How a Florida birth certificate is used in Portugal
Florida birth certificates are the backbone of Portuguese nationality files. A child of a Portuguese parent born in Florida becomes Portuguese by having the birth registered in the Portuguese civil registry, through the consulate or the Conservatória dos Registos Centrais. A grandchild's declaration needs the applicant's certificate and, if born abroad, the connecting parent's. IRN forms ask for a full copy (cópia integral), so order the long-form certified copy, signed by the current State Registrar, not a short abstract. Translation is waived for English documents unless the registry asks for one.
Translation for Portugal
Our general rule is a translation certified by the translator, notarized by a separate notary and apostilled in Florida, but for Portugal you often need no translation at all. Civil registries can waive it for English, French or Spanish documents when the official knows the language (book ahead), and IRN nationality forms and DGES do the same. When Portugal does require one, the IRN expects it certified in Portugal by a notary, registry officer, lawyer, solicitador or recognized chamber of commerce, or by a Portuguese consulate in the issuing country.
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 Portugal
- Order online — pick "Birth certificate" and "Portugal" 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 Portugal with international return shipping (+$100).
One Florida apostille is all the U.S. side needs for Portugal. Whatever the office there asks for after that — a translation, a filing deadline — is covered above.