If you live in Texas and need to buy, sell, or inherit real estate in Mexico, you will almost always need a power of attorney so that someone in Mexico, often a relative or a local attorney, can act on your behalf. A Texas power of attorney does not automatically work south of the border. Before a Mexican notario público will honor it, the document has to be authenticated and then folded into the Mexican notarial system. Getting the order of operations wrong is the most common reason a real estate closing in Mexico stalls.
What an apostille is
An apostille is a certificate that authenticates a public document — a notary's signature, a court seal, a registrar's certification — so it will be accepted by authorities in another country. For countries in the Hague Apostille Convention, the apostille is the finish line. For countries outside it, the same Texas certificate is the first step in a short legalization chain.
Does an apostille work in Mexico?
Yes. Mexico is a member of the Hague Apostille Convention, so a single apostille issued by the Texas Secretary of State is the correct authentication for a Texas document destined for Mexico. You do not need consular legalization. The apostille certifies the notary's signature on your power of attorney so that Mexican authorities will recognize it as genuine.
How the Texas Secretary of State apostille works
Texas apostilles come from a single office: the Secretary of State's Authentications Unit in Austin. There is no county-clerk step — a document notarized by any Texas notary, in any of the 254 counties, goes straight to the state. Since October 2023 Texas issues one Universal Apostille (Form 2102) that works for every destination, whether or not the country belongs to the Hague Apostille Convention.
The state fee is $15 per document. Mailed requests can take up to 25 business days; in-person and appointment service in Austin is same-day for up to 10 documents, and a bulk drop-box handles larger batches in 24–48 hours. There is no online submission — every request is handled by mail or in person. Certified copies of vital records (birth, death, marriage, divorce) must be less than five years old.
Federal documents — FBI background checks, USCIS naturalization certificates, IRS letters — cannot be apostilled by Texas; they go to the U.S. Department of State. We confirm the correct authority before anything is filed, so your documents are never rejected on a technicality.