Paper guide
Florida marriage certificate
A Florida marriage certificate used abroad has to be a certified copy from Florida — not the church booklet, not a photocopy, and not a keepsake from the wedding. We take that certified copy to Tallahassee and get the foreign-use stamp put on it.
What this document is
A Florida marriage certificate is the state’s official record that two people married in Florida. Foreign civil registries, consulates, immigration offices, and banks ask for it when you register a marriage in Mexico, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Spain, or most of Latin America.
The stamp Florida adds does not prove you are still married. It only proves the Florida officer who signed the certified copy is real. The office abroad then uses that stamped document in their own file.
What you must send — and what we will send back
Send a certified copy. That means a document issued by the Florida Bureau of Vital Statistics or by the Florida county clerk who recorded the license, with the official seal. We send that same original back to you with the Florida stamp attached.
Do not send the decorative church certificate. Do not send a photocopy, a scan printed at home, a laminated wallet card, or a screenshot of an online record. Florida will reject those. We will too, after we look at your photo on the order form.
- Certified copy from Florida vital records — this is the usual document.
- Or a certified copy from the Florida county clerk who recorded the license.
- Names, date, and seal readable. No lamination.
- If you married in another state, Florida cannot stamp that record. The other state has to do it.
How to get a certified Florida marriage copy
If you do not already have a certified copy, order one from Florida vital records or from the clerk in the county where you married. County health departments can sometimes issue the same certified copy. Ask for a certified copy for official use, not an informational copy.
Order extra copies if more than one foreign office wants an original. Each stamped document is a separate filing. We can file several in one order.
If your names changed after the wedding, do not alter the marriage record. The foreign office often wants the marriage record plus a separate name-change order. See Florida court orders.
Where Florida marriage records usually go
The busiest destinations from Miami, Orlando, and Tampa are Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Ecuador, and Spain. Those countries take the Florida stamp on a certified Florida marriage record.
Cuba does not. If the document is for use in Cuba, a Florida stamp is usually the wrong process. Call (855) 261-8500 before you ship.
Read the country page before you pay: Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Panama, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Spain.
Translate after the stamp, not before
Most offices in Latin America want the Florida stamp on the English (or bilingual) certified copy first, then a separate Spanish translation. Translating first, then asking Florida to stamp the translation, is usually the wrong order.
We do not translate. We file the certified copy. After it comes back, you take it to a translator the foreign office will accept.
Do you need a notary?
No. A certified marriage record is not notarized. A Florida notary is for documents you create, like a power of attorney or an affidavit. If someone told you to notarize the marriage certificate itself, they mixed up two different documents.
If you only have a photocopy of the marriage record and cannot get a new certified copy in time, that is a different path: a True and Correct Copy signed in front of a Florida notary. Ask the foreign office if they will take that. Many will not. A new certified copy is the safe path.
How we file it in Tallahassee
You upload a photo on the order form, pick “Florida marriage certificate,” and choose the country. We look at the photo. If it is a church booklet or a photocopy, we stop you before you ship. You pay. You ship the certified original to our Tallahassee desk with the order number on the label.
We take it to the Florida Department of State in Tallahassee — the only office in the state that can add this stamp. For packets we drop off, the state usually returns the document the next business day. We ship it back to you with tracking.
Standard is $125 plus the Florida state fee ($10, or $20 if a county clerk certified the document). Rush is $199 plus state fees. Mailing it to the state yourself can take months, and a reject means you start over.
If you are in Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Hialeah, or Doral, overnight shipping to Tallahassee is the usual path. See every Florida city.
Common mistakes on marriage filings
These are the files we send back before they ever reach the state counter.
- Church or photographer’s “certificate” instead of the certified state copy.
- Photocopy or phone picture printed at a drugstore.
- Laminated copy. The state has to see the seal.
- Marriage record from New York, New Jersey, or Puerto Rico. Florida cannot stamp those.
- Asking us to stamp a Spanish translation instead of the certified copy.
- Cuba as the destination. Wrong process.
Countries these files often go to
AlbaniaAndorraAntigua and BarbudaArgentinaArmeniaAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBahamasBahrainBarbadosBelarusBelgiumBelizeBoliviaBosnia and HerzegovinaBotswanaBrazilBruneiBulgariaBurundiCanadaCape VerdeChileChinaColombiaCook IslandsCosta RicaCroatiaCuba (not this stamp)CyprusCzech RepublicDenmarkDominicaDominican RepublicEcuadorEl SalvadorEstoniaEswatiniFijiFinlandFranceGeorgiaGermanyGreeceGrenadaGuatemalaGuyanaHondurasHungaryIcelandIndiaIndonesiaIrelandIsraelItalyJamaicaJapanKazakhstanKosovoKyrgyzstanLatviaLesothoLiberiaLiechtensteinLithuaniaLuxembourgMalawiMaltaMarshall IslandsMauritiusMexicoMoldovaMonacoMongoliaMontenegroMoroccoNamibiaNetherlandsNew ZealandNicaraguaNiueNorth MacedoniaNorwayOmanPakistanPalauPanamaParaguayPeruPhilippinesPolandPortugalRomaniaRwandaSaint Kitts and NevisSaint LuciaSaint Vincent and the GrenadinesSamoaSan MarinoSao Tome and PrincipeSaudi ArabiaSenegalSerbiaSeychellesSingaporeSlovakiaSloveniaSouth AfricaSouth KoreaSpainSurinameSwedenSwitzerlandTajikistanTongaTrinidad and TobagoTunisiaTurkeyUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUnited KingdomUruguayUzbekistanVanuatuVenezuelaVietnam
Other documents
Florida birth certificateFlorida death certificateFlorida divorce decreePower of attorneyAffidavit or sworn statementFlorida diploma or transcriptSunbiz corporate documentFlorida court orderFDLE background checkFlorida vehicle titleFBI / federal document
Email help@floridafastapostille.com or call (855) 261-8500. If you are abroad and still need a notary, read Florida video notary. Download the True and Correct Copy PDF when that is the form you were told to use.
Questions people ask
Can you stamp the certificate we got at the church?
No. That is not the state’s certified copy. Order a certified copy from Florida vital records or the county clerk, then we file that.
We married in Miami-Dade. Do we still send the document to Tallahassee?
Yes. Every Florida stamp is added in Tallahassee, including Miami marriages. You can ship from Miami. We stand in the Tallahassee line.
Do both spouses have to sign anything?
Not on the certified marriage record. It is already a state document. You only sign if you are also sending a power of attorney or an affidavit.
The names on the marriage record do not match the passports.
Tell us on the order form. We can still file the record as issued. The foreign office may also want a name-change order. Do not write on the marriage copy.
Can Florida stamp a marriage from another country?
No. Florida only stamps Florida documents. A marriage recorded in Colombia or Mexico has to be handled there.
How many copies should I order from vital records?
One certified copy per foreign office that wants an original. We can stamp several in one order. Extra copies after the fact mean another shipping round.
Do you translate it into Spanish?
No. Get the Florida stamp first, then a translator the foreign office accepts. See the country pages.
How long does it take?
After we have the certified original, standard is about 3–5 business days. Rush is the next business day we can drop it in Tallahassee, plus return shipping. Prices.
What if I am outside the United States?
You can still ship a certified Florida marriage copy to us. You do not need a Florida video notary for this document, because it is not a notarized statement. You need that video notary only if you are also signing a new affidavit or power of attorney.
Can I email you a PDF and skip shipping?
No. Florida stamps the original certified document. The photo is only so we can check it first. Then you ship the original.