Florida is one of the few states that gives you a genuine choice about which marriage record to use, and that choice quietly decides what your file costs, how long it takes and whether the authority abroad can do anything with the result. A Florida marriage certificate apostille can be issued on a certified copy from the Clerk of the Circuit Court that recorded the marriage, or on a certification from the state Bureau of Vital Statistics. Both are legitimate. They are not equivalent.
The difference is not a matter of preference. One of them is an abstract of the information taken from the marriage license; the other is a certified copy of the recorded record. One is available within days of the wedding; the other generally is not available for about two months. And the Florida Department of State charges a different fee depending on which one you send. Below is how the two routes actually differ, what the state pages leave out, and where these files stall.
Who holds a Florida marriage record, and from when
When a couple marries in Florida, the license is issued by a Clerk of the Circuit Court. After the ceremony the officiant returns the completed licence to that clerk, who files and records it, and then forwards it to the Florida Bureau of Vital Statistics for permanent filing. The Department of Health states that this forwarding process takes approximately 60 days.
That forwarding interval materially affects recent-marriage files. Florida states that county clerks forward marriage records to the Bureau of Vital Statistics approximately sixty days after the ceremony, so a recent record may exist at county level before it is available from the state. A couple that married in June and needs a document in July has one source available, not two, and no fee will change that. Conversely, a marriage from twenty years ago sits comfortably at both levels.
The Bureau of Vital Statistics holds Florida marriage certificates from June 6, 1927 to the present. Marriages before that date are obtainable from the clerk of court in the county where the marriage license was issued. For older Florida families this is not a footnote: a 1919 marriage has no state-level record at all, and the county is the only route.
There is a second distinction that matters at the destination. The state certificate is issued as an abstract of the information taken from the marriage license. The Clerk of the Circuit Court version is a certified copy of the record itself. When a foreign civil registry is transcribing an entry into its own books, an abstract may not carry everything the registry needs, and that is the reason the cheaper option is not automatically the right one.
What the two routes actually cost at the Department of State
Apostilles on Florida documents are issued by the Florida Department of State in Tallahassee, at 2415 N. Monroe Street, Suite 810. The fee schedule contains the detail that surprises people: a document certified by any Clerk of the Court for any county in Florida is charged at a higher rate than the standard one, because the state has to issue two certificates instead of one, the apostille itself and a Certificate of Incumbency.
The Certificate of Incumbency is the reason. A record certified by a Clerk of the Circuit Court carries the signature of a county officer, so the state adds a certificate confirming that the Clerk held that office at that time. A record certified at state level by the Bureau of Vital Statistics does not need that second certificate. Same marriage, same destination, two different files.
| Route | What you receive | Available | What the state has to issue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clerk of the Circuit Court | Certified copy of the recorded marriage record | Once the clerk records the returned licence | Two certificates: the apostille plus a Certificate of Incumbency, so the higher fee |
| Bureau of Vital Statistics | Certification issued as an abstract of the licence data | After the record reaches the state, about 60 days | One certificate: the apostille alone, at the standard fee |
Practical points the checklist may not resolve
The state pages give the fee and submission rules, while the correct route still depends on the version required by the receiving authority and how recently the marriage occurred.
The cheaper route is not always the correct one. Choosing the cheaper path means sending an abstract. If the receiving authority abroad is inscribing your marriage in its own registry and needs the full recorded entry, the saving is illusory: you pay for the abstract, wait, and then repeat the whole process at the higher rate. The destination decides which version is right, not the fee schedule.
Ordering the certified copy is the slow part, not the apostille. The Bureau of Vital Statistics states normal processing of 3 to 5 business days for computer certificates covering 1970 to the present, not including shipping, and records prior to 1970 require additional processing time. A marriage from 1964 is not a routine order, and building a timeline that assumes it is will produce a date you cannot meet.
The county that holds your record is the one that issued the licence, not the one where you got married. A Florida marriage licence can be used anywhere in the state, and a couple may obtain one in the county where they live and then hold the ceremony somewhere else, on a beach, at a venue or in another county’s church. The completed licence goes back to the clerk who issued it. The Department of Health is explicit on this point for older marriages, directing requests for pre-1927 records to the clerk of court in the county where the marriage license was issued. Searching only the county of the ceremony can therefore miss a record held by the county that issued the license.
The record is filed under the names as they were written at the time. Marriage records are indexed on the data taken from the licence application, which means a maiden name, a middle name that appears in full on one document and as an initial on another, or an accented surname that was entered without the accent. Foreign registries compare the certificate against passports and birth records and do notice discrepancies. Identifying the mismatch before the document is apostilled is straightforward; correcting it afterwards means a new certified copy and a new apostille, because the apostille is attached to the specific document it was issued for.
Payment stops more Florida files than law does. The Department of State requires a check or money order payable to the Florida Department of State, in U.S. currency drawn on a U.S. bank, and accepts neither cash nor credit cards. For a spouse who has already moved to Madrid, Bogotá or Mexico City, that requirement alone is frequently where the self-managed file stops. The Bureau of Vital Statistics has its own separate fee structure, including a non-refundable search fee and a rush option, which is a different payment to a different agency.
Florida publishes no apostille processing time. The Department of State’s page states none and describes standard mail submission. Any specific number of days you have been quoted for the Tallahassee step is somebody’s estimate, not a published commitment, and it does not include the mail in either direction. Our broader guide to how long a marriage certificate apostille takes sets out what actually drives the calendar.
Florida requires an original certified copy of the public document and states that a photocopy is not acceptable. Lamination, trimming or damage through the seal may prevent verification or acceptance. The competent authority’s current rule controls, so protect the record in a folder and obtain a replacement if its condition will not be accepted.
Mistakes that can add time and cost
- Ordering from the state weeks after the wedding. The record has not arrived yet. The request comes back with no record found, and the two weeks are gone.
- Choosing the cheaper route for a registry that needs the full record. The apostille is valid and the document is still refused abroad, which means paying twice and losing the entire cycle.
- Sending a check drawn on a foreign bank. Rejected on receipt, with no processing having taken place.
- Treating a pre-1970 or pre-1927 marriage as a standard order. Older records take longer, and pre-June 1927 marriages are not at the state at all.
- Apostilling in Florida a marriage that took place elsewhere. Florida can only apostille Florida documents. A New Jersey marriage goes to New Jersey regardless of where the couple lives now, as explained in our guide to a marriage certificate issued in another state.
The pattern is consistent: the mistake is made in week one and discovered in week five, usually by someone who now has a consular appointment or a filing deadline abroad already booked.
How Apostille de la Haya resolves it for you
For a Florida file, we start with two questions rather than one. First, which authority abroad receives the document, because that determines whether an abstract will serve or whether the recorded county record is required. Second, how recent the marriage is, because that determines whether the state route exists yet at all.
From there we order the correct certified record from the correct office, whether that is the Clerk of the Circuit Court that recorded the marriage or the Bureau of Vital Statistics, submit it to the Department of State in Tallahassee with the payment method that office accepts, and handle the return leg. You do not write a check to a state agency, you do not chase a county clerk, and you do not discover in week five that the version you paid for was the wrong one. We coordinate the required offices and document handoffs, reducing avoidable paperwork and preventable submission errors. The full range is set out on our apostille services page, and the general framework behind all of it is in our overview of the marriage certificate apostille.
Where a marriage was recorded in Miami-Dade and you are not certain which county issued the licence or under what spelling the record was filed, that search is part of the work; our guide to looking up Miami-Dade marriage records shows what those searches involve.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a Florida marriage certificate apostille cost?
The Department of State charges a set fee per document, and more where the record was certified by a Florida Clerk of the Court, because that file also needs a Certificate of Incumbency. On top of that sits the cost of the certified copy itself, which is a separate fee to a separate office. Contact us with the destination and we will evaluate the full cost of your case.
We just got married. Can we apostille the certificate now?
Usually through the county rather than the state. After the ceremony the clerk of court files and records the licence and forwards it to the Bureau of Vital Statistics for permanent filing, a process the Department of Health states takes approximately 60 days. Until then the county holds the record. We identify which source is available on the date you actually need the document.
Do I have to go to Tallahassee?
No. The Florida Department of State’s apostille page describes standard mail submission to its Tallahassee address, and nothing in the process requires you to appear. We handle the submission and the return, which matters particularly for clients who are already living in the destination country.
How long does the Florida apostille take?
Florida publishes no processing time for apostilles, so any figure you have been given is an estimate rather than a commitment. In practice the calendar is usually driven by obtaining the certified copy first, especially for records before 1970, which the Bureau of Vital Statistics states require additional processing time. We build the timeline around the slowest step and tell you what is realistic before you commit to a date abroad.
My marriage was in 1958. Is that different?
Yes, in two ways. The Bureau of Vital Statistics holds records from June 6, 1927 onward, so a 1958 marriage is at the state, but records prior to 1970 require additional processing time. If a Florida marriage predates June 1927, it is only obtainable from the clerk of court in the county that issued the licence. Older files are routine for us; they simply need a realistic calendar from the start.
Need a Florida marriage certificate apostilled for use abroad?
Apostille de la Haya coordinates the document from record retrieval through apostille or legalization and delivery, reducing avoidable paperwork and preventable submission errors.
Phone and WhatsApp: +1 305 500 0185
