Additional authentication may be required for university academic documents that will be used abroad. The Office of the Registrar can prepare your notarized document to attest to its validity, which may be a diploma (original or copy submitted by the student), an official transcript, or an official verification. The notarized document is then returned to the student or designated representative in the United States to obtain the required authentication from The Florida Secretary of State which is the only competent authority authorized to issue notarial and apostille certifications in the state of Florida.

Authentication of documents may require up to Twenty business days to process by the Office of the Registrar.

The Student Affairs Coordinator can help students with the Florida Secretary of State process once a request is submitted using the International Authentication Request Form.

If the country where the document will be used is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, the Division of Corporation will affix an apostille* certificate and no further authentication is necessary. If the country is not party to the Hague Apostille Convention, the Division of Corporation will affix a state authentication certificate. The document should then be sent to the Authentication Office of the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. to obtain the U.S. Department of State seal. Detailed instructions for authentication processing can be found at the links above. If necessary, authentication of the U.S. Department of State seal should be obtained by the student or his/her designee at the foreign embassy concerned in Washington, D.C.

*An apostille is a certificate issued for documents intended for use in foreign countries party to the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement for Legalization of Foreign Public Documents.