What matters is where the document is from, not where you are
The Florida Department of State apostilles documents issued or notarized in Florida. Where you live doesn't matter. A Florida birth certificate, a Florida divorce decree, or a power of attorney notarized by a Florida notary can be apostilled in Tallahassee whether you're in Madrid, Bogotá or Manila.
What does matter is the paper: the state needs the original certified copy or the original notarized document. So the real question for anyone abroad is how to get the right original into our hands. There are four common routes.
Four ways to get your document to us
| Your situation | Best route |
|---|---|
| You have the Florida original with you abroad | Ship it to our Tallahassee processing office by tracked international courier |
| The original is with family or a friend in the U.S. | They ship it with the prepaid FedEx label sent after we review your documents |
| You need a fresh vital record | Order a certified copy online through VitalChek and have it delivered for the apostille |
| You need to sign a document (POA, affidavit, consent) | Sign it with a Florida online notary over video; no paper shipping from you at all |
Ordering online and shipping from abroad
If the original document already exists, this is the route. It takes a few minutes to order and one courier envelope to send.
Place your order online
Order at our online checkout, list each document, and tell us the destination country so we file for the right certificate. Add international return shipping if the finished documents should come back to you abroad.
Choose who ships
Our prepaid FedEx label covers shipping inside the U.S. If a relative or friend in the U.S. has your document, they use that label. If you're shipping from abroad yourself, use a tracked international courier at your own cost.
Address it to our processing office
Ship to My Florida Apostille, 113 S Monroe St, Tallahassee, FL 32301. It's a document processing office, so please ship your documents rather than visiting. Put your order number on a note inside the envelope.
Pack it like it matters
Use a rigid envelope, don't fold certificates, don't staple or clip anything new to the document, and declare the contents as documents with no commercial value. Keep your tracking number.
We review, file and ship back
We check the document on arrival and tell you right away if something won't pass. Then we file in person at the Florida Department of State and send it back to you or to any address you choose.
Documents you sign abroad: notarize online
Powers of attorney, affidavits, single-status affidavits, travel consent letters, contracts and corporate resolutions all need your signature notarized before they can be apostilled. From abroad, that used to mean booking a notarial appointment at a U.S. embassy or consulate. For documents a Florida online notary can notarize, you don't need that appointment.
Here's how our online notarization works:
- A Florida-commissioned online notary meets you on a secure video session. You can be in another country.
- You verify your identity first: a government-issued photo ID plus identity checks. If identity verification can't be completed, Florida law doesn't allow the online notarization to go ahead.
- Because you're outside Florida, the notary confirms you want a Florida notary to perform the notarization under Florida law.
- After the session, we print the notarized document with a Florida attested-copy certificate (paper-out) and file that paper document for the apostille. You never ship a paper original.
Cost: $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.
Two limits. Online notarization isn't for vital records or court records; those are public records and need certified copies from the issuing office. And before you sign, ask the person receiving the document whether a U.S. document notarized online by a Florida notary and apostilled in Florida works for their purpose. It's their call, so ask before you book the session.
Ordering Florida vital records from abroad
If you need a birth or death certificate, the Florida Department of Health names VitalChek as its only contracted online vendor and lists a phone line for callers outside the U.S. (615-372-6800). You can order online with a card, which is far easier from abroad than mailing a U.S.-bank cashier's check or money order to the Bureau of Vital Statistics.
Useful facts from the Department of Health's birth certificate page (October 2026):
- Births less than 125 years old are confidential. You can order your own if you're 18 or older; parents on the record, legal guardians and legal representatives can too. Anyone else needs a notarized affidavit from an eligible person.
- Through VitalChek, the first computer-generated certificate is $19 (a $9 search fee plus a $10 rush fee), plus a $7 VitalChek processing fee, with $4 for each additional copy. Shipping is extra.
- Computer-generated birth certificates take 3–5 business days to process, not counting shipping.
The simplest plan is to have the certificate delivered to a U.S. address, such as a relative who can forward it to us with our prepaid label. If you want it sent abroad first, check VitalChek's delivery options for your country before you order. Our rule: vital records must be certified in 2014 or later, so a fresh copy is often the fastest path anyway. Marriage and divorce certificates can also come from the Clerk of the County Court; find yours through the Florida Clerks directory.
Full details: vital records for apostille.
Getting the finished documents back
Return shipping inside the U.S. is included in every order. To send the finished documents to you abroad, add international return shipping: $100 flat per order, to any country, no matter how many documents are in it.
Some people prefer to have the apostilled documents sent to a U.S. address and carried over by a family member, or forwarded together with other paperwork. That's included in the base price.
How long it takes, realistically
Think of it in three legs:
- Getting the document to us. Courier time from your country, or VitalChek processing plus delivery, or no time at all if you notarize online.
- Our part: 5–7 business days, filed in person at the Florida Department of State.
- Getting it back to you. International courier transit, plus any customs time in your country.
If your destination isn't a Hague country, the Florida step is only the start: a U.S. Department of State authentication and consular legalization follow, and we don't handle those. Read the non-Hague guide before you set a deadline.
What it costs from abroad
- Apostille or non-Hague authentication: $220 for one document, $380 for two, $160 each for three or more (state fee, application and FedEx both ways inside the U.S. included)
- International return shipping: $100 flat per order
- Online notarization: $40 first document ($10 notarization + $30 technology platform fee), $20 each additional
Questions before you order? Email [email protected] or call (850) 900-3443. Start your order online.