If you live in Texas and receive a pension from China, you must periodically verify that you are still alive and qualified to keep the payments coming. And if a relative in China has passed away, you may need an apostilled US death certificate to claim a benefit or a share of the estate. This page explains China's online verification system, when an apostille is useful, and how the Texas process works.
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 China?
Yes. China joined the Hague Apostille Convention, effective November 7, 2023. A document apostilled by the Texas Secretary of State is now accepted in mainland China without the older, slower consular legalization chain. This has made it far simpler to use US documents — such as a death certificate or a notarized life certificate — for pension and estate matters in China.
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.