How To Get an Apostille in Massachusetts | Easy Guide & Tips
Updated: 2 days ago
Massachusetts apostille: start with the document and destination
To get an apostille for an eligible Massachusetts document, confirm the destination, prepare the required certified record or original signature, and submit it through the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth. Federal records, including FBI reports, follow a separate route. This guide explains the preparation steps and when Boston Notary Service can help with retrieval, notarization, submission coordination and return delivery.
How to get a Massachusetts apostille: five steps
Confirm the recipient’s instructions. Obtain the document names, destination country, required language and arrival deadline before ordering records.
Identify the issuing authority. Separate Massachusetts records from documents issued by another state or a federal agency.
Prepare the correct document. Obtain the official certified record or required original signature. For school records, ask the registrar about certification and release. Add notarization only when the document requires it.
Choose how to submit. For eligible Massachusetts documents, follow the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s current request-form and submission instructions, or ask Boston Notary Service to coordinate the agreed work.
Arrange return delivery. Confirm the recipient address, delivery method and tracking arrangements, allowing time for preparation, government handling and transit.
Apostille or authentication: which one applies?
An apostille is used for a public document going to a destination covered by the Hague Apostille Convention. If the destination is outside that process, the document may need an authentication certificate and additional consular or embassy legalization. The receiving authority’s current instructions matter; an apostille confirms the origin of an official signature or seal, not the document’s contents or the truth of what it says.
Massachusetts documents: identify the correct route
Massachusetts apostilles and certifications are issued by the Secretary of the Commonwealth. The office certifies eligible original signatures from Massachusetts notaries, justices of the peace, city or town clerks, court clerks, and registrars of vital records. Photocopied signatures cannot be certified. The state currently lists a $6 fee per document; service, retrieval, shipping, and other charges are separate and should be quoted before work begins.
• Birth, marriage, and death records: use an eligible certified record from the proper Massachusetts custodian. A scan or ordinary photocopy is not a substitute for the required record.
• Court and probate records: request the court’s properly certified copy and confirm the clerk’s certification is suitable for the destination.
• Diplomas, transcripts, and school records: ask the registrar what certification or notarized statement the school can provide. Requirements vary by institution and destination.
• Powers of attorney, affidavits, and other privately signed papers: confirm the receiving office’s signing instructions first. If notarization is required, the notarial certificate and signature must meet Massachusetts requirements.
• Business records: certificates, filings, incumbency records, and commercial documents can follow different routes depending on the issuer and how the document was prepared.
• State or local police records and CORI: confirm the issuing agency, whether a certified original is available, and whether the recipient specifically requests state or federal records.
Federal records take a different path
FBI background checks and federal court records are federal documents; they do not become Massachusetts records because the requester lives here. U.S. Department of State examples also include certain USDA, HHS, USCIS, IRS, USPTO, EPA, Social Security Administration, and Office of Personnel Management documents. Federal preparation and submission requirements differ from the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth route. Do not notarize an original federal record; confirm the Department of State’s current instructions for your document and destination.
Puerto Rico: clarify which office issued the document
Puerto Rico’s Department of State issues apostilles for documents issued in Puerto Rico for use abroad when the destination follows the Hague Convention, and a certification for destinations outside that Convention. Its official list includes Puerto Rico vital records, academic records, police-record certificates, powers, and deeds. A Massachusetts record intended for a recipient in Puerto Rico is a different situation: ask that agency in writing whether it requires any authentication or other certification instead of assuming a foreign-country apostille applies.
Before you send anything, gather these details
Document type and issuing state, court, school or federal agency.
Destination country or territory and the receiving office’s written instructions.
Number of documents and whether the original or official certified copy is available.
Arrival deadline, translation requirements and preferred return-delivery method.
Any apostille, authentication, notarization or certification already attached.
How Boston Notary Service helps
Send the document type, issuing authority, destination, quantity, and deadline through the request form. We review the information, identify questions to resolve, and provide a written scope and quote before handling originals. If the packet includes both Massachusetts and federal records, we separate the routes and explain what is included in the proposed coordination. We do not promise that an issuing office, embassy, or foreign recipient will accept a document or complete processing by a specific date.
Ready to have your route reviewed? Request a quote and include the receiving institution’s instructions. For official rules, check the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, the U.S. Department of State for federal records, and the Puerto Rico Department of State when the document was issued there.
Service options for this guide
Official instructions and help with your documents
Need help preparing the packet? Call Boston Notary Service at (617) 230-6676 or email info@bostonnotaryservice.us. Tell us the document, issuing authority, destination and deadline so we can confirm the next steps and quote.
Reviewed and updated October 22, 2026 by Boston Notary Service.
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