Apostille Services in Austin, TX
Every Texas apostille in the state is issued in Austin. The Texas Secretary of State, Authentications Unit is the only office in Texas that can authenticate a Texas public record for use abroad — not the county clerk, not a Houston or Dallas office, not a notary. A federal document, by contrast, never touches Texas: an FBI background check, a naturalization certificate or an IRS Form 6166 is authenticated by the U.S. Department of State in Washington, DC. We file both.
Our Texas filings are walked into the Authentications Unit in Austin by a local partner we work with directly, rather than mailed to the state’s post office box. Intake review, the federal leg and tracked return stay with our own staff, and the order is placed online from wherever you are.
- Texas documents are filed at
- Texas Secretary of State, Authentications Unit, Austin
- Our price, Texas documents
- $220 per document
- Our price, federal documents
- $120 per document
- County certification first in Texas
- Not required
What we file for Austin clients
Texas documents
$220 per document
Filed with the Texas Secretary of State, Authentications Unit in Austin, in person.
- Birth, marriage, death certificates and divorce decrees
- Notarized documents: powers of attorney, affidavits, consents
- Diplomas, transcripts and academic records
- Corporate records: good standing, incorporation, resolutions
- State court orders: name change, adoption, probate, guardianship
- Driving records and certified copies of state-issued ID
Federal documents
$120 per document
Hand-delivered to the U.S. Department of State in Washington, DC by our own staff.
- FBI Identity History Summary (background check)
- Certificate of Naturalization (N-550, N-570)
- Certificate of Citizenship (N-560, N-561)
- IRS Form 6166 and Treasury documents
- FDA, USPTO and other federal agency certificates
- Military records and DD-214
Federal court documents
$195 per document
A federal court record is apostilled by the clerk of the court that issued it — for this region, the U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas. It does not go to the Department of State at all.
- Certified copies of judgments, decrees and orders
- Certificates of good standing for attorneys
- Bankruptcy court records
- Naturalization records held by the court
- Certificates of no record
Priced flat, plus shipping to the courthouse and back to you.
What Texas requires
- The Authentications Unit in Austin is the only office in Texas that can authenticate Texas public records for use abroad.
- Texas does not require a county-clerk certification first.
- Posted requests take up to two weeks from receipt, and the state notes that it varies with volume. The Austin counter is open 8–5 on weekdays.
- Walk-in filing is capped at ten apostille transactions per person; larger batches are routed to the three-day drop-off lane.
- A document has to be correctly certified or notarized before it arrives — the state checks the signature it is certifying, not the content.
More detail, with sources: our full guide to Texas apostilles filed in Austin. The document-by-document requirements, the five-year rule for notarised records and the rejection list are set out there with sources.
Why we work with a local partner in Austin
A Texas apostille courier service based in Austin, filing at the Authentications Unit counter as routine daily business.
- Hand-delivers Texas filings at the Austin counter instead of joining a mail queue the state puts at up to two weeks.
- Works inside the ten-transactions-per-person walk-in cap, and knows when a batch has to go to the drop-off lane instead.
- Can collect and return documents in the Austin metro when a file is too time-critical to post twice.
We work with this partner directly and manage the file end to end. Your order, your invoice, your tracking and your point of contact stay with us.
Texas concentrates every apostille in the state into one unit in Austin, which makes the filing point a bottleneck for a state of more than thirty million people. Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and El Paso have no apostille counter of their own; their documents all come here. That is why “apostille services” in those cities means, in practice, somebody getting the document to Austin — and why the sensible place to have a partner is at the counter rather than at the kerb in Houston.
The volume rules matter more here than in most states. Walk-in filing is capped at ten apostille transactions per person, with larger batches pushed into a three-day drop-off lane, so a corporate or law-firm batch has to be planned rather than carried in. A corporate batch, an international adoption file or a set of university transcripts bound for a foreign ministry can run past ten documents without anyone intending it to.
How your order runs
- Tell us what the document is and where it is goingThe destination country decides the route: a Hague member takes an apostille, everywhere else takes authentication plus embassy legalization.
- Upload it, or post the originalSome documents can be filed from a digital copy; vital records, notarized originals and certified court copies have to travel. Intake review tells you which before you post anything.
- We check it before it is filedA defective or expired notarial certificate is the usual reason a filing comes back, rather than anything wrong with the document. That check happens here, not at the counter.
- Filed in person — Austin for Texas documents, Washington, DC for federalTexas documents are hand-delivered at the Texas Secretary of State, Authentications Unit by our local partner. Federal documents are hand-delivered at the U.S. Department of State by our own staff. Federal court documents go to the clerk of the issuing court.
- Tracked return, or straight on to your recipientThe apostilled original comes back to you by tracked courier, or ships directly to a foreign recipient if that is faster. A scan is available the moment the apostille is issued.
What it costs in Austin
| What | Price | What that includes |
|---|---|---|
| Texas state document | $220 per document | Includes the Texas filing fee. |
| Federal document | $120 per document | Includes the U.S. Department of State fee. |
| Federal court document | $195 per document | Flat. Shipping to the courthouse and back is billed separately. |
| Expedited return — uploaded Texas documents | +$75 per document | 1–3 business day return. Not available on vital records or mailed-in originals. |
| Tracked shipping | from $25 per leg | International delivery is priced at checkout. |
| Card processing | shown before you pay | Itemised on the quote. Nothing is added after you have paid. |
Government filing fees are included in the per-document price. Embassy legalization, certified translation and notarization are separate services and are quoted before you pay.
Where we serve from Austin
Documents reach us by upload or tracked post, so nothing here depends on how close you are to Austin. These are the places our Texas filings most often come from.
- Downtown Austin
- East Austin
- South Congress
- The Domain
- North Austin
- Westlake Hills
- Bee Cave
- Lakeway
- Pflugerville
- Round Rock
- Cedar Park
- Leander
- Georgetown
- Hutto
- Kyle
- Buda
- San Marcos
- Dripping Springs
- Bastrop
- Travis County
- Williamson County
- Hays County
- San Antonio
- New Braunfels
- Houston
- Dallas
- Fort Worth
- El Paso
- Corpus Christi
- Lubbock
Questions people ask about Austin apostilles
Do you have a walk-in office in Austin?
No. We do not operate a public counter in Austin, and we would rather say so than publish an address we do not occupy. Orders are placed online, documents reach us by upload or tracked post, and our Texas filings are hand-delivered at the Authentications Unit by the local partner we work with. Our own staffed offices are in Washington, DC, New York, Tallahassee and Irvine.
How much does an apostille cost in Austin?
Texas state documents are $220 per document, which includes the Texas Secretary of State’s own fee. Federal documents are $120 per document, government fees included. Federal court documents are $195 per document plus two-way shipping, because the clerk of the issuing court certifies those directly. Tracked shipping starts at $25 per leg and the card processing fee is shown before you pay.
How fast can you turn a Texas apostille around?
Filing in person at the Austin counter avoids a mail queue the state puts at up to two weeks from receipt. Uploaded Texas documents other than vital records can be expedited to a 1–3 business day return for $75 per document. Standard orders are estimated at seven business days after intake review, excluding Fridays and federal holidays, with shipping on top. Vital records and mailed-in originals are not eligible for the expedited return.
I am in Houston, Dallas or San Antonio. Does that change anything?
Only the shipping leg. There is no apostille counter in any of those cities — every Texas apostille is issued by the Authentications Unit in Austin — so a Houston document and an Austin document follow the same route and cost the same. Upload what can be uploaded, post the originals that have to travel, and the filing happens here either way.
Does Texas need a county clerk certification first?
No. Texas is not one of the states that insert a county-level step, so a properly notarized or properly certified Texas document goes directly to the Secretary of State. What does matter is that the certification on the document is current and correct before it is filed.
Can you handle a large batch for a firm or a company?
Yes, and it is worth telling us the count up front. Walk-in filing in Texas is capped at ten apostille transactions per person and larger batches are routed into a three-day drop-off lane, so a thirty-document batch is a scheduling question rather than a single counter visit. Send the list and the destination countries and we will come back with a realistic date.
The destination country is not in the Hague Convention. What then?
An apostille will not be accepted there. The document needs authentication followed by legalization at that country’s embassy or consulate — a longer, country-specific chain that we also handle. Mexico, most of Western Europe and most of Latin America are Hague members; the Gulf states, China’s neighbours in parts of Asia, and much of the Middle East are the usual exceptions, and our embassy legalization guide gives the requirements country by country.
What to do next
Start the order online and the intake review tells you which route your document takes, what it will cost and a realistic date before you post anything. If you would rather ask a person first, call or text (760) 469-2997 or email us.
- Start an order
- our full guide to Texas apostilles filed in Austin
- Federal court document apostille
- Embassy legalization for non-Hague countries
Start an orderCall or text (760) 469-2997submissions@federalapostille.org
Our other partner locations
FederalApostille.org is a private document processing service. We are not a government agency and we do not operate a public counter in Austin; Texas filings are hand-delivered by the local partner we work with, and federal filings by our own staff in Washington, DC. Government requirements and fees change without notice, so confirm anything critical with the receiving authority before posting documents.