Apostilles/Authentication of Documents - En Español | FAQ's
Corporations Section: Certified copies of business organization documents on file with the Secretary of State, including articles of incorporation, certificates of limited partnership, articles of organization, certificates of merger, assumed name certificates, and applications for registration of trademarks. Additionally, certificates of existence or fact issued by the Secretary of State evidencing facts from the records of the office.
Authentications Unit: The Authentications Unit may issue Apostilles or Certificates for the following types of documents:
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Documents that have been notarized by a Texas Notary Public.You must submit the complete original document for authentication. For information regarding official certificates or apostilles for school records, please see FAQ #18. Recordable documents, such as birth certificates, may not be certified by a notary public. Request for Official Certificate or Apostille - NOT for use in proceedings relating to the adoption of one or more children - Form 2102.
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Certified copies of recordable documents issued by a Texas statewide officer. This includes certified copies of birth/death certificates, vehicle title histories, etc.; documents issued by a county official including certified copies of marriage licenses, divorce decrees, probated wills, judgments, birth/death certificates, etc.; documents issued by a city or local registrar including certified copies of birth/death certificates. You must submit the complete document for authentication. Documents submitted for authentication must be recently issued certified copies. Request for Official Certificate or Apostille - NOT for use in proceedings relating to the adoption of one or more children - Form 2102.
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Requests Relating to the Adoption of a Child: Requests for Apostilles or Certificates for use in proceedings related to the adoption of a child must be submitted using Form 2103. Request for Official Certificate or Apostille - Adoption Proceedings - for use in proceedings relating to the adoption of one or more children - Form 2103.
In addition to the above requirements, for all certifications or authentications you will also need to provide the following:
* If the Certificate/Apostille is requested for use in proceedings related to an adoption, the fee is $10.00 per Certificate/Apostille, and the total fees may not exceed $100.00 for the adoption of each child. |
The Secretary of State does not translate documents.
Walk-In Service
Hours: 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Monday - Friday (call for holiday hours)
Processing time is dependent on the number of Walk-In customers
and the number of documents being processed.
Mail-In Service
Please allow at least ten (10) business days for processing any request received by mail.
Our office does not offer expedited service for mail-in requests. The use of overnight mail service does not expedite processing time.
Street Address |
P.O. Box Address |
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Corporations Section: |
Corporations Section: |
| (512) 463-5578 Secretary of State Corporations Section 1019 Brazos, B-13 Austin, TX 78701 Walk-In Service: Room 105 |
Secretary of State Corporations Section P.O. Box 13697 Austin, TX 78711-3697 |
Authentications Unit: |
Authentications Unit: |
| (512) 463-5705 Secretary of State Authentications Unit 1019 Brazos, B-13 Austin, TX 78701 Walk-In Service: Room B-05 |
Secretary of State Authentications Unit P.O. Box 13550 Austin, TX 78711-3550 |
Questions not covered by the above information for documents authenticated by the Notary Public
Unit and the Statutory Documents Section may be addressed to: authentications@sos.state.tx.us
Additional information is available in the Apostille PowerPoint presentation.