Any Florida-issued or Florida-notarized document, apostilled in 5 business days. Book an appointment at our Fort Lauderdale office — same-day and next-day slots are usually available. Serving Fort Lauderdale from our Fort Lauderdale office, by appointment.
Every week, document apostille requests reach us from Fort Lauderdale households and businesses — a city of roughly 184,000 where international paperwork is a fact of daily life. An apostille is the international certification that makes a U.S. document legally valid in the 120+ countries of the Hague Apostille Convention. For any document issued or notarized in Florida — a birth certificate, a diploma, a power of attorney, a corporate resolution — that certification comes from one place only: the Florida Department of State in Tallahassee.
That's the part most people get stuck on. The state accepts requests by mail, but mail-in processing means weeks of waiting and zero visibility. We solve it the direct way: we collect your documents in Broward County, review them so nothing gets rejected, and file them in person at the Florida Department of State. Five business days, start to finish, $250 per document with the state fee included. For Fort Lauderdale residents, that means one handoff — at your door or at our office — and the apostilled original back in your hands on a defined timeline.
Foreign civil registries require an apostilled birth certificate — and often a notarized single-status affidavit — before issuing a marriage license to a U.S. citizen.
Powers of attorney, corporate documents, and contracts executed in Florida must be apostilled before foreign banks, notaries, and registries will act on them.
Foreign family reunification, residency, and adoption proceedings routinely require apostilled U.S. vital records and police clearances.
Universities abroad request apostilled diplomas, transcripts, and birth certificates as part of enrollment and credential-evaluation files.
Fort Lauderdale is home to roughly 184,000 residents. Fort Lauderdale is our home base — our office sits at 6750 N Andrews Ave, Ste 288E, on North Andrews Avenue in the city's northern business corridor. As the county seat, with Port Everglades and an international airport, the city generates constant apostille demand: work assignments abroad, dual citizenship applications, and foreign real-estate closings.
We serve clients throughout Fort Lauderdale's neighborhoods including Las Olas, Victoria Park, Rio Vista, Coral Ridge, Flagler Village, Sailboat Bend, Harbor Beach, and Downtown, as well as nearby communities such as Wilton Manors, Oakland Park, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Plantation, and Davie. Landmarks like Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport, Port Everglades, Las Olas Boulevard, the Riverwalk, and the Broward County Courthouse put us on familiar ground — this is home-turf service, not a mail-order processor.
Our office is right here in the city, on N Andrews Ave just north of Oakland Park Boulevard — book an appointment and hand the documents off in minutes. Also serving document apostille clients in nearby Davie, Plantation, and Wilton Manors.
Most delays start here, so it is worth two minutes for Fort Lauderdale clients: The Florida Department of State can apostille two categories of documents. First: certified copies of Florida public records — birth, marriage, and death certificates issued by the Florida Bureau of Vital Statistics, divorce decrees certified by the Clerk of Court, court records, and FDLE background checks. Second: documents notarized by a Florida-commissioned notary — powers of attorney, affidavits, authorization letters, business documents, and school records signed before a notary.
Documents issued by other states must be apostilled by that state. Federal documents — FBI background checks, IRS records, USDA certificates — require federal authentication from the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., not a Florida apostille. If you're not sure which category your document falls into, call us; sorting that out before filing is exactly the kind of rejection we prevent. When your document is ready, bring it to our office — about 15 minutes from Fort Lauderdale — appointments usually available same day or next day.
Book your handoff: a scheduled appointment at the office, usually available same day or next day. Times are confirmed within the hour.
We review each document against the state’s checklist — certified copy, valid notarization, correct destination country — before it ever travels.
Filing happens face to face at the Florida Department of State, not by envelope. That is what keeps the timeline fixed at five business days.
When the apostilled originals come back, we call. Pick them up at the office or we return them to you locally — whichever is easier.
No hourly rates, no hidden charges, no surprise add-ons. The price you see is the price you pay — including the Florida Department of State filing fee.
All prices include the Florida Department of State filing fee ($10 per document), in-person filing at the Department of State, and full document handling. Notarization available as a separate service when your documents require it.
Download the Florida Department of State Apostille and Notarial Certificate Request Form. We can fill it out for you at your appointment — no need to complete it in advance.
Because Fort Lauderdale is the county seat, with Port Everglades, an international airport, and the largest concentration of immigration attorneys in Broward, the documents we apostille here are most often bound for Italy, Spain, Colombia, and Brazil. That matters practically: each destination has its own quirks — whether a certified translation is required, whether the receiving registry wants a recently issued copy, and whether the apostille needs to be translated along with the document.
We handle those details as part of the job rather than leaving you to discover them at a consulate window. Tell us the destination country when you call and we’ll confirm exactly what your document needs before anything is filed — including whether a translation should be ordered before or after the apostille, which is the sequencing mistake that costs Fort Lauderdale clients the most time.
Yes — we serve every city in Broward County, Fort Lauderdale included. Service is by appointment at our Fort Lauderdale office at 6750 N Andrews Ave, Ste 288E; requests before 2 PM are routinely scheduled the same day, and every request gets a confirmed time within one business hour.
Right here in the city — 6750 N Andrews Ave, Ste 288E, on North Andrews Avenue with free on-site parking. Visits are by appointment; call and we'll usually have a same-day slot.
5 business days, drop-off to return — the same in-person filing timeline countywide. Rush handling is available when your deadline is tighter; call us and we'll tell you honestly what's achievable.
An apostille is a certificate attached by the Florida Department of State that authenticates the signature and seal on your document, making it legally valid in all countries that are party to the Hague Apostille Convention of 1961 — over 120 countries including Spain, Italy, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, France, and Germany.
Our standard turnaround is 5 business days from drop-off to return. Because we file in person at the Florida Department of State rather than mailing documents in, we avoid the multi-week mail-in queue entirely.
$250 per document, all-inclusive — that covers document review, in-person filing, the $10 Florida Department of State fee, and return handling. Two documents are $350 ($175 each) and three or more drop to $150 per document.
Countries outside the convention — such as China (for some document types), Vietnam, and most of the Middle East outside the UAE and Saudi Arabia's recent accessions — require embassy or consular legalization instead. Call us and we'll confirm what your destination country requires.
Yes. We work with certified translators regularly, and we serve many Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking clients across Broward County. If your destination country requires a certified translation alongside the apostille, we can coordinate both.
