How to Apostille a Birth Certificate in Texas

To apostille a birth certificate in Texas, mail or hand-deliver three things to the Secretary of State’s Authentications Unit in Austin: a certified copy of the birth certificate issued within the last five years, a completed Form 2102, and a $15 fee per document. In-person requests are usually finished the same day. Mailed requests can take up to 25 business days, and longer during busy periods.¹

Start With a Qualifying Certified Copy

The Secretary of State will only apostille an original certified copy of the birth certificate. Photocopies and printouts are rejected. The copy has to come from the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS), Vital Statistics Section, or from the local registrar in the county of birth, and it must have been issued within the past five years. An older certified copy that has been sitting in a file cabinet, even if it looks pristine, falls outside the acceptance window.¹

If you need a fresh copy, you can order one through Texas.gov, by mail, or in person at a DSHS office. Each certified copy costs $22.² When you order, indicate “Apostille” as the reason so DSHS issues the correct version.³

Once you have the certificate, leave it alone. Do not laminate it, remove staples, or write on it. Lamination flattens the raised seal and obscures the security features, and the Authentications Unit will reject a document it cannot verify.

Fill Out Form 2102 and Pay the Fee

The application is Texas Secretary of State Form 2102, “Request for Universal Apostille,” available on the Secretary of State’s website.⁴ Complete every section: your contact information, the document type (birth certificate), how many documents you are submitting, and the country where the apostille will be used.

The fee is $15 per document.⁵ For mailed requests, pay by check, money order, or cashier’s check made payable to “Texas Secretary of State.” In-person visitors can also pay by credit or debit card, with a 2.7% convenience fee on card transactions.

Submit by Mail or In Person

Your package needs the completed Form 2102, the original certified birth certificate, and payment. If you’re mailing it, add a prepaid, pre-addressed return envelope with tracking.

By Mail

Send the package to:

Authentications Unit
Secretary of State
P.O. Box 13550
Austin, TX 78711-3550

Mailed requests can take up to 25 business days from the date the office receives them, and processing may run longer when volume is high.¹ There is no expedited mail option. If you have a deadline, go in person.

In Person

Walk-in and appointment service is at 400 W. 15th Street, Austin, TX, from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM Monday through Friday.⁶ How you’re seen depends on the day of the week:

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are appointment days. Book a slot in advance for same-day apostille service, with a ten-document limit per transaction.
Monday and Friday are walk-in days. No appointment is needed, but waits range from 15 minutes to over an hour. The ten-document limit still applies.

If you have more than ten documents, drop them in the bulk request box during any business day and pick them up within 24 to 48 hours.¹

Why Requests Get Rejected

A rejected package costs weeks. The Authentications Unit sends back requests that miss the requirements, and these are the mistakes that come up most:

Submitting a photocopy rather than the original certified copy. Even a clean photocopy fails; the office needs the actual document with its raised seal.
Using a certified copy issued more than five years ago. Order a new one first.⁶
Laminating or altering the certificate. The security features have to be verifiable.
Sending a birth certificate from another state. Texas can only apostille documents issued by Texas authorities. Out-of-state records go to the issuing state’s Secretary of State.
Payment errors. A check made out to the wrong payee, or an amount that doesn’t match the document count, stalls the request.

If the Destination Country Isn’t a Hague Convention Member

The apostille only works on its own in countries that belong to the Hague Apostille Convention, which currently has 129 contracting parties.⁷ For a non-member country, you still start with the Texas process above, because Texas issues a “universal apostille” that also serves as an authentication. After that, send the document to the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Authentications in Washington, D.C., and then, if the destination country requires it, to that country’s embassy or consulate for final legalization.⁶

Translations

Many countries also require a translated birth certificate. The Secretary of State does not translate documents, so arrange the translation separately with a professional translator.⁶

If the translation itself has to be apostilled, the translator signs a statement certifying accuracy, and a Texas notary public notarizes that statement. You then submit the notarized translation to the Secretary of State as a separate document with its own $15 fee. Certified translation of a single-page vital record typically runs $20 to $60, depending on the language and the provider.

After You Get It Back

Mailed requests come back by standard mail or in the prepaid return envelope you included. In-person visitors usually leave with the apostilled document the same day. Do not laminate the apostilled document or separate the apostille from the birth certificate; treat them as one package from that point on.

1
Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Request a Universal Apostille
2
Texas Department of State Health Services. Costs and Fees
3
Texas Department of State Health Services. Records for Foreign Governments (Apostille)
4
Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Apostille/Authentication Forms
5
Texas Secretary of State. Form 2102 – Request for Universal Apostille
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Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Apostille/Authentication of Documents
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HCCH. Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents