Single Status Affidavit Apostille for Chile

This comes up only occasionally for Chile. When a U.S. citizen marries in Chile, the Registro Civil may ask for proof of civil status, and Florida doesn't issue a certificate of no marriage, so the substitute is a sworn single-status affidavit before a Florida notary, apostilled. Requirements vary, so ask the office where you'll hold the marriage what it wants and in which language before you sign anything. If you were married before, the affidavit won't cover it: a prior foreign divorce has to be recognized in Chile, which is a separate court process.

A sworn affidavit with a complete Florida jurat stating that you are not married and are free to marry and, if you were married before, the date, place and court or record that ended that marriage. Names must match your passport, and it must be signed within the window the foreign registry allows.

Use the registry's template if it has one, then swear to it before a Florida notary or through our online notarization add-on: $40 for the first document ($10 notarization fee + $30 technology platform fee) and $20 for each additional document. First confirm that the country accepts a notarized affidavit rather than a consular or government-issued status certificate. Notarization is not included in our $220.

State fee for this document: $10 — included in our price. Full details on the single status affidavit 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).