Where Can I Get an Apostille in Texas: Fees, Documents, Rejections

To get an apostille in Texas, you go to one place: the Texas Secretary of State’s Authentications Unit in Austin. It is the only office in the state authorized to issue apostilles on Texas documents, and the fee is $15 per document.¹ No county clerk, notary, or private service can issue one for you. The office sits at 1019 Brazos, Room 106, Austin, TX 78701, and accepts requests by mail, by appointment, or as a walk-in.²

Texas issues what it calls a “universal apostille,” which works both as a Hague Convention apostille for the 129 member countries and as the state-level authentication step for countries outside the treaty.³

How to Submit Your Request

Every request needs a completed Form 2102, “Request for Universal Apostille,” available as a PDF on the Secretary of State’s website. The form asks what you are submitting and which country will receive it. International adoption requests use Form 2103 instead and carry a reduced fee.¹

By Mail

Send Form 2102, your original documents, payment, and a self-addressed postage-prepaid return envelope to:

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

Mailed requests take up to 25 business days from the day the office receives them.² Without the return envelope, your documents will not come back. A trackable shipping method is sensible in both directions.

By Appointment

Appointments at the Austin office are available Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.⁴

As a Walk-In

Walk-in service runs Mondays and Fridays, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with no appointment needed. Walk-ins are limited to ten documents per person per visit and are processed the same day, though you may wait anywhere from fifteen minutes to over an hour. If you have more than ten documents, drop them in the office’s bulk request box for a 24- to 48-hour turnaround.²

What to Bring: Preparing Your Documents

The office treats documents in two categories, and getting the preparation right is where most requests succeed or fail.

Recordable Documents

These are government-issued records: birth certificates, death certificates, marriage licenses, court orders, and the like. Submit an original certified copy from the issuing state, county, or local authority, and make sure the certified copy is less than five years old.¹ Photocopies and expired certified copies are rejected.

Non-Recordable Documents

These include personal statements, corporate documents, translations, and copies of identification. Each one must carry a typed or written statement from the issuer or signer summarizing the contents and purpose of the document, signed and then notarized by a Texas notary public with signature, seal, and date.¹

Translations need an extra piece: the translator must sign a statement affirming the accuracy of the translation, that statement must be notarized, and the submission must include a copy of the original document that was translated.

Remote online notarizations are accepted if you include a notarization ledger showing the date, time, document description, and signer information, plus a notarial certificate stating that the notarization was done over two-way audio and visual communication.

Fees and Payment

The standard fee is $15 per document. International adoption documents are $10 each, capped at $100 per child.⁵

For mailed requests, pay by check or money order made out to “Secretary of State of Texas,” or through a SOSDirect client account. Walk-in payment can be cash in exact amount, check, money order, or SOSDirect. Credit and debit cards are not accepted.

Why Documents Get Rejected

Rejected submissions restart the processing clock, so it pays to check your package before sending it. The office automatically returns any document containing the phrase “Notario Publico” or any statement by a notary acting beyond their authority.¹ Other frequent problems:

A notarial certificate missing the notary’s signature, seal, or date.
A certified copy of a recordable document that is more than five years old.
Multi-attachment submissions where the statement does not list every attachment, or where an attachment is missing.
A translation sent without a copy of the original document.

If Your Document Is Federal, You’re in the Wrong Place

The Texas Secretary of State can only apostille documents that originate in Texas. FBI background checks, federal court orders, immigration records, and anything notarized by a federal notary need the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Authentications instead.⁶ Sending federal documents to Austin will not get them processed.

If Your Destination Country Is Not in the Hague Convention

A Texas apostille on its own is enough when your document is going to one of the 129 countries that are parties to the Hague Apostille Convention. For a country outside the treaty, the universal apostille is only the first step. You then send the document to the U.S. Department of State for federal authentication, and after that to the embassy or consulate of the destination country for final legalization.⁷ Each step has its own fee and processing time, so build that into your schedule. The HCCH website keeps a current list of member countries.

1
Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Apostille/Authentication of Documents
2
Office of the Texas Secretary of State. How to Request a Universal Apostille
3
HCCH. Convention of 5 October 1961 – Status Table
4
Office of the Texas Secretary of State. How to Book an Appointment for a Universal Apostille
5
Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Authentication of Documents – Frequently Asked Questions
6
U.S. Department of State. Office of Authentications
7
USAGov. Authenticate an Official Document for Use Outside the U.S.