after approval, FedEx emails you a prepaid QR code; show it at any FedEx Office or Ship Center, no printer or label needed.
- Filed in person in Tallahassee — we walk the document into the Florida Department of State and ship the apostilled original back by FedEx within 5–7 business days of receipt — to your U.S. address, or to Brazil with international return shipping (+$100).
One Florida apostille is all the U.S. side needs for Brazil. Whatever the office there asks for after that — a translation, a filing deadline — is covered above.