Quick answer
A sheriff's clearance letter covers only one Florida county, so for Honduras it's a secondary option. One Florida apostille is all the U.S. side needs — $220, 5–7 business days.
- Issued by
- The records section of the Florida county sheriff's office where you live or lived, with its employee signing before a Florida notary when the letter is issued.
- Florida state fee
- $10 — included in $220
- Route
- Apostille only — Hague member since 2004
- Online notarization
- Not applicable — needs a certified copy
- Consulate serving Florida
- Consulate General of Honduras in Miami
- Translation
- Our standard for a translation is a translator's certification, notarized by a different notary, with its own Florida apostille.
How a Florida sheriff clearance letter is used in Honduras
A sheriff's clearance letter covers only one Florida county, so for Honduras it's a secondary option. It may come up when Gobernación or your apoderado accepts a local police record alongside a state or federal one, or when a Honduran employer asks for local proof of no record. If you need it, request it from the sheriff's office in your county and ask for it to be notarized when issued; a letter without a notarization can't be apostilled. Then it needs an official translation like the rest of the residency file.
Getting a sheriff clearance letter Florida will apostille
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.
Who receives it in Honduras — and translation
Births, marriages and deaths are recorded by the Registro Nacional de las Personas (RNP), directly or through a Honduran consulate. Residency applications go to the Secretaría de Estado en los Despachos de Gobernación, Justicia y Descentralización, with a migration-movement certificate from the Instituto Nacional de Migración. Land and estates pass through Honduran notaries, the property registry and the courts. In Florida, Honduras has consulates in Miami and Tampa.
Our standard for a translation is a translator's certification, notarized by a different notary, with its own Florida apostille. Honduras's residency requirements instead call for documents in a foreign language to be officially translated by the Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores or at Honduran consulates, so a private U.S. translation may be refused. Get the apostille first, then ask the receiving office which translation it accepts.
We could not verify a published age limit for Florida documents in Honduras. Criminal-record certificates for residency are the documents most likely to be checked for freshness, so order them close to filing and ask Gobernación or your apoderado how recent they must be.
Consular office serving Florida: Consulate General of Honduras in Miami.
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 apostille.
Returned to you
Back in 5–7 business days — anywhere in the U.S., or abroad for a flat $100.
Why sheriff clearance letters get rejected
- Letter not notarized
- Notarized later by a notary who didn't witness the signature
- Scan or copy instead of the original letter
- Older than the receiving authority's age limit
What it costs for Honduras
$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 Honduras 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).