Massachusetts Vital Records & Divorce Apostille

YOUR REQUEST, CLEARLY PLANNED

Bring the records for your application together.

Start with these details

• Each record needed and its issuing office
• Available copies and eligibility details
• Destination and recipient deadline

Request Record Retrieval · Call (617) 230-6676

Already have your record and need it certified for use abroad? Start Apostille Request.

Identify the record → Confirm eligibility and scope → Coordinate retrieval and return

Preparation & service details

Need a Massachusetts record for use abroad? We can help retrieve eligible records and coordinate the apostille or authentication in one request. Tell us the document requested, issuing city or town, destination country and deadline.

Certified records and searches

• Birth certificates, including an available certified record after an approved amendment or delayed registration.
• Marriage certificates, including an available certified record after an approved correction or delayed registration.
• Death certificates, including an available corrected certified record.
• Negative Statements of Event for birth, marriage or death searches when RVRS cannot locate a responsive record within the search performed.

A Negative Statement is a search result. For marriage abroad, ask the recipient which names and years must be searched and whether it also wants your own single-status affidavit.

Special records: ask us to review first

Requests involving a pre-adoption birth record, a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth, or supporting amendment or parentage paperwork need individual review. Access, requester eligibility, available copy type and suitability for an apostille vary. Pre-adoption birth records are issued through a non-certified-record process; do not assume they can replace a certified birth certificate for international use.

We confirm whether retrieval assistance is available before accepting a special-record request. We do not promise that every record held by RVRS is publicly available or eligible for an apostille. Record corrections and delayed registrations must be completed through the appropriate issuing-office process before a resulting certificate can be retrieved.

Divorce records come from the court

RVRS can help locate divorce information, but certified divorce decrees and other court records must be requested from the appropriate court. Tell us the court and case details if known so we can review court-record retrieval separately.

One request, a clear next step

1. Tell us what the recipient has requested.
2. We review record availability, authorization, certification and delivery requirements.
3. Confirm the quote before we coordinate the agreed retrieval and apostille or authentication.

Translation requirements

If the recipient needs a translation, arrange it with your chosen translation provider. Share its requirements with us so the document-processing sequence can be reviewed.

Start your retrieval and apostille request

Start an apostille request

For retrieval only, use Request this service.

Call (617) 230-6676 or email Email Boston Notary Service.

Explore the full Massachusetts record guide

Massachusetts Birth Marriage And Death Certificate Apostille Retrieval Services

One international application, several Massachusetts records

A citizenship or family application may require birth and marriage certificates together with a certified divorce record. List each document and issuing office separately. A divorce record is a court record; it should not be treated as another certificate held by the same vital-records office. Record availability and access requirements can vary.

Coordinating records from Greater Boston

For records associated with Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, Newton or Quincy, include the relevant event location and dates. Tell us which certified copies you already hold and which need retrieval. We review the appropriate custodians and apostille preparation, then quote the agreed work and return delivery. Identify any recipient rule about certificate age before replacement records are ordered.

Build the request around each record’s issuing office

A birth or marriage record and a certified divorce document may be needed for the same foreign application, but they are not all obtained from one custodian. List the exact record, names, event or case date, and issuing office if known. We can then review the separate retrieval tasks as one organized request.

For citizenship, marriage and overseas estate applications

Ask the recipient whether each record needs its own apostille, whether a recent copy is required and whether more than one original set is needed. Include any divorce-absolute or court-certification wording exactly as provided. We do not choose the legal documents for your application.

Can the completed records travel together?

Tell us whether all documents must arrive at one address or different recipients need separate deliveries. Government release, certification and shipping can have different timelines. We review the proposed sequence and agreed return plan before quoting.

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Read client feedback about Boston Notary Service before arranging your request. Read our Google reviews.