Apostille Service in Gloucester, MA

An apostille is a certificate that authenticates a public document so another country accepts it as genuine. More than 120 countries in the Hague Apostille Convention recognize it. Gloucester residents need an apostille for Italian and Portuguese citizenship by descent, marriage abroad, work and study visas and estate or inheritance matters that cross a border.

Massachusetts apostilles are issued by the Secretary of the Commonwealth, Commissions Section, at One Ashburton Place, Room 1719, Boston. Federal documents such as FBI background checks are authenticated by the US Department of State in Washington, DC. We route your document to the correct office so you do not have to track down two different systems.

Certified birth, marriage and death certificates for Gloucester are issued by the Gloucester City Clerk at Gloucester City Hall. The document must be a certified copy from that office before the Commonwealth will apostille it. A hospital certificate or a photocopy does not qualify. If you are unsure what you have, send us a photo and we will confirm it before you take any steps.

Italian citizenship by descent typically requires apostilled birth certificates, marriage certificates and death certificates for every generation between you and your Italian-born ancestor. The Italian consulate reviews the full chain and will reject the file if any document is missing or incorrectly certified. We help you identify every document in the chain and authenticate each one correctly.

Portuguese citizenship applications also require apostilled vital records, and the specific documents depend on the basis for your claim. Birth certificates, marriage records and sometimes proof of residence are common requirements. We authenticate those documents and help you confirm what the Portuguese consulate requires before you submit the file.

State documents are usually complete in about five business days once we receive them. Federal authentication takes longer because the document travels to Washington, DC. When you have a firm deadline, tell us and we will let you know what express handling options are available.

No. Most Gloucester clients use our secure mail-in service. You order online, ship the document to our Tewksbury office and we return the finished apostille by tracked mail or courier. In-person drop-off in Tewksbury is available if you prefer it, but most clients on Cape Ann find the mail service more convenient.

The Commonwealth charges $6 per document. Our state document service starts at $149.95 and federal authentication starts at $199.95. Every quote is itemized so you see the government fee and the service fee separately before you approve anything.

FBI identity history reports are federal documents authenticated by the US Department of State, not by Massachusetts. We handle that federal routing and return the apostilled report to you. If your citizenship file requires both state and federal documents, we process them together and coordinate the timing.

Yes. An apostille is attached to a single document. A birth certificate and a marriage certificate each receive a separate apostille and a separate state fee. When you send several documents at once, we process them together and itemize each one on your quote.

Yes. Documents bound for non-Hague countries require embassy or consular legalization instead of an apostille. That process has additional steps and takes longer. Tell us the destination country and we will explain exactly what it requires and how long it takes.

Yes. Italy, Portugal and many other countries require an apostilled document to arrive with a certified translation into the local language. We arrange certified translations and coordinate the timing so the translation and the apostille are ready together. Tell us the target language when you place the order.

Complete the online application form or call (978) 424-4629. Tell us the document and the destination country, and we will confirm the steps, the price and the timeline before anything moves.