Texas Single Status Affidavit Apostille Guide

A single status affidavit apostille is the international certification that proves your sworn, notarized statement that you are free to marry will be accepted abroad. This guide walks you through doing it yourself in Texas, so you pay only the state apostille fee — Standard apostille/authentication: $15 per document.

A single status affidavit is a sworn statement, signed under penalty of perjury, declaring your current marital status — that you are single, widowed, or divorced — and that you are legally free to marry. It is a document you draft yourself, not a government-issued vital record like a birth or marriage certificate. It is your own sworn declaration, not official government proof of fact, because no agency keeps a registry of who is single. An apostille only makes the document acceptable in countries that belong to the Hague Apostille Convention; if your destination is not a member of that convention, the affidavit needs consular legalization instead of an apostille, so confirm your country's status before you start.

You typically need a single status affidavit when an authority outside the United States asks for written proof that you are unmarried and eligible to wed or settle. Common situations include:

• Marriage abroad (proof you are free to marry)
• Residency / partnership / family-based visas
• Other consular matters — name change, adoption, or inheritance where civil status is relevant

The destination country sets the exact requirement, so always confirm with the foreign authority or consulate which form of proof they will accept before you draft and notarize anything.

You draft the affidavit yourself — this is a practical checklist, not legal advice. Every single status affidavit should clearly contain:

• Your full legal name, spelled exactly as it appears in your passport.
• Your date and place of birth.
• Your current address.
• A clear statement of your current marital status — single, widowed, or divorced.
• A statement that you are legally free to marry.
• If you are divorced or widowed, a brief note that any prior marriage was legally dissolved, with the year and the jurisdiction.
• The destination country (and city, if you know it) named in the body of the affidavit.
• The date, and a signature line to be signed before a notary.

Leave enough blank space below your signature for the notarial certificate — an acknowledgment or jurat — and the notary's stamp. The sworn wording should affirm that the statement is "true and correct under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of Texas." Some consulates provide their own required affidavit template or wording; when they do, follow it exactly rather than using your own draft.

1. 1

   Bring the unsigned affidavit and a valid photo ID to a notary commissioned in this state.

2. 2

   Sign in the notary's presence (or swear/affirm if a jurat is used).

3. 3

   The notary verifies your identity, completes the acknowledgment or jurat certificate, signs, and affixes an official seal.

Your affidavit should affirm that the statements are "true and correct under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of Texas."

Some applicants use an official no-record document instead of, or alongside, a personal affidavit. Rather than swearing to your own status, you obtain a government record showing no marriage is on file — for example, a county clerk's Letter of No Record from the county where you live, or a certificate or statewide search through the state's vital-records office. In Texas, that office is the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS), Vital Statistics Section (VSS), which you order from directly under its current procedures.

The destination country decides which proof it will accept — your sworn affidavit, an official no-record letter, or both. Keep in mind that an official no-record document is itself a public record, so it may need its own apostille through the same authentication process described above before it is valid abroad.

As of 2026-02-24, the Texas Secretary of State advises: "Mailed Authentication Requests can take up to twenty-five (25) business days to process your request from the day of receipt. Current processing time may exceed this timeframe due to high demand." Queue times drift over time, so check the official request page for the current estimate before you mail, and build in extra time for postal delivery in both directions.

Many destination countries require a certified translation of both your affidavit and the apostille attached to it before they will accept the document. The receiving country or authority sets that requirement — including who may translate it and whether the translation needs its own certification — so confirm exactly what is expected before you submit. Arranging the translation after the apostille is issued ensures the apostille itself is included in the translated set.