The most requested apostille in the Tampa Bay area — for dual citizenship, foreign marriage, and visa applications. $190 per certificate, 5 business days. Serving Sarasota with a booked appointment and our Tampa Westshore office.
Ask a foreign government to accept who you are and the conversation starts with a birth certificate. It is the single most requested document we handle, and it sits underneath almost everything else — a passport application in another country, a residency file, a marriage licence abroad, a child's school enrollment overseas.
Florida-born means the Florida Department of State issues the apostille, but only against a certified copy carrying a registrar's seal. The souvenir certificate from the delivery room does not qualify, and neither does a scan or a laminated version, however official either looks. We read the certificate before it travels, walk it to the state counter in person, and return the apostilled original to Sarasota within 5 business days.
The reason we see most. A jure sanguinis application needs the certificate authenticated for the applicant and for every ancestor standing between them and Italy.
Both countries run descent-based routes, including the Sephardic tracks and the shortened path for Latin American nationals. All of them want authenticated U.S. birth records.
A foreign registrar will rarely issue a licence to an American without seeing the birth certificate authenticated, usually alongside proof of single status.
Poland, Ireland, Germany, Lithuania and a dozen others recognise descent. Each generation in the chain has to be evidenced with an authenticated certificate.
Gulf states, South Korea, Singapore and most of the EU fold the birth certificate into the permit file alongside a degree and a police check.
Second passports, enrollment at a school abroad, family reunification petitions — a child's certificate carries the same requirement as an adult's.
Sarasota counts roughly 55,000 people and stands the cultural centre of Florida's southwest coast. Sarasota's population skews affluent, well-travelled and internationally rooted — a large German, British, Canadian and Swiss contingent, plus a professional and arts community with long-standing ties to Europe. The apostille work reflects it: estate and probate records for foreign courts, property powers of attorney, marriage and death certificates for foreign civil registries, and citizenship-by-descent packets.
Our work in Sarasota spans Downtown Sarasota, Southside Village, Siesta Key, Lido Key and Palmer Ranch and the streets between them. Landmarks like St. Armands Circle, The Ringling and Siesta Key put us on familiar ground — this is local service, not a mail-order processor.
It's about an hour away between Sarasota and our West Kennedy Boulevard office. Call first and we'll reserve the time before you set off. Nearby Bradenton, Ruskin and St. Petersburg are served on the same terms.
Documents leaving Sarasota most often head to Germany, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Italy and Canada. An affluent, internationally rooted population produces estate and probate records for foreign courts, property powers of attorney, and citizenship-by-descent packets more than routine vital records.
The furthest point we serve regularly. Book ahead and confirm the document by phone first; for a single document, courier is often more sensible. Whichever route you take, the document is filed in person at the Florida Department of State rather than mailed, which is what holds the return to 5 business days.
The state authenticates a registrar's seal, so a registrar's seal has to be on the paper. In practice that means a certified copy from the Florida Bureau of Vital Statistics in Jacksonville or from a county health department vital records office, showing both the seal and an issuing signature. Anything printed at the hospital, however ceremonial it looks, is not a legal record and will not be accepted.
Born in Hillsborough County but don't have a certified copy? You can order one from the Florida Department of Health in Hillsborough County's vital records office or online through the state Bureau of Vital Statistics. Born in another state? Your birth certificate must be apostilled by that state's Secretary of State — we can point you to the right office. Born abroad? A Consular Report of Birth Abroad is a federal document requiring U.S. Department of State authentication instead. When your certificate is ready, bring it to our Westshore office — about an hour from Sarasota — at a time we hold for you.
You come to West Kennedy Boulevard at a time we've reserved for you. One exchange, and the document is in our hands.
Every document is examined before filing — issuing seal, signature, notarial certificate, and the specific requirements of the country it's headed to.
We present the document at the Florida Department of State in person. Nothing sits in a mailroom, and nothing waits behind a batch of other people's paperwork.
The apostilled original is back and ready to collect at the office. You'll hear from us the moment it's in.
One flat number, nothing bolted on afterward. What we quote is what you pay, and the Florida Department of State's filing fee is already inside it.
Every price covers the $10-per-document Florida Department of State filing fee, in-person submission at the state counter, and complete document handling. If your paperwork needs notarization first, we offer that as a separate add-on service.
Grab the Apostille and Notarial Certificate Request Form from the Florida Department of State here. There's no need to fill it out ahead of time — we'll complete it with you at your appointment.
Usually the same day or the next. Tell us when suits and we'll hold the slot; confirmation comes back within one business hour of the request, not the following morning.
We're at 4830 W Kennedy Blvd, Suite 633K in Tampa's Westshore district — about an hour away from Sarasota. Book a time and we'll have it held when you arrive.
Five business days after handoff. The clock is set by the Department of State counter, not by the drive, so Sarasota is on the same schedule as the rest of our area. Tight deadline? Ring us and we'll be straight with you about what's possible.
Florida sets no limit, but the receiving country often does. Spain and Italy in particular tend to want a copy issued within the last six to twelve months. If yours has been in a drawer for years, order a fresh one first — it is far cheaper than a refused consular file.
Usually not, as long as it is a certified copy with a seal and signature on it. The occasional snag is an issuing official so old that the state can no longer verify the signature against its records. Requesting a newly issued copy clears that in one step.
Whichever state registered the birth is the state that authenticates it — Ohio records go through Ohio, New York through New York. We work on Florida documents, and if yours belongs elsewhere we will name the office you need rather than leave you searching.
Often. The apostille form itself is multilingual and needs nothing done to it, but the certificate underneath is in English and most non-English-speaking authorities expect a certified translation with it. We arrange that alongside the filing.
Yes, and either parent can bring it in. Children's certificates make up a large share of this work — second passports and foreign school enrollment more than anything else.
Order certified Florida birth certificates.
Florida Department of Health in Hillsborough CountyLocal vital records office for Hillsborough-born residents.
Florida Department of StateThe office that issues the apostille itself.
One flat rate, volume bundles, and the few things that add cost.
Processing timeThe 5-day timeline vs the mail-in queue.
Same-day & rush serviceA straight answer on what a tight deadline allows.
Booking an appointmentHow office visits work, and what to bring.
Same-day appointments available for Sarasota — call and we'll confirm your window within one business hour.
