When a true-and-correct copy is the right tool

A true-and-correct-copy statement is a Florida notary saying they compared a photocopy to an original, or that the signer swore the copy matches. Tallahassee can apostille that notary’s signature. The statement does not turn the photocopy into a certified birth certificate. Those are different acts, and foreign offices know the difference.

The path fits some school records and some private papers, when the issuer will not certify a copy and the destination will accept a notarial true copy. It does not fit Florida vital records. Order those from the state. The diploma and transcript page is where we send people who have a registrar’s signature already, and where a true copy sometimes finishes the set.

Download the true-copy PDF, but only if you actually need that wording. A Florida notary has to complete it. If you are abroad, that notary is a Florida video notary, not a notary in the country where you live. The video session produces an original that we can file. A photo of a foreign notary’s stamp does not.

Bring the original you are copying from to the notary. A true-copy statement signed with no original in sight is a statement we do not want to defend at the counter. The notary’s certificate has to be complete: venue, date, name, stamp, signature.

After the apostille, the destination may still want a translation of both the copy statement and the apostille. Translate after the stamp. Do not have the translator certify the copy instead of the notary. Translators are not the Florida official the state is checking.

Tell us on the order form that the paper is a true copy, and name the underlying document. “Copy of diploma, Florida notary, for Spain” is a useful note. “Documents attached” is not. Prices for a notarized paper are the $10 state fee plus our filing fee, unless a clerk is also involved.

If you are unsure whether the destination accepts a true copy, ask them before the notary appointment. We can tell you whether Florida can stamp the notary. We cannot make a university abroad accept a form they did not ask for.

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.

Keep the certified copy flat in the envelope. Folding through an embossed seal cracks it. People then ask if the crack “still counts.” Do not find out. A rigid mailer costs less than a new certificate. Vital records are on security paper that shows a crease forever.

Tell the foreign office the truth about timing. “It is apostilled” means the certificate is attached and you have the original back. It does not mean you paid us this morning. Mexico will want to see the paper, not a receipt. If they need an advance look, add the $20 PDF on prices and still wait for the original before you travel.

One Florida document, one state fee, one apostille. There is no family rate at the counter that covers a spouse and a child on a single certificate. If three people need three birth records, that is three certified copies and three stamps. Set the order up that way. Several documents explains the invoice.

If a lawyer, a translator, and a courier are all in the email thread, pick one person to receive our questions. Three replies that contradict each other are how the wrong paper gets shipped. Put that person’s phone on the cover sheet. (855) 261-8500 reaches us during the business day if the thread is stuck.

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 confirm the school is in Florida and that the registrar’s ink, or the notary’s seal, is on the paper we will carry. 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.

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

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