How a Florida marriage certificate is used in Mexico
Two Mexican procedures use a Florida marriage certificate, and they treat it differently. If the Mexican spouse wants the marriage on the Mexican civil record, inserción at a Registro Civil in Mexico requires the apostilled certificate plus a perito traductor translation. If the foreign spouse applies for a dependent temporary-resident visa at a Mexican consulate in the U.S., consulate checklists (El Paso's 2025 list, for example) ask for a certified copy and only require apostille and translation for documents from a third country. For either route, Florida's certificate must be signed by the State Registrar or a Clerk of the County Court.
Translation for Mexico
Our general rule is a translation certified by the translator, notarized by a different notary and apostilled in Florida. Mexico is the big exception: notarios, courts and Registros Civiles usually require a perito traductor authorized by a state Tribunal Superior de Justicia instead, done in Mexico after the apostille. Mexican consulates in the U.S. generally don't ask for a translation of English documents, and SEP revalidation accepts a simple translation.
What your Florida marriage certificate must look like
Two versions can be apostilled: a certified copy from the Florida Bureau of Vital Statistics (signed by the State Registrar; the $10 state apostille fee applies) or a certified copy from the Clerk of Court in the county that issued the license (the $20 state fee applies). The decorative certificate from the ceremony and church certificates cannot be apostilled. Vital Statistics copies certified before 2014 must be replaced; order a new one through VitalChek or the county clerk. The state fee is included in our price either way.
Step by step: marriage certificate apostille for Mexico
- Order online — pick "Marriage certificate" and "Mexico" 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 Mexico with international return shipping (+$100).
One Florida apostille is all the U.S. side needs for Mexico. Whatever the office there asks for after that — a translation, a filing deadline — is covered above.