Apostille for Honduras.

Honduras has been a party to the Hague Apostille Convention since September 30, 2004 (HCCH status table). A Florida apostille is the full authentication for Florida documents going there. Most of the friction is on the Honduran side, so here's who usually receives them.

Residency: Secretaría de Gobernación, Justicia y Descentralización

Residency applications in Honduras are addressed to the Secretaría de Estado en los Despachos de Gobernación, Justicia y Descentralización. Its published requirements put it plainly: all documents from abroad must be legalized or apostilled, and the criminal-record certificate from the applicant's country of origin must be apostilled and officially translated into Spanish. The file also needs a carta poder authenticated by a notary, naming the applicant's legal representative (apoderado legal), and a migration-movement certificate from the Instituto Nacional de Migración (family-ties residency requirements).

Marriage-based residency and the RNP

For residency based on marriage, the checklist asks for the marriage certificate issued by the Registro Nacional de las Personas (RNP), Honduras's civil registry (marriage-based residency requirements). In practice, a marriage that took place in Florida has to be on the Honduran registry before that application can be completed. Ask the RNP or a Honduran consulate for the current registration checklist. The apostilled Florida marriage certificate is the document you'll be building on.

Family, property and inheritance

Many Florida-to-Honduras orders are family matters: powers of attorney so a relative can sell land or handle an estate, registering children born in Florida, or sending a death certificate home. The Honduran lawyer or office handling the matter decides the exact form. Your Florida job is to make sure the document is apostille-ready.

Honduras is specific about who translates. The residency requirements say foreign-language documents must be officially translated by the Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores, or at Honduran consulates (SGJD requirements). A translation from a private U.S. translator, even a certified one, isn't the same thing. Before paying anyone, ask the office receiving your document whether it accepts anything other than an official translation.

Order matters here too. Get the Florida apostille first, then the official translation, so the apostille certificate is translated together with the document.

A practical tip for powers of attorney: your Honduran lawyer can draft the body of the poder in Spanish. The Florida notarial certificate must still be complete and in English, and any English parts will need translation on the Honduran side.

We file every order in person at the Florida Department of State in Tallahassee: 5–7 business days door to door. All-inclusive pricing is $220 per document, $380 for two, and $160 each for three or more. We can ship the finished documents to Honduras for a flat $100 per order.

• Powers of attorney (poderes). These need a complete Florida notarial certificate showing venue, date, signer, ID, and notary signature and seal. Can't get to a notary? Online notarization works by video from anywhere: $40 for the first document ($10 notarization fee + $30 technology platform fee) and $20 for each additional one. See power of attorney apostille.
• Birth, marriage and death certificates. These must be certified copies signed by the State Registrar (marriage certificates can also be signed by a County Clerk). We don't accept anything certified before 2014, so order a fresh copy through VitalChek.
• Criminal-record certificates. If the Honduran office accepts a Florida state record, an FDLE background check or sheriff's clearance letter must be notarized at issuance. A plain printout can't be apostilled.
• Divorce decrees. These must be certified by the Clerk of Court, either with an original wet-ink certification or the clerk's official e-certification. See court records apostille.

Check these before anything goes in the FedEx envelope.