How Does the Texas Apostille Process Work?
Need a Texas apostille certificate fast?
Feeling overwhelmed or confused by Texas Secretary of State apostille requirements or wondering how the Texas apostille process works?
Don’t worry your pretty little head off. We’ll explain exactly how the Texas apostille process works from start to finish in plain English. Prefer another language? Click the spinning translation globe at the top of the page to instantly read this page and the rest of our website in Spanish or 103 other languages.
Further down this page, you’ll find easy-to-understand Texas apostille how-to videos and two step-by-step flowcharts showing exactly how the Texas apostille process works.
You’ll also learn which Texas recordable documents, non-recordable documents, and Corporation Section documents qualify for an apostille, current processing times (TAT), upfront pricing, and the three most common reasons documents are rejected by the Texas Secretary of State—helping you avoid costly mistakes and processing delays.
Where Are Texas Apostille Certificates Issued?
The Texas Secretary of State is located at 1019 Brazos Street, Austin, Texas 78701, directly across from the Texas State Capitol.
However, since January 2026, the office has been temporarily located at 400 W. 15th Street, Austin, Texas 78701, while the historic Rudder Building undergoes major renovations and upgrades.
The Texas Secretary of State is expected to return to the Rudder Building sometime in 2027.
This is the only Texas Secretary of State office authorized to issue Texas apostille certificates for eligible personal, academic, business, and corporate documents that will be used in a foreign country.
There are no Texas Secretary of State apostille satellite or branch offices in Dallas, Fort Worth, Plano, Arlington, Irving, Houston, Amarillo, Abilene, Lubbock, San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Laredo, El Paso, or anywhere else in Texas or the United States.
A Texas notary public, foreign embassy, foreign consulate, or consular office cannot issue a Texas apostille certificate.
With only a few exceptions, your documents cannot be emailed, faxed, or texted to receive a Texas apostille certificate. The required documents must be physically submitted to the Texas Secretary of State for processing.
What Does a Texas Apostille Certificate Look Like?
Below are real examples of Texas apostille certificates so you can see exactly what they look like.
After your Texas document has been successfully apostilled, the Texas Secretary of State attaches an 8½ × 11-inch Texas apostille certificate to your original document.
Do not remove the staple attaching the Texas apostille certificate to your original document.
If the apostille certificate becomes detached, the foreign government, embassy, consulate, court, business, school, or other organization requesting the Texas apostille may reject your documents.
Please handle your completed Texas apostille carefully. We don’t want a damaged or detached apostille certificate to force you to repeat the entire apostille process.
New Non-Recordable Document Texas Apostille
Certificate As of 10/1/23
New Recordable Document Texas Apostille
Certificate As of 10/1/23
What Is a Texas
Recordable Document?
A Texas recordable document is an official Texas public record filed, recorded, certified, or issued by a Texas state or county government agency. Unlike Texas non-recordable documents, recordable documents cannot be notarized by a Texas notary public or replaced with a Texas-notarized copy for apostille purposes.
Examples of Texas recordable documents include birth certificates, death certificates, birth verification letters, death verification letters, marriage verification letters, divorce verification letters, marriage licenses, marriage certificates, marriage applications, divorce decrees, judgments, Texas Department of Public Safety (TXDPS) criminal history records, Texas Department of Public Safety (TXDPS) certified driving records, vehicle records, cremation certificates, and many other certified Texas public records.
Original or properly certified copies of Texas recordable documents from a Texas city, county, the Texas Department of Public Safety (TXDPS), or Texas Vital Records are generally required before the Texas Secretary of State can issue a Texas apostille certificate.
What Is a Texas
Non-Recordable Document?
A Texas non-recordable document is a document that is not officially filed, recorded, or issued as a certified Texas public record by a Texas state or county government agency. Before the Texas Secretary of State can issue a Texas apostille certificate, a non-recordable document must be properly notarized by a Texas notary public.
Common Texas non-recordable documents include college diplomas, university degrees, transcripts, grade reports, attendance records, high school, middle school, and elementary school records, GED diplomas and records, certain criminal background checks, powers of attorney (POA), wills, trusts, adoption documents, utility bills, phone bills, bank statements, credit union statements, stock, bond, investment, and insurance statements, immigration documents, bills of sale, affidavits, agreements, contracts, translated documents, copies of photo identification, and certain business and corporate documents.
Documents submitted to us may be written in any language. However, the Texas notarial certificate and notary acknowledgment or jurat must be completed in English before the document can be apostilled.
Non-recordable documents that are not properly notarized by a Texas notary public cannot be submitted to the Texas Secretary of State for apostille processing.
Your Non-Recordable Document Must Be Notarized by a Texas Notary
To receive a Texas apostille certificate, the notarization on a Texas non-recordable document must be performed by a Texas notary public. A document notarized by a notary commissioned in another U.S. state or another country cannot receive a Texas apostille certificate.
Your non-recordable document must also contain, or have attached, the proper Texas notary acknowledgment or jurat. If the required Texas notarial certificate is missing, incomplete, or completed incorrectly, the Texas Secretary of State will reject the document for apostille processing.
If you’re not sure whether your document contains the correct Texas notary acknowledgment or jurat, email us a scan or photo for a free document review before mailing your original documents.
Important: Name of the Affiant
The name of the affiant is the name of the person signing the document in front of the Texas notary public—not the notary’s name. This is one of the most common Texas notarization errors we see.
Before mailing or dropping off your document, please make sure the Texas notary public correctly enters the document signer’s name in the required Texas notary acknowledgment or jurat. An incorrectly completed Texas notarial certificate will cause the Texas Secretary of State to reject the document for apostille processing.
Below are simplified examples showing where the name of the affiant appears in a Texas notary jurat and Texas notary acknowledgment. Your document’s wording may vary slightly, but the name of the affiant should still appear in the appropriate location.
Texas Notary Jurat (Example)
State of Texas
County of
Sworn to and subscribed before me on the day of (month) (year),
by (name of affiant).
_________________________________
Texas notary signature
or
Texas Notary Acknowledgment (Example)
State of Texas
County of
Before me, (texas notary public name), on this day, personally
appeared (name of affiant), known to me or proved to me based on satisfactory evidence to be the person whose name is subscribed to the foregoing instrument and acknowledged to me that he executed the same for the purposes and consideration therein expressed
Given under my hand and seal of office this day of (month), and (year).
_________________________________
Texas notary signature
You must include a properly completed Texas notary jurat or Texas notary acknowledgment on all Texas non-recordable documents that require notarization.
Texas notary errors are the second most common reason documents we submit for a Texas apostille certificate are rejected by the Texas Secretary of State.
When a Texas notary public notarizes a Texas non-recordable document for a Texas apostille certificate, the notary must correctly complete the five requirements below.
1) Texas Notary Stamp, Signature, and Notarial Certificate
A Texas notary public must place their current, non-expired Texas notary stamp on the non-recordable document.
The Texas notary stamp, notary signature, and Texas notarial certificate (jurat or acknowledgment) must appear on the same page. The required notary information cannot be split between two different pages. If it is, the Texas Secretary of State will reject the document.
If there is not enough room on the front of the document, the notarization may be placed on the back of the document or on a separate page attached to the non-recordable document.
2) Date of Notarization
A Texas notary public must include the date the notarization was performed in the Texas notarial certificate.
A date appearing elsewhere within the body of the document does not satisfy this notarization requirement.
If the required notarization date is missing from the Texas notarial certificate, the Texas Secretary of State will reject the document.
3) Texas Notary Printed
Name and Signature
A Texas notary public must print and sign their name exactly as it appears on their official Texas notary stamp on every document submitted for a Texas apostille certificate.
If the printed name or signature does not exactly match the name shown on the official Texas notary stamp, the Texas Secretary of State will reject the document.
(Rejection letter)
4) Notarial Certificate Must Be in English
The Texas notary jurat or Texas notary acknowledgment must be written or typed entirely in English.
The non-recordable document may be written in any language. However, the entire Texas notarial certificate—not just part of it—must be completed in English.
If any portion of the required Texas notarial certificate is not in English, the Texas Secretary of State will reject the document.
5) Original Signatures Are Required
The signatures of the Texas notary public and the document signer must be original. Autopen, electronically copied, or photocopied signatures cannot be used on a non-recordable document submitted for a Texas apostille certificate.
An autopen is a machine or device that automatically reproduces a person’s signature. A photocopied or otherwise reproduced signature is not considered an original signature.
The exception is a document properly notarized by a Texas Remote Online Notary (RON) using an approved electronic notarization process and meeting the Texas Secretary of State’s RON requirements.
How Original Signatures May Be Checked
Texas Secretary of State officials may examine signatures to determine whether they are original. We have personally witnessed officials perform a “smudge test” by lightly wetting a finger and rubbing the signature to see whether the ink smudges.
We have also witnessed Texas Secretary of State officials use a jeweler’s loupe to closely examine a signature and determine whether it is an original signature or a photocopy, reproduction, or autopen signature.
If the Texas Secretary of State determines that a signature is not original, the document will be rejected for apostille processing.
Your Documents Must Qualify for a Texas Apostille
The third most common reason our customers’ documents are rejected by the Texas Secretary of State is that the documents did not originate in Texas or are not eligible for a Texas apostille certificate.
The Texas Secretary of State can issue Texas apostille certificates only for documents that fall within its jurisdiction. This generally means a Texas recordable document issued or certified by the appropriate Texas government authority or a Texas non-recordable document that has been properly notarized by a Texas notary public.
If your document was issued, certified, or notarized outside the State of Texas, it generally does not qualify for a Texas apostille certificate and must instead be processed by the appropriate authority in the state where the document originated.
What About Federal Government Documents?
Documents issued by U.S. federal government agencies—such as the FBI, IRS, DHS, ATF, SSA, VA, USCIS, DOD, USDA, USDOT, FDA, DOE, USPTO, EPA, DEA, Department of Commerce, and DOJ—generally cannot receive a Texas apostille certificate from the Texas Secretary of State.
Instead, eligible federal documents must be submitted to the U.S. Department of State Office of Authentications in Washington, D.C., to receive a federal apostille certificate or a federal authentication certificate, depending on the destination country.
Yes, Apostille Texas can help you rush-file eligible federal documents with the U.S. Department of State. Learn more on our U.S. Department of State Apostille Services page.
What If My Document Was Issued in Another State?
Where you currently live does not determine which state issues your state-level apostille certificate.
For example, let’s say you currently live in Texas, but you were born in California, your parent died in New York, you got married in Washington, and you got divorced in Florida.
In these scenarios, your California birth certificate must be apostilled by the California Secretary of State, your New York death certificate by the New York Secretary of State, your Washington marriage certificate by the Washington Secretary of State, and your Florida divorce decree by the Florida Secretary of State.
In other words, the state where the recordable document was issued determines which Secretary of State can issue the state-level apostille certificate—not the state where you currently live.
Does this make apostille document sense?
Still have questions about getting a document apostilled in Texas?
Browse our Texas Apostille Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for clear written answers and step-by-step videos.
9-Step Texas Apostille
Services Process
Contact us to discuss your Texas apostille services needs with the Texas Secretary of State.
Tell us the type and number of documents you need processed and the destination country.
Download, complete, and submit our Texas apostille services order form.
Review our Texas apostille services pricing, turnaround times, and ordering information.
Email or mail us your completed Texas apostille services order form to begin your order.
Mail your original documents along with a prepaid return shipping label or envelope.
We personally rush-file your documents with the Texas Secretary
of State in Austin, Texas.
We return your completed documents and certificates to any address you choose worldwide.
You’re so happy you hired us that you refer everyone you know to Apostille Texas.
Texas Apostille
Services Process
Contact us to discuss your Texas apostille services needs with the Texas Secretary of State.
Tell us the type and number of documents you need processed and the destination country.
Download, complete, and submit our Texas apostille services order form.
Review our Texas apostille services pricing, turnaround times, and ordering information.
Email or mail us your completed Texas apostille services order form to begin your order.
Mail your original documents along with a prepaid return shipping label or envelope.
We personally rush-file your documents with the Texas Secretary
of State in Austin, Texas.
We return your completed documents and certificates to any address you choose worldwide.
You’re so happy you hired us that you refer everyone you know to Apostille Texas.
Texas Apostille
Services Pricing
All Texas Secretary of State filing fees are included in the $95 price.
Money-back guarantee if we don’t file the documents within the promised time.
We courier your completed documents to any shipping center (shipping not included).
Receive email or text updates throughout the apostille filing process.
We’re based in Austin, Texas, so there’s no middleman.
Friendly phone and email support seven days a week.
Additional documents filed at the same time are only $75 each.
Same Business Day
Apostille Service
All Texas Secretary of State filing fees are included in the $95 price.
Money-back guarantee if we don’t file the documents within the promised time.
We courier your completed documents to any shipping center (shipping not included).
Receive email or text updates throughout the apostille filing process.
We’re based in Austin, Texas, so there’s no middleman.
Friendly phone and email support seven days a week.
Additional documents filed at the same time are only $75 each.
High-Volume Texas
Apostille Services Pricing
For Texas apostille orders of 25 or more documents submitted at the same time, our price drops to just $65 per document, including the first document.
25 documents × $65 each = $1,625
30 documents × $65 each = $1,950
40 documents × $65 each = $2,600
All Texas Secretary of State filing fees are included in our high-volume Texas apostille services pricing.
Whether you’re a law firm, corporation, university, government agency, or other organization, Apostille Texas can process thousands of Texas apostille documents every month, so don’t be shy—give us a try.
Yes, we know that rhymed quite nicely.
Unlike many apostille service companies, we don’t mark up your return shipping costs by one red cent or hide them inside an inflated all-inclusive price that costs you even more.
We Customize Texas
Apostille Services
To Fit Your Needs
We customize our Texas apostille and authentication services to fit your needs—no generic, cookie-cutter apostille packages for you.
Whether you’re sending one document or hundreds, we’ll help you choose the processing, shipping, and return delivery options that best fit your needs.
When Apostille Texas mails your completed documents back to you, your company, or any address worldwide that you choose, you decide which shipping carrier you want to use and how quickly you want your documents delivered.
You will need to create and purchase a prepaid return shipping label (we DO NOT accept air waybills). You can create and purchase one at a local U.S. shipping store or
create, purchase, and download a prepaid return shipping label directly from www.UPS.com, www.FedEx.com, or www.USPS.com.
When creating your prepaid return shipping label, you cannot use our Austin, Texas mailing address or company name as the sender information. You must use your own name and address, or another valid sender name and address, instead of ours.
You can then mail your prepaid return shipping label to us with your original documents or email us the prepaid return shipping label as a PDF. Once your Texas apostille order is completed, we’ll use your prepaid label to ship your documents back to the address you selected.
We highly recommend that you DON’T USE USPS (United States Postal Service) to send your original documents to us or return your completed documents. If you provide us with a prepaid USPS return label or envelope, your documents will not be shipped until the next business day.
Trust us—you don’t want to risk USPS losing your irreplaceable personal, business, academic, or corporate documents just to save a few measly bucks.
Our Austin office can accept and sign for document deliveries Monday through Friday after 9:00 a.m., excluding all major holidays.
If you’re using FedEx overnight delivery, don’t select First Overnight (delivery by 8:30 a.m.), which can result in delivery attempts before our office building opens. Instead, we recommend selecting a later morning delivery option that arrives after 9:00 a.m. This can also save you money while reducing the chance of a missed or delayed delivery.
If you live in or will be visiting the Austin metro area, you can also drop off your documents at our office reception area between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
For office drop-offs, you must print, complete, and bring our Texas apostille order form with the documents you want us to rush apostille.
Please remember that our cutoff for same-business-day Texas apostille and authentication services is 12:00 p.m. (noon) CT.
Your documents must be delivered or dropped off at our Austin office by the noon deadline to qualify for same-business-day filing. Documents received after the cutoff will be filed with the Texas Secretary of State on the next available business day.
Time Machine Fast
Texas Apostille Services
When Tomorrow Is Too Late
We always recommend planning ahead, but sometimes tomorrow is simply too late.
Law firms, international corporations, mergers and acquisitions, adoption cases, court proceedings, immigration matters, and other urgent international transactions sometimes require Texas apostille certificates the very same day. Even the fastest overnight delivery services from FedEx or UPS may not be fast enough.
For example, let’s say it’s Monday and you suddenly realize that you or your company needs important documents apostilled in Texas, but you’re located in Houston.
You overnight the documents to our Austin office, and we receive and rush-file them with the Texas Secretary of State on Tuesday. There’s just one problem: you need the completed documents back in your hands Tuesday night, and overnight shipping wouldn’t get them back to Houston until Wednesday morning.
That’s where our Time Machine Fast Texas Apostille Service comes in.
We’ll fire up our Back to the Future DeLorean, pick up your completed documents from the Texas Secretary of State in downtown Austin, and then “time travel” (okay… drive) them directly to your home or office that very same day.
No overnight shipping. No waiting until tomorrow. Your completed Texas apostille or authentication documents can be personally couriered from downtown Austin directly to you the very same day.
Below, you’ll find a 3-D map of Texas showing 30 of the state’s largest cities and the total price for Apostille Texas to provide same-day courier delivery of your completed documents directly from downtown Austin to you or your company.
Please note that Round Rock is not listed separately because, for purposes of our same-day courier pricing, it is included within the Austin metropolitan area.
Time Machine Fast
Texas Apostille Services
When Tomorrow Is Too Late
We always recommend to plan ahead, but in some circumstances for law firms, large international corporations, mergers and acquisitions deals, adoption filings, government submission deadlines, court proceedings and immigration dealings that conduct business in another country even the earliest overnight delivery options with the big three shipping companies will be too late for your emergency situation.
For example, let’s say it’s a Monday and you realize you need some important time sensitive documents apostilled in Texas for yourself or your company and you live or your office is based in Houston, TX.
You need the apostilles in your hands by the next day (Tuesday) so you overnight the documents to us here and we receive and rush file them for you on Tuesday.
The problem is you need the documents in your hands by Tuesday night and the earliest FedEx/UPS could deliver them to you in Houston would be Wednesday morning by 8:30am (FedEx first morning delivery).
Our time machine fast Texas apostille service means we’ll fire up our Back to the Future DeLorean and right from the steps of the Texas Secretary of State’s building we’ll time travel (drive really fast) your documents right to your home or office’s door step that very same day.
Below we have the thirty largest populated cities in Texas listed on a 3-D map and the total cost for Apostille Texas to same day courier your legal documents by car directly to you or your company from downtown Austin, TX.
Please note the top thirty most populated Texas cities listed on this map doesn’t include Round Rock, TX because it’s a suburb of Austin.
Austin to Plano – $450 
Austin to Dallas – $425 
Austin to Fort Worth – $400 
Austin to Houston – $400 
Austin to San Antonio – $200 
Austin to El Paso – $1,200 
Austin to Corpus Christi – $450 
Austin to Laredo – $500 
Austin to Amarillo – $1,100 
Austin to Abilene – $500 
Austin to Waco – $200 
Austin to Arlington – $425 
Austin to Lubbock – $750 
Austin to Garland – $425 
Austin to Irving – $425 
Austin to Grand Prairie – $400 
Austin to Killeen – $175 
Austin to Pasadena – $400 
Austin to Mesquite – $425 
Austin to McKinney – $475 
Austin to Carrollton – $450 
Austin to Frisco – $450 
Austin to Beaumont – $500 
Austin to Denton – $450 
Austin to Midland – $700 
Austin to Odessa – $725 
Austin to Wichita Falls – $600 
Austin to Richardson – $450 
Austin to McAllen – $650 
Austin to Brownsville – $700 
The apostille courier travel fees listed above do not include our expedited Texas apostille or authentication service and Texas Secretary of State filing fees. The prices shown apply only to courier travel from Austin, Texas.
Our listed courier pricing applies during a normal business week (Monday through Friday) when we can leave Austin no later than 5:00 p.m., when the Texas Secretary of State office closes.
Need your documents delivered somewhere not listed? We also provide drive-through-the-night courier services to other Texas cities and destinations in Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, and New Mexico. Please call or email us for an exact courier quote.
As Bill Murray famously says in Ghostbusters, “Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, no job is too big, no fee is too big!”
We couldn’t have said it any better ourselves.
