How a Florida birth certificate is used in Colombia
Registering a Florida-born child in Colombia's registro civil is the most common reason. Since Decree 356 of 2017, the Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil requires the foreign birth record "debidamente apostillado y traducido", and you can register at any notaría, Registraduría office or Colombian consulate, whatever the date and place of birth. The registrar copies the parents' names exactly as they appear, so a Florida certificate that drops a second surname creates a mismatch you'll live with. Order a fresh certified copy that lists both parents.
Translation for Colombia
Colombia accepts translations made in Florida when they're certified by the translator, notarized by a different notary and apostilled, which matches our general rule; that translation is a separate document on your order. Alternatively, a Colombian official translator in Colombia can translate after the apostille, and that translation needs no apostille. The Cancillería recommends apostilling the original before translating, and the Ministry of Education doesn't require apostilled translations for convalidación.
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 Colombia
- Order online — pick "Birth certificate" and "Colombia" 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 Colombia with international return shipping (+$100).
One Florida apostille is all the U.S. side needs for Colombia. Whatever the office there asks for after that — a translation, a filing deadline — is covered above.