- Issued by
- A Florida notary, either attesting a copy of the passport you present in person or notarizing your sworn statement that the attached copy is
- Florida state fee
- $10 — included in $220
- Online notarization
- Available as an add-on
- Turnaround
- 5–7 business days, filed in person
What you are actually apostilling
Florida can only authenticate the signature of a Florida official, such as a Florida notary. Your passport is not a Florida document, so Florida cannot apostille the passport book itself, and you would not want to part with it anyway.
What you send is a photocopy of the passport's photo page (and any other pages the receiving party asks for) with a complete Florida notarial certificate. The apostille confirms the notary's name, commission and signature. The foreign bank or registry then treats the copy as a verified copy of your passport.
Why foreign institutions ask for it
- Opening a bank or brokerage account abroad without visiting a branch, where the bank needs verified identity documents.
- Forming a company or becoming a director or shareholder, where the registry or local notary needs certified ID for each officer.
- Buying property, where the foreign notary or lawyer needs a verified copy of the buyer's identity document.
- Tax ID, residency and utility registrations handled by a local representative on your behalf.
Ask the receiving party exactly which pages they want and whether a color copy is required. It costs nothing to ask and saves a second order.
Two ways to get a passport copy that can be apostilled
Route 1: attested copy made by a Florida notary
You present your passport in person. The notary makes the photocopy and signs the Florida attested-copy certificate. Under Florida law a notary may attest a copy only if the document is not a vital record and not a public record that an official source can certify. In the certificate, the notary states that, to the best of their knowledge, the document is neither. Because the notary signs that statement, an individual notary may decline. That is their call.
Route 2: your sworn statement that the copy is true
You sign a short statement, attached to the copy, swearing that it is a true, complete and unaltered copy of your passport, and a Florida notary completes a jurat (oath) certificate. The notary is notarizing your signature and oath, not certifying the copy. This route works well remotely.
Our online notarization add-on uses Route 2. A Florida-commissioned online notary verifies your identity and notarizes your statement over secure video. We print the notarized document with a Florida attested-copy certificate and file it for the apostille, so nothing paper has to be shipped by you. It costs $40 for the first document ($10 notarization fee plus a $30 technology platform fee) and $20 for each additional document, on top of the apostille price. It works from anywhere in the U.S. or abroad, subject to identity verification with a government photo ID.
COUNTY OF ____________
On this ____ day of ____________, ______, I attest that the preceding or attached document is a true, exact, complete, and unaltered photocopy made by me of (description of document) presented to me by the document custodian, (custodian name), and, to the best of my knowledge, that the photocopied document is neither a vital record nor a public record, certified copies of which are available from an official source other than a notary public.
(Official Notary Signature and Notary Seal)
(Name of Notary Typed, Printed, or Stamped)
COUNTY OF ____________
Sworn to (or affirmed) and subscribed before me by means of [ ] physical presence or [ ] online notarization, this ____ day of ____________, ______, by ______________________ (name of person making statement).
______________________________
(Signature of Notary Public - State of Florida)
(Print, Type, or Stamp Commissioned Name of Notary Public)
Personally Known ____ OR Produced Identification ____
Type of Identification Produced ______________
Preparation checklist
The notarial certificate is where most passport copies fail. Check it line by line:
- Passport is valid and unexpired, unless the receiving party says an expired one is fine
- Copy is clear and legible, including the machine-readable lines at the bottom of the photo page
- Full notarial certificate in English: attested-copy wording or a jurat, never just a stamp and signature
- Venue filled in: State of Florida, County of ____
- Physical presence or online notarization box checked
- Date, signer's name, and how identity was proven
- Notary's signature, printed name, and seal with commission number and expiration date
- The notary is commissioned in Florida, not another state
How it works with us
Price: $220 for one document, $380 for two, and $160 each for three or more. That covers the Florida Department of State fee, the request form, and FedEx both ways inside the U.S. Shipping the finished documents to an address outside the U.S. is a flat $100 per order. Turnaround is 5–7 business days, and we file every order in person in Tallahassee.
Choose your route
In-person attested copy by any Florida notary, or our online notarization add-on if you are outside Florida or short on time.
Place your order
Order online and name the destination country. A passport copy plus a driver's license copy is $380 for the pair.
Notarize or ship
With online notarization, we schedule your video session and handle the paper from there. Otherwise, ship the notarized copy with our prepaid FedEx label or bring it to an in-person appointment in West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa or Clearwater.
We check the certificate and file
We review every line of the notarial certificate and confirm the commission, then file in person at the Florida Department of State in Tallahassee.
Delivered
Your apostilled copy comes back in 5–7 business days door to door. Shipping to another country is $100 per order.
Why passport copies get rejected
- Stamp only, no wording. A seal and signature on a photocopy, with no attested-copy statement or jurat, is not a notarization.
- Out-of-state notary. A copy notarized in another state cannot be apostilled by Florida. It goes to that state.
- Incomplete certificate. Missing county, date, ID type, or the physical presence or online notarization box.
- Expired commission on the date of notarization.
- Illegible copy, so the receiving bank rejects it even with a valid apostille.
Common uses by country
- Mexico and Colombia: company formation and property purchases handled by a local representative.
- Spain and Italy: tax ID and bank paperwork arranged by a local lawyer.
- Brazil and Philippines: corporate filings and bank accounts.
The requesting bank or lawyer is your best source for the exact format. If they hand you a checklist, send it to us with your order.
Apostille or Florida authentication: it depends on the country
If the country where you will use the passport copy is a party to the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention, the Florida Department of State attaches an apostille and you are done on the U.S. side. You can check any country on the official HCCH status table.
If the country is not a party (the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and Egypt are examples), Florida issues a certificate of authentication instead. We handle that Florida step at the same price and in the same 5–7 business days. Let's be straight with you about what comes after: non-Hague countries then require a U.S. Department of State authentication and legalization by that country's embassy or consulate. We do not handle or arrange those two steps, and we do not refer you to anyone for them. Your receiving authority or the embassy's checklist sets that sequence. Details are on our non-Hague authentication page.