Name Change Order Apostille for Spain

A Florida name change can collide with Spanish naming rules. Spanish registrars apply Spanish law to the names of Spanish nationals, so a dual citizen's Florida name change may not carry over to the Spanish record automatically. For a non-Spaniard, the certified order mostly bridges two names in a file: a nationality application, an NIE, a notarial deed or a university record. Either way, bring the order certified by the Clerk of Court, apostilled and sworn-translated, and ask the Registro Civil what it will record.

A certified copy of the final judgment of change of name with the clerk's original certification and seal or official e-certification, complete with the judge's signature page. The former and new names must match your other records exactly. The state fee is $20, included in our price.

Request it from the clerk of the county that granted the change, online, by mail or at the counter. If you were born in Florida, the change is reported to Vital Statistics, and many foreign offices also want an updated certified birth certificate from VitalChek or the Bureau. Clerk and Vital Statistics fees are not included in our $220.

State fee for this document: $20 — included in our price. Full details on the name change order apostille page.

The main receivers are the Registro Civil (in Spain, or the Registro Civil Central) for marriages, births and deaths; Spanish notarios for property, powers and inheritances; the Ministry of Justice for nationality files; universities and the education ministry for degree recognition; and Spanish consulates in the U.S. for visas and civil registrations. The Consulate General of Spain in Miami serves Florida.

Our general rule is a translation certified by the translator, notarized by a different notary and apostilled in Florida. Spain may instead require a traducción jurada by a sworn translator appointed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which publishes a searchable list. For nationality files, the Ministry of Justice also accepts translations done or checked at Spanish consulates abroad. Translate after the apostille and include the apostille page.

Spain has no single expiry for apostilled documents; each registry, notario and consulate sets its own, and many treat civil-status certificates and criminal records issued several months earlier as stale. Order fresh certified copies close to your filing date and ask the receiving office how recent they must be.

Consular office serving Florida: Consulate General of Spain in Miami.

$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 Spain 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).