In 1961 many nations joined to create a simplified method of "legalizing" documents for universal recognition.
This group of nations is known as the Hague Convention. They adopted a document referred to as an apostille that
is internationally recognized by all member nations.
Documents sent to member nations, completed with an apostille at the state level, may be submitted directly to the member nation without further action.
Documents sent to non-member nations require a certification (vs. an apostille) of the officials signature.
This is done at the state level and then needs to be transmitted to the U.S. Department of State in Washington D.C.
and then on to the specific embassy or consulate.
Requirements for international documents:
Hague Convention
Acknowledged before a notary public
Notary authentication by the clerk of the county in which the notary is commissioned
Apostilled by Secretary of State of the state in which the document is executed
Non-Hague
Acknowledged before a notary public
Notary authentication by the clerk of the county in which the notary is commissioned
Certified by Secretary of State of the state in which the document is executed
U.S. Department of State will authenticate the document
Document will be legalized by the embassy or consulate
The following countries accept Apostilles without the need for additional legalization:
Albania, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark,
Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan,
Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao, Macedonia, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Panama,
Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine,
United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela.
Note: Countries not listed above most likely also require an Apostille, but they also require additional legalization via their embassy.
Please visit the Hague Conference page or the corresponding embassy for more information.
You print it and follow the directions on it. This includes signing the form,
writing the corresponding checks/money orders,
putting the form inside an envelope along with your documents, and mailing it to our address.
Once we receive your documents, we take them to the Apostilling office in Tallahassee.
This usually happens on the next business day.
We get them apostilled on that same day.
We then send your documents to whatever location you requested in the order form.
It depends on the number of documents you want to apostille and how you want us to forward them.
The initial fee is $140 for one document. Additional documents are only $80 extra per document.
If the documents are to be forwarded to an address within the United States, we can ship them via US Priority Mail with Confirmation for $10, Next-day delivery
is also available via FedEx, for their fee of $40. If you want the documents forwarded to an address outside the United States,
the fee is $85. However, you can also send us a stamped envelope and we will
use it to send your documents anywhere you want at no additional cost.
In addition to the Miami Apostille Courier fees, you also need to pay the Florida Secretary of State for the authentication.
They charge $10 for most documents.
The Order form will automatically calculate the required fees for you.
We accept money orders, cashiers checks, and personal checks drawn on a US bank.
We do not accept credit cards or cash.
We prefer money orders or cashiers checks since they allow us to proceed immediately with the apostille order.
Personal checks are acceptable, but they may need to be cleared with the bank before the order can be processed.
This can delay it a few days.
The Florida Secretary of State also accepts money orders, cashiers checks, or personal checks drawn on a US bank.