Florida Affidavit Apostille

An affidavit is a statement of facts that you sign under oath or affirmation. What turns an ordinary letter into an affidavit is the notary's jurat: the notary administers the oath, watches you sign, and completes a certificate saying the statement was "sworn to (or affirmed) and subscribed" before them.

That's different from an acknowledgment, which only confirms you signed willingly — the kind used on a power of attorney or a deed. For anything a foreign office will treat as testimony, use a jurat. A foreign registry reading an acknowledgment may conclude the statement was never sworn.

You write the content; the notary doesn't. A Florida notary can't draft the statement for you or tell you what it should say (unless they are also your attorney). The notary's job is identity, oath and certificate.

• Affidavit of support — you confirm you'll cover a relative's or student's costs abroad, often with bank letters attached. (This is not the U.S. immigration form of the same name, which is filed domestically.)
• Affidavit of identity — "one and the same person": you confirm that two names on different records belong to you, e.g., with and without a middle name or second surname.
• Affidavit of name discrepancy — explains a misspelling or variation across birth, marriage and passport records.
• Affidavit of residence or domicile — your address and how long you've lived there, for foreign tax, school or registry purposes.
• Affidavit of loss — a document was lost or destroyed and a foreign office wants a sworn explanation.
• Translator's affidavit — a translator swears the translation is accurate. The Florida Department of State says the translator cannot be the notary.

Getting married abroad? The single-status statement has its own page: single status affidavit apostille.

Abroad, a sworn statement from Florida is only as good as the proof that the oath was really administered by a real notary. The apostille is that proof: the Florida Secretary of State compares the notary's signature and commission with its notary database and certifies them. The receiving office still decides how much weight to give your statement — the apostille doesn't vouch for the facts, only for the notary.

Write it in plain, numbered paragraphs. Identify yourself fully at the top, state only facts you know personally, and end with a line such as "I swear (or affirm) that the foregoing is true." Then check:

$220 per document, $380 for two, or $160 each for three or more — the $10 or $20 state fee, the request form and FedEx shipping both ways inside the U.S. are included. Online notarization adds $40 for the first document ($10 notarization fee + $30 technology platform fee) and $20 for each additional document. Need the finished document sent abroad? International return shipping is a flat $100 per order, to any country.

• Acknowledgment instead of a jurat — Florida may still apostille it, but the foreign office may refuse it as unsworn.
• No venue or no presence box — the certificate must say State of Florida, the county, and whether you appeared in person or online.
• Signed before the oath — a jurat certifies you signed in the notary's presence.
• Related notary — under s. 117.107, a Florida notary can't notarize the signature of their spouse, son, daughter, mother or father.
• Translator notarized their own translation — the Florida Department of State does not allow it.
• A copy of a public record attached as the 'proof' — a notary can't certify copies of vital or court records. Attach certified copies instead and apostille them separately if needed.

• Citizenship by descent — files for Italy and other countries often stall on an ancestor whose name is spelled three ways. An identity or discrepancy affidavit is common; whether it replaces corrected records is the consulate's call.
• Two-surname countries — Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico and Spain records may list a second surname that your U.S. documents drop.
• Study and family visits — affidavits of support for students and visiting relatives, usually with bank letters.
• Foreign court cases — sworn statements in custody, inheritance or civil cases where you can't testify in person.

Ask the receiving office whether it wants the statement in its own language, bilingual, or translated after the apostille.

For Hague Convention countries (see the HCCH status table or our list), you get an apostille and you're done. For non-Hague countries, the Florida Department of State issues a certificate of authentication — same price, same 5–7 days — and the country then requires a U.S. Department of State authentication followed by embassy or consulate legalization. We don't handle or arrange those two steps and don't refer them to anyone. Details: non-Hague authentication.