For spousal visas, foreign marriage registration, and citizenship through marriage. $190 per certificate, 5 business days. Serving Riverview 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. Riverview 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.
Riverview is home to roughly 110,000 people, one of the fastest-growing communities in the Tampa Bay region. Riverview has doubled in size in a generation, and much of that growth is young families and relocating professionals — including a steady flow of military-connected households tied to MacDill. Those are exactly the profiles that need apostilles: children's birth certificates for dual-national passports, marriage certificates for overseas postings, and background checks for international employers.
Our work in Riverview spans Winthrop, Panther Trace, Summerfield, Boyette and South Fork and the streets between them. Landmarks like Winthrop Town Centre, the Alafia River and the Big Bend corridor put us on familiar ground — this is local service, not a mail-order processor.
It's about 30 minutes away between Riverview and our West Kennedy Boulevard office. Call first and we'll reserve the time before you set off. We also handle marriage certificate apostille work for clients in nearby Brandon, Ruskin and Valrico.
Documents leaving Riverview most often head to Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, Italy and Colombia. Military-connected households tied to MacDill drive much of the volume — marriage certificates for overseas postings, children's birth certificates for dual-national passports, and background checks for status-of-forces paperwork.
Riverview is a straightforward run up the Selmon, and same-day appointments are commonly available when booked in the morning. 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 30 minutes from Riverview — 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.
A single figure per document, with the Florida Department of State's fee already included. Bundles bring the per-document rate down from there.
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.
A phone call. We'll confirm an appointment at the Westshore office within one business hour and tell you before you set off from Riverview 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 Riverview.
Five business days after handoff. The clock is set by the Department of State counter, not by the drive, so Riverview 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.
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 Riverview — call and we'll confirm your window within one business hour.
