Massachusetts Apostille: What It Certifies and How to Request One

This certification step sits alongside the record requests described in Massachusetts vital records, certificates, and IDs. An apostille does not create a new record or replace one. It attaches a standardized certificate to a document a Massachusetts official already signed, so an authority in another country can confirm the signature is genuine.

What a Massachusetts apostille certifies

An apostille certifies that the signature on a document is genuine, that the signer held the office claimed, and that any seal or stamp on the document is authentic. It certifies nothing about the accuracy of the content. A notarized affidavit with an apostille attached is still just an affidavit; the apostille only confirms that a commissioned Massachusetts notary signed it.

The certificate exists because of the 1961 Hague Convention. Countries that joined the treaty accept an apostille in place of the older consular legalization chain. Countries that did not join still require the longer process, which the U.S. Department of State calls an authentication certificate rather than an apostille (Prepare Document for an Apostille Certificate). Identifying the destination country before submitting matters, because the Commissions Section prepares a different certificate depending on the answer.

Jurisdiction follows the signature, not the person carrying the document. Massachusetts certifies signatures of Massachusetts officials. A document signed by a federal official goes to the U.S. Department of State instead, and a document signed by an official of another state goes to that state.

Documents the Commissions Section can certify

Certification is available only for a document bearing the original signature of one of five officials: a Massachusetts notary public, a justice of the peace, a city or town clerk or assistant, a court clerk or assistant, or the Registrar of Vital Records. Photocopied signatures cannot be certified (Apostilles and Certification of Documents).

That rule shapes everything upstream. A document nobody on the list has signed is not ready for an apostille, no matter how official it looks. The usual fix is to have the document notarized, which brings a Massachusetts notary’s signature onto the page and makes the whole package certifiable.

Common categories the Commissions Section names include paperwork for international adoption, diplomas issued by an American college or university, and records or contracts a company needs recognized abroad. Other frequent requests involve powers of attorney, single-status affidavits for a marriage abroad, and certified copies of birth or marriage records for dual citizenship applications.

Preparing the underlying document

Birth, marriage, and death records

These must be certified copies, not photocopies of a certificate already sitting in a drawer. The state Registry of Vital Records and Statistics issues certified copies, and so does the clerk of the city or town where the event was recorded. As of 2026, the Registry charges $20 per copy in person, $32 per copy by mail, and $54 for a first copy ordered online or by phone, with most orders filled in two to three weeks (Order a birth, marriage, or death certificate).

Records of events from 1931 through 1935 were transferred to the Massachusetts State Archives, so a request for a record from those years goes to the Archives rather than the Registry (the Registry’s ordering page).

Notarized documents

A Massachusetts notarization carries formal requirements that a rushed signing often misses. Under M.G.L. c. 222, § 8, the notary prints or types their name directly below the signature, adds the commission expiration date in the words “My commission expires,” and applies an official notarial seal that is the exclusive property of that notary. A notarization missing the printed name, the expiration date, or the seal gives the Commissions Section nothing to match against its records.

Diplomas and school records

A diploma or transcript is not signed by anyone on the certifiable list. The standard route is a school registrar signing a statement about the document in front of a Massachusetts notary, so the notary’s signature becomes the one being certified.

Court records

A certified copy issued by the clerk of a Massachusetts court carries a clerk’s original signature and qualifies directly. A plain docket printout does not.

How to request the apostille

The Commissions Section takes requests at the counter in Boston, at two regional offices, and by mail. The same form and the same fee apply to all three routes.

1. Confirm the document carries a qualifying original signature

   Check that one of the five officials listed above signed the document by hand. If none did, arrange a notarization before going any further.

2. Complete the authentication form

   The form asks what is being certified and where it is going. Completing it in advance speeds up a counter visit and is expected with a mailed request (Apostille and Certification Authentication Form).

3. Choose a submission route

   Walk-in service is at the Commissions Section, Room 1719, One Ashburton Place, Boston. The Fall River and Springfield regional offices also process certifications, with document limits and turnaround that vary by location (Commissions Section).

4. Pay and arrange the return

   Counter requests are paid on the spot. A mailed request includes a check payable to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and a prepaid return envelope. For a courier return, the envelope carries a billing account number, because the office does not accept credit cards as prepayment for express mail service (apostille instructions).

Fees, turnaround, and pickup rules

As of 2026, a certification or apostille costs $6.00 per document. The fee is per document, so a packet of six notarized pages submitted as six separate documents carries six fees (Apostilles and Certification of Documents).

Counter service in Boston handles up to three documents per customer while the customer waits. A customer arriving with four or more documents picks them up after 3 p.m. the next business day, and anything dropped off after 4 p.m. is available the following business day. The office states that there are no exceptions to those cutoffs.

Mailed requests are processed within two to three weeks, measured from when the office receives the package rather than from the postmark. A missing destination country, a missing check, or a missing return envelope adds to that window, since the office holds the request until the file is complete (Commissions Section mailing instructions).

Documents going to countries outside the Hague Convention

For a destination that never joined the Convention, the Massachusetts certification is the first step rather than the last. The document then goes to the U.S. Department of State for an authentication certificate, and from there to the destination country’s embassy or consulate in the United States for consular legalization. Each stage carries its own fee and processing time.

Federal documents skip Massachusetts entirely. An FBI background check, a certificate of naturalization, a USDA health certificate, or an IRS residency certification is signed by a federal official, so the Department of State handles it directly using Form DS-4194 (U.S. Department of State authentication guidance). Notarizing one of those federal originals is counterproductive; the Department of State treats a notarized federal document as no longer valid for authentication.