For spousal visas, foreign marriage registration, and citizenship through marriage. $190 per certificate, 5 business days. Serving Lutz with a booked appointment and our Tampa Westshore office.
A Florida marriage certificate proves a marriage inside the United States. The moment that marriage has to be recognised by another country — for a visa, a residency application, a foreign civil registry, or a citizenship claim — the certificate needs an apostille attached before anyone abroad will treat it as genuine.
The certified copy comes from the Clerk of Court in the county that issued the licence. For couples married locally that's the Hillsborough County Clerk of Court; for Pinellas, Pasco, Polk, Manatee or Sarasota marriages it's that county's clerk. Once we have the certified copy we review it, file it in person in Tallahassee, and return the apostilled original within 5 business days. Lutz clients hand it off once — at our Westshore office or via a booked appointment — and it comes back ready to send.
Nearly every foreign spousal or partner visa application requires the marriage certificate with an apostille attached before it will be accepted.
Many countries require U.S. marriages to be entered in their own civil registry before the marriage carries legal effect there.
Naturalisation via a foreign spouse routinely requires the apostilled marriage certificate alongside apostilled birth records.
Updating a passport, national ID or property title in another country after marriage generally means producing the apostilled certificate.
Survivor benefits, foreign pensions and social insurance claims ask for proof of marriage that the paying country will accept.
Foreign courts handling a divorce or property division often want the original marriage certificate apostilled before proceeding.
With roughly 24,000 residents, Lutz sits spanning the Hillsborough and Pasco county line. Lutz sits at the affluent northern edge of Hillsborough County, and its households skew toward executives, physicians and business owners — the profile that generates corporate apostilles, powers of attorney for foreign property, and diploma authentications for professional licensing overseas. It is also one of the strongest sources of apostille search demand in the county's northern tier.
Clients come to us from across Lutz — Cheval, Van Dyke Farms, Lake Fern, Sunset Lakes and Ladera among them. We know the ground around the Suncoast Parkway corridor, Cheval Golf & Country Club and Lake Park. That matters more than it sounds: this is a local service, not a mail-in processor.
Our office sits about 25 minutes away from Lutz. We work by appointment, which means no queue at the counter when you get here. The same service runs to Northdale, Carrollwood and Wesley Chapel just up the road.
Documents leaving Lutz most often head to Italy, Ireland, Switzerland, Canada and the United Kingdom. Executive and professional households here mostly need corporate records, foreign property powers of attorney, and diploma authentication for licensing bodies abroad.
Coming down Dale Mabry or the Suncoast puts Lutz clients at the office in well under half an hour; call ahead and we'll hold the time. 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 accepts a certified copy of the marriage certificate issued by the Clerk of Court in the county where the licence was issued — it must carry the clerk's seal and signature. The souvenir or ceremonial certificate from the officiant, the church, or the wedding venue is not a legal record and will be rejected.
Married in Hillsborough County? Certified copies come from the Hillsborough County Clerk of Court. Married in Pinellas, Pasco, Polk, Manatee, Sarasota or Hernando? Order from that county's clerk — we can tell you exactly which office and what it costs. Married in another state or another country? That jurisdiction has to certify it; a foreign marriage certificate cannot receive a Florida apostille. Bring the certified copy to our Westshore office — about 25 minutes from Lutz — 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.
about 25 minutes away — on West Kennedy Boulevard in Tampa's Westshore district, at 4830 W Kennedy Blvd, Suite 633K. Call ahead and your slot is reserved before you set off.
No. Every city we cover runs on the same 5-business-day schedule, because the document is hand-filed in Tallahassee regardless of where it was collected. If your deadline is shorter than that, call — we'll tell you plainly whether rush handling can meet it.
The Hillsborough County Clerk of Court, which issued your marriage licence. You can request certified copies in person or by mail. If you were married in a neighbouring county, that county's clerk holds the record — tell us where and we'll point you to the right office.
No. The apostille authenticates the clerk's seal on the certificate, not either spouse's signature. Only one of you needs to hand off the certified copy.
Frequently, yes — the apostille is multilingual but the certificate underneath it is in English. Spain, Italy, Brazil and much of Latin America typically want a certified translation filed with it. We coordinate translations alongside the apostille.
Florida places no limit, but destination countries often do — six months is a common cutoff for visa and residency filings. If your copy is old, order a fresh one first; it's cheaper than having the foreign consulate refuse it.
Yes. Any Florida county's certified marriage certificate receives its apostille from the same Tallahassee office. We handle certificates from across the Tampa Bay region and beyond — Pinellas, Pasco, Polk, Manatee, Sarasota and Hernando included.
Certified copies of local marriage certificates.
Florida Department of StateThe office that issues the apostille itself.
Florida Bureau of Vital StatisticsStatewide marriage record index.
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 Lutz — call and we'll confirm your window within one business hour.
