Katy apostille service
Apostille Service in Katy, TX
Lee's Mobile and Online Notary is based in Katy. We meet you locally, then drive your documents to the Texas Secretary of State in Austin and hand-file them in person. Rush service takes 1–3 business days; standard takes about a week.
Getting a document apostilled from Katy
A university abroad wants your transcript apostilled. A buyer overseas needs your notarized power of attorney. A foreign partner asks for proof that your Texas company exists. Whatever the reason, there's no apostille counter in Katy, or anywhere in Harris, Fort Bend or Waller County. Texas apostilles come from one place: the Authentications Unit of the Texas Secretary of State in Austin.
That's our job. We're commissioned Texas notaries and apostille agents based in Katy. If your document needs a notarization first, we do it. Then we check it against what the Secretary of State accepts, fill out the request, and hand-file it in person in Austin. You skip the drive west on I-10, and your original never sits in the State's mail queue.
An apostille is a certificate attached to a Texas public document or a Texas notarization. It tells a foreign government that the signature and seal on the document are genuine. It doesn't translate the document, and it doesn't vouch for what the document says.
Why Katy families and businesses call us
Most of the apostille requests we see from 77449, 77450, 77493 and 77494 fall into a few patterns: school abroad, family overseas, property in another country, or a company doing business internationally.
We're local
Katy is home base, so meeting you at home, at your office or somewhere convenient around town is a short trip for us.
Notary and apostille in one visit
Powers of attorney, affidavits and consent letters need a Texas notarization before they can be apostilled. We can notarize the document and take it for filing in the same meeting.
We check before we file
A missing notary certificate, an expired commission or a plain photocopy will get a document sent back. We look for those problems first, while they're still easy to fix.
Help with county records
Katy sits where Harris, Fort Bend and Waller counties meet. We'll tell you which clerk issued your record so you order the right certified copy once.
Available 24/7
Call or text (832) 741-3190 any time. Foreign deadlines don't wait for business hours, and neither do we.
Online notarization when you're away
If you've already left for overseas, we can notarize a document online on a video call and then handle the apostille from here.
How the apostille process works from Katy
Step 1
Tell us about the document
Call or text a photo. We'll ask who issued it, whether it's notarized, and which country it's going to, then tell you exactly what it needs.
Step 2
Notarize or gather the record
For private papers we meet you in Katy and notarize them. For public records you order a certified copy from the issuing office, and we tell you which one.
Step 3
We hand-file it in Austin
We fill out the Secretary of State's request form and hand-file your original in person at the Authentications Unit in Austin. Rush takes 1–3 business days; standard takes about a week.
Step 4
You get it back
We return the apostilled document to you or send it on to the school, consulate or agency that asked for it.
Watch our introduction video
A short walkthrough of how apostilles work and the steps we take to get your document to the Texas Secretary of State.
What you get when we handle your apostille
One point of contact
You deal with the same two owners, Albert Lee and Aimani Lawless, from the first call to the return of your document.
Plain answers
If your document can't be apostilled as it is, we tell you why and what to order instead. No guessing.
Mobile notary included
When a notarization is needed, our notary comes to you anywhere in Katy or nearby.
Original stays tracked
We keep track of your original from the moment we take it until it's back in your hands or delivered.
Multiple documents
Several diplomas, a stack of corporate papers, or a whole family's birth certificates. We sort and file them together.
Destination checks
We'll ask the receiving side's requirements with you, such as translation or a newer certified copy, before anything is filed.
Documents Katy residents often need apostilled
Katy families and the companies along the Energy Corridor both send a lot of paperwork abroad, so school, family, property and business records come up most.
Birth certificates
Marriage certificates
Divorce decrees
Diplomas and transcripts
Powers of attorney
Child travel consent letters
Affidavits and sworn statements
Articles of incorporation and business records
FBI background checks (federal documents follow a different route; ask us)
What a Texas apostille can and can't do
A Texas apostille only covers Texas documents: records issued by a Texas office, or documents notarized by a Texas notary. If your birth certificate is from Louisiana or your diploma is from a school in Ohio, it needs an apostille from that state, not from Austin.
Public records have to be originals or certified copies from the office that issued them. A photocopy of your marriage certificate, even a notarized one, isn't the same thing. And for countries outside the Hague Apostille Convention, the embassy may require extra steps after the Texas certificate. We'll tell you up front if your destination is one of them.
Apostille in Katy, TX
Katy covers a lot of ground. The city sits where Harris, Fort Bend and Waller counties meet, and the Katy name stretches across communities like Cinco Ranch, Cross Creek Ranch and Elyson, plus neighborhoods along I-10, the Grand Parkway and the Westpark Tollway. We serve all of it.
Where you order a certified record depends on where it was filed. For Fort Bend County records, the County Clerk has a Katy branch at 22333 Grand Corner Drive as well as its main office in Richmond. Harris County and Waller County records come from those counties' clerks, and a divorce decree comes from the district clerk in the county that granted it. Once you have the certified copy, hand it to us and we'll take it from there.
ZIP codes we serve
Why work with Lee's Mobile and Online Notary
Katy-based owners
Albert Lee and Aimani Lawless are commissioned and insured Texas notaries who live and work in the Katy area.
Notary, online and apostille
Mobile notary, Texas remote online notarization and apostilles under one roof, so one call covers the whole job.
Reachable any hour
Call or text (832) 741-3190, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Albert Lee
Owner · Commissioned Texas mobile and online notary, apostille agent
Aimani Lawless
Owner · Texas notary public, title packages and real estate documents via RON
Get a quote for your Katy apostille
Answer a few questions about your document and destination country. We check it will be accepted, then send one all-in price.
Common questions about apostille in Katy
Is there an apostille office in Katy?
No. Every Texas apostille is issued by the Texas Secretary of State's Authentications Unit in Austin. We're a Katy-based service that prepares your document and hand-files it there for you.
Can my document be apostilled if it was notarized somewhere else?
If a Texas notary notarized it, usually yes, as long as the notary certificate is complete and the commission was current. If it was notarized in another state, it needs that state's apostille.
What does the state charge for an apostille?
The Texas Secretary of State's request form lists a fee of $15 per document. Our service fee is separate; call us and we'll quote your job before you commit.
Can I use a copy of my birth certificate?
Not a regular photocopy. You need a certified copy from the issuing office, such as the Harris or Fort Bend County Clerk or Texas Vital Statistics, depending on where the record is held.
Do you notarize the document too?
Yes. We're commissioned Texas notaries, so we can notarize your power of attorney, affidavit or consent letter in Katy and then handle the apostille.
I'm already overseas. Can you still help?
Often, yes. We can notarize many documents online over a video call while you're abroad, then file for the apostille in Texas. Check first that the receiving country accepts online notarizations.
Does the apostille work for every country?
It's accepted in countries that belong to the Hague Apostille Convention. Others may require embassy steps after the Texas certificate. Tell us the destination and we'll check.
Nearby areas we serve
Have a document headed overseas?
Text us a photo and tell us the country. We'll tell you what it needs and get it filed with the Texas Secretary of State.