How to verify a Florida apostille

Florida apostilles are issued by one office: the Florida Secretary of State, through the Division of Corporations in Tallahassee. The state's apostille FAQ says Florida apostilles are issued only at that office, and Florida is the competent authority for Florida documents under the Hague Convention. County clerks, notaries, courts, consulates and private services, including ours, don't issue apostilles. We file requests; the state issues the certificate.

That gives you the first check. A certificate that claims to be a Florida apostille but was issued by anyone else, or anywhere other than Tallahassee, isn't one.

For countries outside the Hague Convention, the same office issues a notarial certification, also called an authentication certificate, instead of an apostille. It's verified the same way.

The Hague Convention prescribes the form. Under the Convention's annex, an apostille is headed "APOSTILLE" with the French subtitle "(Convention de La Haye du 5 octobre 1961)" and carries ten numbered fields:

1. Country: United States of America
2. This public document has been signed by (the official or notary who signed your document)
3. acting in the capacity of (for example, State Registrar, Clerk of Court, Notary Public)
4. bears the seal/stamp of (the office or notary)
5. Certified at (Tallahassee)
6. the (date)
7. by (the issuing authority)
8. No. (the certificate number)
9. Seal/stamp
10. Signature

The certificate number in field 8 and the ID number on the back are what you'll quote if you ask the state to confirm it. Fields 2 to 4 should match the signature and seal on the document underneath. If the apostille names a notary, the document should carry that notary's signature and seal. If it names the State Registrar, the document should be a vital record signed by the State Registrar. A mismatch is a red flag.

According to the Florida Department of State, its certificates are printed on security paper that can't be photocopied cleanly: a photocopy shows the word "VOID" throughout. Each certificate also has a unique identification number on the back, in the lower left corner.

For an authoritative answer, ask the issuing office. The state's FAQ says that to verify a Florida apostille or notarial certificate, you send a copy of the certificate with a written request to its Apostille/Certification Section.

To: Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations, Apostille/Certification Section

Re: Request to verify a Florida apostille

Please confirm whether the enclosed certificate was issued by your office. Certificate number: [number]. Date of issue: [date]. Signer named on the certificate: [name], acting as [capacity]. The document was presented to us in [country] for [purpose].

A copy of the front and back of the certificate is enclosed. Please reply to [name, organization, mailing address, email, phone].

[Signature]
[Printed name and title]
[Date]

The state's email addresses are public records under Florida law, so if privacy matters, use mail or phone.

An apostille confirms the signature on the document, not the content. If you want to check the document itself, the issuing office is the place to ask, and several Florida offices offer their own checks:

• Notarized documents: look up the notary on the state's notary search and confirm the commission was active on the notarization date.
• Clerk e-certified court records: many clerks print a code and QR on the cover page. The Palm Beach County Clerk, for example, lets anyone verify an e-certified copy free and flags altered documents.
• Certificates of status: the Division of Corporations has a certificate of status check using the number printed on the certificate.
• Vital records: the issuing office is the Department of Health's Bureau of Vital Statistics.

Documents headed to countries outside the Hague Convention don't get an apostille. The Florida Department of State issues a notarial certification, often called an authentication certificate, instead. It doesn't use the ten-field apostille layout, but it serves the same purpose: confirming the Florida official's or notary's signature. The state's FAQ covers both certificates in the same verification process, so the steps above apply.

A document for a non-Hague country then collects two more certifications: one from the U.S. Department of State and one from the destination country's embassy or consulate. Each office can only vouch for its own certificate. If you need to confirm the federal or embassy step, ask that office. We handle the Florida step only; see non-Hague authentication.

If you work at a registry, bank, university or consulate that receives Florida documents, a few habits catch nearly every problem: insist on the original certificate, still attached; compare fields 2 to 4 with the signature and seal on the document; and look for the ID number on the back. When in doubt, the written request described above goes straight to the issuing office. Don't rely on a scan or an emailed image of an apostille. Florida's security paper features only exist on the original.

• A "Florida apostille" issued by a county, a city, a notary or a company.
• A certificate on plain paper, or one that shows VOID: you're holding a copy.
• The apostille has been detached from its document, or stapled to a different one.
• Fields 2 to 4 name someone whose signature isn't on the document.
• A Florida apostille on a federal document, such as an FBI record or a U.S. passport. Federal documents are authenticated by the U.S. Department of State, not by Florida.
• A Florida apostille on another state's document. Each state certifies its own officials.

If you have doubts about a certificate you were given, ask the state. Our role is filing requests, so the Department of State is the authoritative source.

If the certificate is genuine but attached to the wrong document, or the underlying document didn't meet the rules, the fix is a new filing with a correct document. We file in person in Tallahassee and return documents in 5–7 business days: $220 for one document, $380 for two, $160 each for three or more, including the state fee, the request form and FedEx inside the U.S. Certified-copy fees and notarization are separate, and international return shipping is $100 flat. Order online, or start with why Florida apostilles get rejected. Check whether your destination accepts apostilles on the HCCH status table.