Power of Attorney Authentication for Haiti

The most requested Haiti document: a power of attorney (procuration) letting a relative in Haiti sell or buy land, collect an inheritance, deal with a bank, or obtain records. Haitian notaries are careful with procurations from abroad and generally want them legalized through the full chain. Describe the property or the task precisely, use the names exactly as on IDs, and consider having it drafted in French. The Miami consulate also lists notarized mandates among its services, so compare that option.

Signed by the principal and two subscribing witnesses, with a complete Florida acknowledgment certificate in English (venue, presence or online box, date, ID type, notary's signature and seal). The body can be bilingual or in the destination language. The state checks the notarization, not the powers granted, so have the foreign lawyer or notary approve the wording before you sign.

Get the draft from the foreign lawyer, notary or bank that will use it, then sign before a Florida notary in person 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. Remote witnesses must be physically in the U.S. while witnessing. Notarization and legal drafting are not included in our $220.

State fee for this document: $10 — included in our price. Full details on the power of attorney page.

After we return your document with its Florida authentication certificate, it goes to the U.S. Department of State for authentication; Haiti's embassy says its consular service will only legalize documents already authenticated by the U.S. Department of State. The last U.S. step is legalization by Haiti's Embassy in Washington, D.C. or one of its Consulates General, including those in Miami and Orlando. Ask the office in Haiti receiving your document whether it also needs a stamp from Haiti's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We don't handle, arrange or refer anyone for these steps.

We don't handle or arrange the U.S. Department of State or embassy steps. See how non-Hague authentication works.

In Florida, Haiti is represented by its Consulates General in Miami and Orlando; the Embassy of Haiti in Washington, D.C. also legalizes U.S. documents. In Haiti, Florida documents typically go to civil-status officers (officiers de l'état civil), Haitian notaries (notaires) who handle property sales and estates, the courts, and schools or employers.

Haiti's official languages are French and Haitian Creole. Many Haitian offices work with documents in French, so ask the notary, court or registry receiving your English document whether it needs a French translation. If you translate in Florida, the translator certifies the translation and signs before a different notary, and the translation is authenticated in Florida along with the original, so it carries its own certificate.

We could not find a published Haitian rule on document age. Haitian notaries and registries may still ask for recent certified copies, so order fresh Florida records rather than reusing old ones, and ask the receiving office how recent they must be.

Consular office serving Florida: Consulate General of Haiti in Miami (Haiti also has a Consulate General in Orlando).

$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 Haiti 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).