Sheriff Clearance Letter Apostille for Chile

Migraciones asks for a criminal-record certificate from your country of origin or the country where you lived in the last five years, issued within 60 days. A county sheriff's letter covers one county, so it rarely satisfies that requirement on its own. It can be useful as a supplement, for instance when a Chilean school or employer asks for a local police clearance. If you use one, request it notarized at issuance from the sheriff's office, and watch the same 60-day window, because the letter's date is what counts.

An original letter on the sheriff's office letterhead, signed by its records employee and notarized when issued, with a complete Florida notarial certificate and seal. A plain printout, an emailed PDF or a letter you take to a notary afterwards can't be apostilled.

Contact the records section of the sheriff's office, say the letter is for an apostille and ask for the notarized version; each office sets its own process, fees and ID rules. Sheriff's office fees are not included in our $220.

State fee for this document: $10 — included in our price. Full details on the sheriff clearance letter apostille page.

The Servicio Nacional de Migraciones handles residence applications, which can be filed online from outside Chile. The Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación registers births and marriages abroad and handles posesión efectiva for estates without a will. Foreign judgments, including divorces, need exequatur from the Corte Suprema. The Universidad de Chile revalidates U.S. degrees, and the Servicio de Impuestos Internos issues the RUT that foreign owners and companies need.

Our general rule for translations is certified by the translator, notarized by a separate notary and apostilled in Florida, but Chile often needs less or something different. Migraciones requires an official translation only for documents in a language other than Spanish or English. The Registro Civil instead wants a certified Spanish translation from Chile's Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the relevant consulate; the Ministry's service translates the apostilled original and can deliver it online. Translate after the apostille, and only when the receiving office asks.

For work-based residence, Migraciones requires the criminal-record certificate to be issued no more than 60 days before you apply, so order it last and apostille it immediately. For other documents, ask the receiving office; a freshly certified vital record also avoids the pre-2014 signature problem.

Consular office serving Florida: Consulate General of Chile in Miami.

$220 per document, $380 for two and $160 each for three or more — the state fee, request form, in-person filing in Tallahassee and FedEx shipping inside the U.S. are included. Shipping the finished apostille to Chile is a flat $100 per order.

Not included: whatever the issuing office charges for the certified copy or certificate, and notarization (online notarization is $40 for the first document — $10 notarization fee + $30 technology platform fee — and $20 for each additional one).