Texas Death Certificate Apostille: Fees, Mail, and In-Person Filing

To get an apostille on a death certificate in Texas, send a recent certified copy to the Texas Secretary of State’s Authentications Unit along with Form 2102 and a $15 fee per document. The Secretary of State is the only office in Texas authorized to issue the apostille, and Texas now issues a universal apostille certificate accepted in every country.¹ The step that trips up most applicants is submitting the wrong kind of death certificate, so start there.

Which Death Certificate Qualifies

Only a certified copy issued by the State Registrar at the Texas Department of State Health Services or by a Texas county clerk’s office can be apostilled.¹ A photocopy will not work. A printout from an online records portal will not work. A copy that a notary public has notarized will not work. The Secretary of State needs to match the issuing official’s signature against records on file, so the document must carry an original signature or official seal.

There is also a freshness rule that catches many families off guard: the certified copy must have been issued within the past five years.¹ If the copy in your files is older, order a new one from the Texas Department of State Health Services or the relevant county vital records office before you apply.

The Application and Fee

Every request uses Form 2102, “Request for Universal Apostille,” available on the Secretary of State’s website as a Word document or PDF.² The form asks for the country or embassy where you plan to present the death certificate. Fill that in even though the apostille format is now universal; the office uses the answer to confirm the correct type of authentication.³

The fee is $15 per document.⁴ Two death certificates cost $30, and so on. If you pay by mail, use a check or money order drawn on a U.S. bank and made out to the Office of the Texas Secretary of State. The check has to show the amount, your complete address, and your signature, or processing will stall. To pay by credit or debit card, include the separate Payment Form (Form 2101) with your package.²

Sending It by Mail

Mail Form 2102, the certified death certificate, and your payment to:

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

Include a self-addressed, stamped envelope or a prepaid shipping label. Without return postage, the office will hold your request until you provide one.¹

Mailed requests can take up to 25 business days from the day the office receives them, and the Secretary of State notes that processing may run longer during periods of high demand.⁴ For a foreign probate case, property transfer, or any other hard deadline, plan for the outer edge of that window.

In Person in Austin

Same-day service is available at the Authentications Unit in Austin, but the schedule splits the week. Appointments are offered Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Walk-in service runs on Monday and Friday only.⁴ Both options are capped at 10 documents per person or company per visit, and each person is limited to one appointment per day.

The office is at:

The Office of the Texas Secretary of State
Authentications Unit, Room 106
1019 Brazos Street
Austin, TX 78701

Hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Central Time, Monday through Friday. Walk-in wait times run from about 15 minutes to over an hour depending on the day’s volume.⁴

Bulk Drop-Off for More Than 10 Documents

If you need more than 10 documents apostilled at once, use the Bulk Request Drop-Box at the 1019 Brazos location and include the Bulk Request Drop-Box form found on the box itself. Turnaround runs 24 to 48 hours, and the office emails you when the documents are ready for pickup. Payment can be made by check or money order with the drop-off, or by credit card, debit card, or exact-change cash at pickup.⁴

If the Death Certificate Needs a Translation

Many receiving countries require the death certificate to arrive with a certified translation in their official language. Texas treats a translation as a separate, non-recordable document, so it must be notarized by a Texas notary public before the Secretary of State will apostille it. The translator signs a statement confirming the accuracy of the translation, and that statement is what gets notarized with a proper notarial certificate.¹

When you submit the notarized translation, include the original death certificate or a copy of it alongside the translation. Expect two apostilles in that scenario: one on the death certificate and one on the translation. Each costs $15.

Countries Not in the Hague Convention

The universal apostille alone is enough for Hague Convention countries. For a country that is not a member, add a federal layer: authentication from the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Authentications after Texas has apostilled the document.¹ You submit Form DS-4194 with the required fee. Mailed federal requests take roughly five weeks; walk-in drop-offs at the Washington, D.C. office take two to three weeks. Same-day emergency appointments are limited to travel abroad because an immediate family member has died or is facing a life-threatening situation.⁵

Between ordering a fresh certified copy, waiting for the Texas apostille, and clearing federal authentication, a non-Hague destination can push the full timeline past two months. Start early.

1
Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Apostille/Authentication of Documents
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Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Apostille/Authentication Forms
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Texas Secretary of State. Form 2102 – Request for Universal Apostille
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Office of the Texas Secretary of State. How to Request a Universal Apostille
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U.S. Department of State. Office of Authentications