For teaching abroad, foreign job offers, graduate school and professional licensing. $190 per document, 5 business days. Serving Sarasota and the USF corridor.
Diplomas and transcripts are the second most common apostille we handle, and the one most often tied to a hard deadline — a contract start date, a visa appointment, a university enrollment window. Foreign employers, ministries of education and licensing boards will not recognise a U.S. credential until the apostille is attached.
Here's the part that trips people up: a diploma isn't a public record, so it can't be apostilled as-is. It has to be notarised first — either by a school registrar whose signature is on file, or through a notarised copy certification or a registrar's affidavit. We're Florida-commissioned notaries, so we handle that step and the apostille in a single pass. For Sarasota clients that's one handoff, one fee, and the document back in 5 business days.
TEFL and TESOL placements in Korea, Japan, China, Vietnam, Spain and the UAE require an apostilled degree and, almost always, a background check alongside it.
Employers in the Gulf, Europe and Asia verify credentials through the apostille before a work permit will be issued.
Foreign universities want an apostilled diploma and transcript as part of the admissions file, often before the application is even reviewed.
Nurses, engineers, teachers and physicians seeking to practise abroad must present apostilled credentials to the foreign licensing authority.
Foreign evaluation bodies increasingly require the apostille before they will assess a U.S. degree for equivalency.
Exchange placements and scholarship programs routinely ask for apostilled academic records as part of the visa packet.
Sarasota is home to roughly 55,000 people, 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.
We serve clients throughout Sarasota's neighborhoods including Downtown Sarasota, Southside Village, Siesta Key, Lido Key and Palmer Ranch. Landmarks like St. Armands Circle, The Ringling and Siesta Key put us on familiar ground — this is local service, not a mail-order processor.
From Sarasota, our Tampa Westshore office is about an hour away — or skip the drive entirely and book mobile pickup; we come to your home or office. We also handle diplomapostille work for clients in nearby Bradenton, Ruskin and St. Petersburg.
A diploma or transcript needs a notarised element before Florida can apostille it. There are three routes: the school registrar signs and has their signature notarised; a Florida notary performs a copy certification of the original; or the registrar issues a notarised affidavit attesting to the credential. Which one works depends on the receiving country and, sometimes, on the school. Sealed transcripts sent directly from the registrar in a signed, notarised envelope are the cleanest option when the destination accepts them.
Graduated from the University of South Florida, the University of Tampa, Hillsborough Community College, Florida Southern College or Saint Leo? All of these are routine for us. Graduated out of state? The notarisation has to happen in the state where the notary is commissioned, and the apostille follows from that state — but if you're in Florida with the original in hand, we can often handle the copy certification here. Bring it to our Westshore office — about an hour from Sarasota — or book mobile pickup.
Walk in to our Tampa Westshore office or schedule mobile pickup across the Tampa Bay area — confirmed within one business hour.
Before anything is filed, we vet the document itself — the certification, the notarization, and what your destination country expects — so rejections don't happen.
We hand-carry your paperwork to the Florida Department of State counter ourselves. No mail-in pile, no batch processing, nothing left to chance.
Your apostilled originals come back in 5 business days, ready for office pickup or local return delivery — and you get a call the minute they arrive.
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 pickup.
Yes — mobile pickup covers Sarasota and the wider Tampa Bay service area. Requests before 2 PM are routinely scheduled same-day, and every request gets a confirmed window within one business hour.
We're at 4830 W Kennedy Blvd, Suite 633K in Tampa's Westshore district — about an hour away from Sarasota. Walk-ins are welcome during business hours, or book mobile pickup and skip the trip entirely.
Pickup to return runs 5 business days anywhere in our service area — the same in-person filing schedule for every city we cover. Facing a tighter deadline? Call and we'll give you a straight answer about what rush handling can realistically deliver.
Yes — a diploma is not a public record, so a notarised signature has to exist on it or alongside it before the Department of State can act. We're Florida-commissioned notaries and handle that step with the apostille in one visit.
Straightforward. Either the registrar's office signs and notarises, or we perform a notarised copy certification of your original diploma. Both routes are common with Tampa Bay institutions and both reach the same result — bring the original and we'll advise on the spot.
Often, yes. If we notarise a copy certification here in Florida, the Florida apostille attaches to that Florida notarisation. Some countries insist the apostille come from the state that issued the degree — check with the receiving authority, and tell us what they say.
It depends entirely on who's asking. Employers and licensing boards usually want the diploma; universities almost always want the transcript as well. When in doubt, do both — the two-document bundle at $300 is cheaper than coming back for the second one later.
Yes. High school diplomas and transcripts follow the same route as university credentials, and they come up regularly for students enrolling in foreign universities or families relocating overseas.
The office that issues the apostille itself.
USF Office of the RegistrarTranscript and credential requests for USF graduates.
Florida Department of EducationState-level education records and credential information.
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.
Mobile pickupWe come to you, across the Tampa Bay area.
On a deadline? Call and we'll confirm a Sarasota pickup window within one business hour.
