For teaching abroad, foreign job offers, graduate school and professional licensing. $190 per document, 5 business days. Serving Wesley Chapel 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 Wesley Chapel 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.
Wesley Chapel is home to roughly 65,000 people, the fastest-growing community in Pasco County. Pasco County converts better than any market we advertise to outside Hillsborough, and Wesley Chapel is the reason. Explosive master-planned growth has brought in relocating professionals and a fast-expanding Indian, Puerto Rican and Latin American population — households that regularly need degree authentication for overseas licensing, birth records for citizenship applications, and powers of attorney for property held abroad.
Across Wesley Chapel we handle documents for residents of Meadow Pointe, Seven Oaks, Epperson, Union Park and Estancia. The Shops at Wiregrass, the Epperson Lagoon and the Grove at Wesley Chapel are part of the everyday geography here, and we work it in person rather than by post.
The Westshore office is about 35 minutes away from Wesley Chapel. Appointments are confirmed within one business hour, so the drive is never wasted. Nearby Lutz, Northdale and Temple Terrace are served on the same terms.
Documents leaving Wesley Chapel most often head to India, Puerto Rico, Colombia, the United Kingdom and the Philippines. Fast master-planned growth has brought in relocating professionals whose paperwork skews toward degree authentication for licensing, background checks for work permits, and birth records for citizenship files.
A straight run down I-75. Booking a day ahead gives the widest choice of times. 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.
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 35 minutes from Wesley Chapel — or book a booked appointment.
Call or send a request and we'll hold an appointment at our Tampa Westshore office — 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 collection at the office — and you get a call the minute they arrive.
No courier surcharge, no rush upsell, no handling fee appearing at the end. The figure below covers the work and the state's filing fee together.
Each figure includes the state's $10 filing fee per document, hand delivery to the Department of State counter, and all handling from drop-off to return. Notarization, where a document needs it first, is a separate add-on.
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.
A phone call. We'll confirm an appointment at the Westshore office within one business hour and tell you before you set off from Wesley Chapel whether your document actually qualifies.
We'd rather you called first. The office runs by appointment, so an unannounced visit risks arriving while we're at the state counter in Tallahassee. One phone call avoids a wasted drive from Wesley Chapel.
Five business days after handoff. The clock is set by the Department of State counter, not by the drive, so Wesley Chapel 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.
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.
Booking an appointmentHow office visits work, and what to bring.
On a deadline? Call and we'll confirm a Wesley Chapel appointment within one business hour.
