Quick answer
The most common Cuba request we see: a Florida birth certificate for a child born here to a Cuban mother or father, filed with the Cuban consulate for a birth transcript (transcripción de nacimiento) into the Cuban civil registry. Florida issues an authentication certificate for Cuba, not an apostille — $220, 5–7 business days.
- Issued by
- Florida Bureau of Vital Statistics (Jacksonville) or a Florida county health department, on a certified copy signed by the State Registrar.
- Florida state fee
- $10 — included in $220
- Route
- Florida authentication → U.S. Department of State → Cuba embassy
- Online notarization
- Not applicable — needs a certified copy
- Consulate serving Florida
- Consular Office of Cuba in the United States (Embassy of Cuba, Washington, D.C.)
- Translation
- Cuba's consular instructions say foreign documents must be translated into Spanish by a sworn, legalized translator…
How a Florida birth certificate is used in Cuba
The most common Cuba request we see: a Florida birth certificate for a child born here to a Cuban mother or father, filed with the Cuban consulate for a birth transcript (transcripción de nacimiento) into the Cuban civil registry. The consulate asks for the original birth certificate, legalized, plus the Cuban parent's passport copy and consular registration card. Its own page warns that the transcript does not automatically give the child Cuban citizenship. Send us a certified copy signed by the current State Registrar; older copies get rejected in Tallahassee before Cuba ever sees them.
Getting a birth certificate Florida will authenticate
A certified copy on Florida security paper, signed by the State Registrar and certified in 2014 or later. We don't accept older certifications because the signature must be one the state can confirm as the State Registrar's. Hospital keepsake certificates, photocopies and laminated copies can't be apostilled, and a Florida notary can't certify a copy of a birth certificate.
Order a fresh certified copy online through VitalChek (vitalchek.com), the only vendor contracted by the Bureau of Vital Statistics, by mail or in person at the Bureau in Jacksonville, or at a county health department (births from 1917 on). Birth records are confidential: the registrant (18 or older), a parent named on the record, a legal guardian or representative, or a court order is needed. The Bureau's and VitalChek's fees are not included in our $220 apostille price.
State fee for this document: $10 — included in our price. Full details on the birth certificate page.
What happens after the Florida certificate — Cuba
After we return your document with its Florida authentication certificate, it goes to the U.S. Department of State for federal authentication, and then to the Consular Office of Cuba in the United States at the Embassy of Cuba in Washington, D.C., for Cuban consular legalization. Some uses in Cuba (for example, documents for a marriage performed in Cuba) also call for legalization by Cuba's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINREX). We don't handle, arrange or refer anyone for the federal, consular or Cuban steps.
We don't handle or arrange the U.S. Department of State or embassy steps. See how non-Hague authentication works.
Who receives it in Cuba — and translation
Most Florida documents for Cuba pass through the Consular Office of Cuba in the United States, part of the Embassy of Cuba in Washington, D.C., which registers births, marriages and deaths of Cuban citizens and legalizes foreign documents. In Cuba, the records end up with the Registro del Estado Civil, Cuban notaries, the immigration authorities (for residence applications) and, for marriages of foreigners, the International Legal Consultancy and law firms (bufetes) that perform them.
Cuba's consular instructions say foreign documents must be translated into Spanish by a sworn, legalized translator, and both the original and the translation must be legalized by the competent authorities and then by the Cuban consulate. The alternative it lists: legalize only the original, then have the translation done and legalized at the Cuban consulate. If you translate in Florida, the translation should be certified by the translator, notarized by a different notary, and authenticated in Florida along with the original. Divorce decrees need a full translation; summaries are not accepted.
The consulate's published requirements set hard limits for some uses: a criminal record certificate for a foreigner's residence application must be no more than three months old, medical results no more than six months, and a single-status certificate for marriage in Cuba must be issued within six months. For everything else, order a fresh certified copy and ask the receiving office how recent it must be.
Consular office serving Florida: Consular Office of Cuba in the United States (Embassy of Cuba, Washington, D.C.).
Four steps, one week
Order online
Pick the document and destination country on the order form and pay by card. After we review your documents, FedEx emails you a prepaid label.
Send your document
Drop the envelope at any FedEx location.
We file in person
We review it, then walk it to the Florida Department of State in Tallahassee for the authentication certificate.
Returned to you
Back in 5–7 business days — anywhere in the U.S., or abroad for a flat $100.
Why birth certificates get rejected
- Certified before 2014 — order a fresh copy
- Hospital keepsake certificate instead of the state record
- Photocopy, or a copy stamped by a notary
- Laminated or damaged certificate
What it costs for Cuba
$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 authentication to Cuba 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).