Single-status affidavits for a foreign marriage

A single-status affidavit is a sworn statement that you are not married, or that you are free to marry. Foreign registries ask for it when they will not take your word and when no Florida record states your status in the sentence they want. It is an affidavit. A Florida notary has to take it. Then Florida can apostille the notary.

The wording should come from the registry or from a lawyer who has read their checklist. We do not invent the legal sentence. If you swear to the wrong fact, the apostille makes the signature look official and the fact is still your problem. Get the sentence first. Then notarize. Then order.

If you are abroad, use a Florida video notary. A notary at the local town hall is the wrong official for a Florida apostille. This is the same rule as a power of attorney. The video page walks through it.

Some countries want the affidavit in their language and the notarial certificate in English. That combination is normal. Do not translate the notary’s certificate into another language and cover the English one. Translate after the stamp if they also want the apostille translated.

A Florida divorce may be the better document. If you are divorced and the registry wants proof, a certified divorce decree says more than an affidavit that says you are single. Send the decree if you have it, certified by the clerk. An affidavit that ignores a divorce is a good way to be accused of hiding it.

The state fee is $10 on a straightforward notarized affidavit. Our filing fee is separate. Prices. The notary’s fee for the oath is separate again. Ask the notary what they charge before the session, especially on a video call.

Name the destination country in the order notes. A single-status statement for Spain and one for Colombia may need different sentences. We stamp the notary either way. We would rather you used the sentence the registry printed.

If you are ready to file a Florida document after this, start an order with a photo attached. Prices split our fee, the state fee, and shipping. How it works is the sequence from photo to return label. Questions that do not fit the form go to contact or (855) 261-8500.

Country rules still differ after the stamp exists. Browse countries for the destination on your checklist. Cuba does not take this stamp. Most other destinations our clients name are Hague countries and do.

Picture a normal week. Someone in Miami, Miami-Dade County emails a photo on a Monday. We answer the same day if the photo shows the seal. They ship Tuesday. The envelope is on the desk after about two business days. We file it on the next business-day drop, and the stamped original is labeled home after that. Nothing in that week requires them to take a day off and drive to Tallahassee.

The week goes wrong when the photo was of the wrong paper and they shipped anyway. Then we are holding an original we cannot stamp, and they are waiting on a carrier to bring it back before they can order the right one. That is a lost week. The photo first, the label second.

People ask if they can skip the photo. You can, and then the first time we see the defect is when the original is already in Tallahassee. Use the photo.

People ask if a PDF of the finished apostille is the same as the paper. It is not. The $20 scan is a convenience. The original is the filing.

People ask if every Florida city has a different price. No. Prices are the same in Miami and everywhere else in the state. The carrier’s quote changes with the address. Our filing fee does not.

Do not send gifts, cash, or a second “just in case” photocopy clipped to the original. The extra sheet looks like the document. We have separated them, and we would rather not. Send the original you want stamped and the cover sheet. Make spare copies after the apostille exists so the spare shows the stamp.

Check the destination one last time against the country list. A relative may have said “the embassy” out of habit when the country has taken apostilles for years. Mexico is the page that matches this guide. Habit is how people buy embassy legalization they no longer need, or a Florida stamp they cannot use.

When the original comes home, look at the attachment before you celebrate. The certificate should be fastened to the document, the seal visible, the name of the Florida official readable. If a page is missing, call us before you mail it overseas. Fixing a set that is still in Miami is a different problem from fixing one that is already in a consular pouch.

Look at the document the way the counter will look at it. We check the jurat, the stamp, and whether the signer’s name matches the passport they will show the foreign office. If you would be embarrassed to hand that sheet to a clerk, do not hand it to a carrier. Order a better copy first. The order form is for the paper you actually have, not the paper you plan to order next week.

The cover sheet can be plain. Your name, the order number, the destination, and a phone that you answer. Write Mexico on it so a second document in the envelope does not get paired with the wrong country. Do not include a narrative of the family history. The examiner does not read it, and it sometimes gets stapled to the document by accident.

Notary blocks fail in predictable ways. The venue should say Florida. The date should be filled in. The stamp should be inked, not a faint photocopy of a stamp. The signer’s name should match the start of the document. If any line is blank, stop and see the notary again before you ship. A power of attorney with a blank date is not a small defect.

Return shipping is part of the job, not a footnote. Pick the FedEx service that matches the date you told the foreign office, and remember that a business day at the state sits between those two rides. From Miami, about two business days inbound is only half of the travel. The label home is chosen at checkout so you see the number.

A photo review is a real review. We are not collecting pictures for a gallery. If the picture is dark, crooked, or missing the page with the seal, send another one before you buy a label. The seal page is the page. A beautiful first page with the seal cropped off tells us nothing.

Read this together with Mexico, Florida affidavit, Miami, Miami-Dade County, prices, how it works, the order form, all countries, Florida cities. Related guides: Translate after the Florida stamp, not before, Court website printouts are not certified copies, When the consulate appointment is already booked, Documents issued outside Florida. The phone is (855) 261-8500 and the email is floridafastapostille@gmail.com.

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