For work visas, teaching placements, residency and citizenship applications. $190 per document, 5 business days. Serving Town 'n' Country by appointment.
Almost every country that issues a long-stay visa wants a police clearance from where you've been living. For Florida residents that's the FDLE criminal history record — and it has to carry an apostille before a foreign consulate will accept it.
The critical detail: only the certified FDLE record qualifies. The instant online search printout that anyone can generate has no seal and no signature, so the Department of State will reject it. You need the certified version FDLE issues on request, which arrives with an official seal. We review what you've received before filing, carry it to Tallahassee in person, and return it apostilled in 5 business days — which matters, because these documents expire.
The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Korea, Singapore and most of the EU require an apostilled police clearance in the work permit packet.
TEFL and international school placements pair the apostilled background check with an apostilled degree — the two travel together.
Residency-by-investment and long-stay visa programs in Portugal, Spain, Greece and Italy all require apostilled criminal record checks.
Naturalisation files abroad routinely include a police clearance from every country of residence in the applicant's recent history.
Foreign adoption authorities require apostilled background checks for every adult in the household, often with a short validity window.
Healthcare, education and financial licensing boards abroad require a criminal record check authenticated for use in their jurisdiction.
Town 'n' Country counts roughly 85,000 people and stands one of the largest communities in Hillsborough County. Town 'n' Country is one of the most heavily Hispanic communities in the Tampa Bay area, with large Cuban, Colombian, Venezuelan, Puerto Rican and Dominican populations. Spanish-language apostille demand here is significant and persistent — actas de nacimiento, poderes notariales, and antecedentes penales headed to consulates across Latin America and Spain.
Clients come to us from across Town 'n' Country — Country Village, Bay Crest, Twin Lakes and Woodbridge among them. Working near the Sheldon Road corridor, Town 'N Country Park and Tampa International Airport keeps this a local operation rather than a mail-order one.
Our office sits about 12 minutes away from Town 'n' Country. We work by appointment, which means no queue at the counter when you get here. Clients in Westchase, Tampa and Carrollwood come to us for the same FDLE background check apostille work.
Documents leaving Town 'n' Country most often head to Cuba, Colombia, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic and Spain. This is the most consistently Spanish-language caseload in the county: actas de nacimiento and matrimonio, poderes notariales, and antecedentes penales bound for consulates across Latin America and Spain.
Minutes from the office, and served in Spanish where preferred throughout the appointment. 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 Department of State will only apostille the certified FDLE criminal history record — the version FDLE issues with an official seal and an authorised signature. Request the certified copy specifically when you order; the free instant search result and the standard online printout are not certified and cannot be authenticated no matter how official they look.
Some destinations want an FBI Identity History Summary rather than a state check, and that's a federal document — it goes to the U.S. Department of State in Washington for authentication, not to Tallahassee. A few countries want both. If you're not sure which your consulate expects, tell us the country and the visa type and we'll tell you which route to take before you order anything. Bring the certified record to our Westshore office — about 12 minutes from Town 'n' Country — 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.
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.
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.
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.
Ours, at 4830 W Kennedy Blvd, Suite 633K in Tampa's Westshore district — about 12 minutes away away. Appointments only, confirmed within one business hour of your request.
Five business days after handoff. The clock is set by the Department of State counter, not by the drive, so Town 'n' Country 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.
Request it directly from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and specify that you need the certified copy for apostille purposes. It arrives with FDLE's seal and an authorised signature. Turnaround is typically a few business days, and we can walk you through the request if it's your first time.
No. That printout carries no seal and no signature, so there's nothing for the Department of State to authenticate. It gets rejected at the counter. Only the certified record works — this is the single most common mistake we see on background check requests.
It depends on the country. Many accept a state-level FDLE check; others specifically require the FBI Identity History Summary, which is federal and authenticated in Washington rather than Tallahassee. Some want both. Tell us the destination and visa type and we'll confirm.
Most consulates treat a police clearance as valid for three to six months from issue, and some count from the apostille date instead. Don't order it too far ahead of your filing date — that's the most common reason people end up doing this twice.
It can slow the FDLE search, and a fingerprint-based request usually resolves it cleanly. It has no effect on the apostille step itself — once the certified record is issued, authentication proceeds exactly the same way.
Order the certified criminal history record.
FBI Identity History SummaryThe federal alternative, authenticated in Washington.
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.
Background checks expire — call and we'll confirm a Town 'n' Country appointment within one business hour.
