Quick answer
For a child leaving Spain without a parent, Spain uses a travel-permission declaration rather than a free-form letter. One Florida apostille is all the U.S. side needs — $220, 5–7 business days.
- Issued by
- The parent or legal guardian who isn't traveling, signing before a Florida notary.
- Florida state fee
- $10 — included in $220
- Route
- Apostille only — Hague member since 1978
- Online notarization
- Available as an add-on
- Consulate serving Florida
- Consulate General of Spain in Miami
- Translation
- Our general rule is a translation certified by the translator, notarized by a different notary and apostilled in Florida.
How a Florida child travel consent letter is used in Spain
For a child leaving Spain without a parent, Spain uses a travel-permission declaration rather than a free-form letter. If you're the parent in Florida, the Consulate General of Spain in Miami has its own form: you sign it in person before a consular officer, it lists the trip, dates and companions, and it can be shown to any authority. That route needs no apostille. A Florida-notarized letter with an apostille is the fallback when you can't reach the consulate; ask the airline or Spanish police whether they'll accept it.
Getting a child travel consent letter Florida will apostille
A specific letter naming the child, the consenting parent or parents, the accompanying adult, the destination and the travel dates, signed before a Florida notary with a complete notarial certificate (venue, presence or online box, date, ID type, seal). Names must match each passport exactly, and the dates must cover the actual trip.
Draft the letter yourself (Florida law prescribes no form), then sign before any Florida notary or through our online notarization add-on, where each parent can sign separately from wherever they are: $40 for the first document ($10 notarization fee + $30 technology platform fee) and $20 for each additional document. Notarization is not included in our $220. Many trips need only a notarized letter, so confirm the apostille is actually required.
State fee for this document: $10 — included in our price. Full details on the child travel consent letter apostille page.
Who receives it in Spain — and translation
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.
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 child travel consent letters get rejected
- Travel dates no longer match the trip
- Names differ from the passports
- One parent signed when both were required, with no proof of sole custody
- No Spanish version or translation where the authority requires one
What it costs for Spain
$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).