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.
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.
Which documents can be apostilled
- Notarized documents — powers of attorney, affidavits, wills, notarized copies and translations. Must be notarized by a Texas notary; remote online notarization (RON) is accepted, though some countries decline RON documents.
- Vital records — certified copies of birth, death, and marriage certificates and divorce decrees, issued within the last five years.
- Court and probate documents — certified by the court clerk.
- Business filings — certified copies of Texas Secretary of State filings.
What Texas will not apostille
Federal documents — FBI background checks, USCIS naturalization certificates, IRS letters — are authenticated by the U.S. Department of State in Washington ($20 per document), not by Texas. Do not have a federal document notarized to get around this; it will be rejected.
Hague vs. non-Hague countries — what changed recently
For the 125-plus countries in the Hague Apostille Convention, the Universal Apostille is all you need. Recent additions matter: China (November 2023) and Canada (January 2024) now accept apostilles, and Vietnam joins on September 11, 2026 — until then, Vietnamese documents still need full embassy legalization. Thailand follows in February 2027.
For countries outside the Convention — such as Nigeria, the UAE, Qatar, and Kuwait — the chain is: Texas Universal Apostille, then U.S. Department of State authentication, then that country's embassy or consulate legalization.
Translations
Most non-English-speaking destinations require a certified or sworn translation, and usually the translation is done after the apostille so the apostille itself is translated too. Requirements vary by country — Mexico requires a perito traductor, Brazil a tradutor juramentado, Colombia a traductor oficial.
Working with your lawyer abroad
An apostille authenticates a document — it does not guarantee the document says what the receiving country needs it to say. That is why we coordinate directly with the professional handling your matter overseas before anything is filed: a barrister or solicitor in Nigeria, the United Kingdom, or other Commonwealth jurisdictions; an advocate in India or Pakistan; a notario público in Mexico and across Latin America. They confirm the exact wording their land registry, probate court, pension office, or bank requires; we handle the Texas drafting, notarization, apostille, and delivery. One international chain, no wasted round trips.
Apostilles by purpose
Different goals have different requirements abroad. See our guides for land and property transfers, pensions and entitlements, and financial accounts and inheritance, each linked from our apostille resources.
We handle the whole apostille — you don't travel to Austin
Our firm provides full-service apostille handling: we prepare your document, coordinate Texas notarization or certified copies, file the Universal Apostille request with the Secretary of State, add U.S. Department of State and embassy legalization when a country requires it, arrange certified translation, and deliver the finished documents to you or your recipient abroad.
We also coordinate directly with your counsel overseas — a barrister or solicitor in Commonwealth countries, an advocate in South Asia, a notario público in Latin America — so the document is drafted with the exact wording their registry, court, or bank requires before anything is apostilled.
- 📞 Phone: (281) 348-6723
- 📧 Email: busbytexas@gmail.com
- 📍 715 E. Whitney, Houston, TX 77008
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A note on accuracy
Apostille and legalization requirements change, and each receiving institution — a foreign land registry, bank, pension office, or consulate — can impose its own rules. This article reflects requirements verified in 2026 and is general information, not legal advice. Contact us so we can confirm the current requirements for your specific document and destination before you file.
For the full statewide process — fees, timelines, document types, and the Hague vs. non-Hague paths — see our complete Texas Apostille Guide.