If you live in Texas and receive an IVSS pension from Venezuela, you may need to prove periodically that you are still alive to keep your payments flowing. If a Venezuelan relative has passed away and you are entitled to a survivor's pension, you will need to send Venezuela documents it will accept as authentic. A complication for US-based Venezuelans is that there have been no Venezuelan consulates operating in the United States since January 2023, so the usual consular route is not available and an apostille becomes the practical path.
This page explains when an apostille is required, how the Texas process works, and how Venezuelan pension and survivor claims work from Texas today.
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 valid for Venezuela, and it is especially important here because the consular route is closed in the United States. A single apostille issued by the Texas Secretary of State authenticates your Texas document for use in Venezuela without any consular legalization, which is fortunate given that Venezuelan consulates in the US are not operating. The apostille certifies that the Texas notary or official who signed the document is genuine, and the IVSS or a Venezuelan registry will then treat it as authentic.
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.