Apostille for Peru.

Most Florida documents for Peru end up in one of three places. RENIEC (Peru's civil registry and ID agency) or a Peruvian consulate handles births, marriages and deaths. SUNARP, the public registries, registers a power of attorney for property or company matters. Migraciones handles residence. Peru has been a party to the Apostille Convention since 30 September 2010 (HCCH status table), so one Florida apostille replaces consular legalization.

Each of these offices sets its own rules on translation and timing, and that's where people lose weeks. What follows comes from their own published requirements.

RENIEC's official FAQ sets out the rules:

• Married in Florida. Register the marriage at the Peruvian consulate for the country where it took place. If that isn't possible, any RENIEC office can do it, with the marriage certificate apostilled and translated into Spanish. You have to do it within 90 days of entering Peru, with your marital residence in Peru. Miss that window and the registration has to go through the courts.
• Child born in Florida. While the child is a minor living abroad, the consulate can register the birth. If you move to Peru without having done that, RENIEC can register it before the child turns 18, using the original birth certificate apostilled and translated into Spanish by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After 18, the route becomes an option for Peruvian nationality through Migraciones.
• Death in Florida. Register it at the consulate first. At RENIEC, the death certificate must be apostilled and translated into Spanish by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The 90-day marriage window is the one that catches people. If you're moving to Peru, get the Florida marriage certificate apostilled before you fly. It must be signed by the State Registrar or a Clerk of the County Court, and we don't accept copies certified before 2014.

SUNARP's guidance on powers granted abroad says the document must be in Spanish or translated by a traductor público juramentado (sworn public translator), and must carry an apostille when it comes from a Hague country. SUNARP also warns that the registrar may ask for additional documents after reviewing it. Getting the wording right from the start matters more than speed.

So which translator do you need? It depends on the office. SUNARP names the sworn public translator, while RENIEC's FAQ refers to translation through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Ask the office that will receive your document before you pay for a translation, and have it done after the apostille so the apostille is translated too.

Peruvian consulates can also grant a power of attorney as a public deed (escritura pública). If your lawyer in Peru prefers that, use it. If a Florida-notarized power of attorney will do, you can handle it by mail, or sign online through our online notarization from anywhere in the U.S. or abroad. That costs $40 for the first document ($10 notarization fee + $30 technology platform fee). The body of the poder can be in Spanish, but the Florida notarial certificate must be complete and in English.

Pricing: $220 for one document, $380 for two, $160 each for three or more. Shipping the finished documents to Peru adds $100 per order.