Quick answer
This is uncommon for Portugal. One Florida apostille is all the U.S. side needs — $220, 5–7 business days.
- Issued by
- A Florida notary, notarizing your sworn statement that the attached license copy is true.
- Florida state fee
- $10 — included in $220
- Route
- Apostille only — Hague member since 1969
- Online notarization
- Available as an add-on
- Consulate serving Florida
- Consular Section of the Embassy of Portugal in Washington, D.C.
- Translation
- 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.
How a Florida driver's license copy is used in Portugal
This is uncommon for Portugal. Exchanging a Florida license after you settle in Portugal is handled with the original license, so an apostilled copy won't help there. It occasionally serves as secondary proof of identity or U.S. address in a nationality or banking file, for example when your passport was issued after a move and an older document is needed to connect the dots. A Florida notary makes the attested copy, and we apostille it. Before you order one, ask whether a passport copy covers the need.
Getting a driver's license copy Florida will apostille
A front-and-back copy of your current license attached to your sworn statement, signed in front of a Florida notary who completes a jurat. If the foreign office wants your driving history instead, it needs FLHSMV's certified record, unaltered. The plastic card itself can't be apostilled.
Sign the sworn statement before any Florida notary 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. For a certified driving record, order from FLHSMV online or with form HSMV 90511, which lists $10 and about two weeks of processing. Notarization and FLHSMV fees are not included in our $220.
State fee for this document: $10 — included in our price. Full details on the driver's license copy apostille page.
Who receives it in Portugal — and translation
The Instituto dos Registos e do Notariado (IRN) and its Conservatória dos Registos Centrais in Lisbon handle nationality and the transcription of births, marriages and deaths of Portuguese citizens abroad. AIMA, the Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo, which replaced SEF in October 2023, handles residence permits. DGES and public universities recognize degrees, Tribunais da Relação review foreign judgments, and the RNPC issues numbers to foreign companies. Florida is served by the Consular Section of the Embassy of Portugal in Washington, D.C.
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.
Portugal doesn't publish one age limit for every foreign document; ask the conservatória, AIMA or the consulate. Criminal records are the most time-sensitive, and nationality files filed after May 19, 2026 follow the new law, while files pending on that date keep the old rules.
Consular office serving Florida: Consular Section of the Embassy of Portugal in Washington, D.C. (Florida also has Portuguese honorary consular offices).
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 it — or sign online
Drop the envelope at any FedEx location. Not signed yet? Add online notarization and there is nothing to ship.
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 driver's license copys get rejected
- Notary stamp on a copy with no certificate wording
- Statement signed before the notary session
- Notarized in another state
- Uncertified driving record printout
What it costs for Portugal
$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 Portugal 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).