If you live in Texas and need to buy, sell, or inherit real estate in Venezuela, you will grant a power of attorney to a lawyer or relative there. Ordinarily you might choose between a consular power of attorney and an apostilled U.S. one — but because Venezuelan consulates in the United States have been closed since January 2023, the consular route is unavailable. In practice, the apostille route is the only option.
This page explains how to prepare a Venezuelan property power of attorney from the U.S. and get it into effect.
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 Venezuela?
Yes. An apostille is legally valid for use in Venezuela. However, there are currently no Venezuelan consulates operating in the United States — they have been closed since January 2023 — so you cannot sign a consular power of attorney. That leaves the apostille route as the practical path forward.
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.