Suffolk University Apostille Service for Diplomas, Transcripts and Law Degrees
Suffolk graduates from the Sawyer Business School, Suffolk Law and the College of Arts and Sciences take their degrees to Madrid, Riyadh, Shanghai, Lagos and Lima. Here is how a Suffolk document is prepared for authentication, what the Registrar’s Office does, what the Commonwealth does and how we finish the process for graduates on Tremont Street or overseas.
- Diplomas, transcripts, law degrees
- Apostille and legalization routes
- International alumni served by mail
- Trusted since 2010
What the Suffolk Registrar does, and where the process continues
Suffolk University’s Registrar’s Office, on Tremont Street across from Boston Common, has a dedicated apostille request process for both undergraduate and law school records. The Registrar prepares the official transcript, diploma copy or degree verification you request and has it notarized by a Massachusetts notary, so the document carries a signature the Commonwealth can verify. Undergraduate, graduate and law records each follow the Registrar’s published apostille instructions, and the law school keeps its own page for JD and LLM graduates.
The university’s part ends with a notarized document. Suffolk does not issue the apostille and cannot. That comes from the Commissions Section of the Secretary of the Commonwealth at One Ashburton Place, Room 1719, a five minute walk from the Suffolk campus, at $6 per document. Walk-ins are limited to three documents for same day service, and mailed requests take two to three weeks. For a student still in Boston that walk is easy. For an alum in Jeddah, Hanoi or Bogotá it is the reason to call us.
We coordinate the notarized document with the Registrar, take it to the Commonwealth, collect the apostille and deliver it wherever it needs to go. If the destination country is not in the Hague Convention, and a large share of Suffolk’s international alumni come from countries that are not, we run the longer legalization route through Washington and the embassy instead, and we tell you which one applies before you pay.
Suffolk notarizes. The Commonwealth apostilles. We pick the right route and finish it.
Which Suffolk documents can be apostilled
Sawyer Business School, Suffolk Law and the College of Arts and Sciences all go through the Registrar, but the document a foreign office wants depends on the purpose.
Official transcript
For graduate admissions abroad, credential evaluation and most employers. Order the notarized paper version through the Registrar’s apostille process. One apostille covers the whole transcript.
Diploma or notarized copy
Employers, licensing boards and immigration offices usually want the diploma. The Registrar can notarize a copy so the original stays with you. Confirm whether the destination accepts a copy.
JD and LLM credentials
Foreign bar admissions and international firms want the law diploma and transcript, and sometimes a certificate of good standing from the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers, a separate state document we add to the order.
MBA and Sawyer graduate degrees
Employers in the Gulf, Asia and Latin America often want both the diploma and transcript, each notarized and apostilled or legalized separately. Some ask for a course list to confirm the program’s length.
Degree verification letter
A Registrar letter confirming the degree, program and conferral date. Useful when the diploma is lost or a country wants a dated confirmation rather than the certificate.
FBI background check in the same package
Work visas and teaching contracts abroad usually require an apostilled or legalized FBI Identity History Summary. It is a federal document authenticated in Washington. See our FBI report apostille page.
Why Suffolk graduates ask about legalization more than anyone else
Suffolk has one of the more international student bodies in Boston, with large cohorts from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, China, Vietnam, Nigeria, Turkey and across Latin America, plus a campus in Madrid. Several of those countries are not in the Hague Apostille Convention, which means an apostille does nothing for them. Their documents go through legalization: certification by the Commonwealth, authentication by the U.S. Department of State, then legalization by the country’s embassy in Washington, and often a final stamp from the foreign ministry on arrival.
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE
None of these countries accept apostilles. Saudi Arabia also requires attestation by the Saudi Cultural Mission for academic documents before the embassy will legalize them, a step many graduates discover only after their first package is rejected. Kuwait and the UAE have their own cultural office reviews for degrees. We build these steps into the order and quote the full chain up front, because each step has its own fee and its own processing time.
China and Vietnam
China joined the Hague Convention in November 2023, so an apostille now replaces legalization for most Chinese employers and universities, usually with a certified Chinese translation. Vietnam is not a member, so Vietnamese documents still go through legalization at the Vietnamese embassy.
Spain and the Madrid campus
Students who split their program between Boston and Suffolk’s Madrid campus often need Boston issued records recognized in Spain for residency, further study or employment. Spain accepts the apostille and wants a sworn translation by a traductor jurado covering the document and the apostille. Our Spanish language guide for Spain covers the process in detail.
Nigeria, Turkey and Latin America
Nigeria, Turkey, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Peru and Chile all accept apostilles. Brazil and Mexico require translations by registered translators; Colombia often wants the translation apostilled too. Our apostille versus legalization guide lists the routes by country.
Apostille or legalization, at a glance
- Apostille: Spain, China, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Nigeria, Turkey, India, most of Europe. One state step, about five business days with us.
- Legalization: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, Vietnam, Egypt, Jordan and other non Hague countries. State, federal and embassy steps, several weeks.
- Both routes start with the same notarized document from the Registrar.
Suffolk students and alumni who use this service
International graduates returning home
The best time to authenticate a Suffolk degree is before you leave Boston. The Registrar is a short walk from the Commonwealth’s office, and our Tewksbury office is 30 minutes north. Graduates who wait until they are home in Riyadh or Ho Chi Minh City can still use us by mail, but every step takes longer from abroad.
Law graduates seeking foreign bar admission
LLM graduates returning to practice in their home country, and JD graduates joining firms in London, Dubai or Hong Kong, need the law diploma, the transcript and often a Massachusetts bar good standing certificate, each authenticated separately and assembled in the order the bar expects.
Business graduates joining multinationals
Sawyer MBA and MSF graduates taking positions with banks, consultancies and family businesses abroad send us the employer’s HR checklist. We map each item to a document and a route and return a plan the same day.
Downtown Boston professionals
Suffolk’s evening and part time programs graduate working professionals across the city. Many later need credentials apostilled for a transfer abroad or a spouse’s visa, alongside marriage certificates and birth certificates we handle in the same order.
Why Suffolk documents come back from the Commonwealth or the consulate
Academic apostilles fail for a short list of reasons, and almost all of them are avoidable before the document leaves the Registrar on Tremont Street. We check every one of these before we walk a document into One Ashburton Place.
The name does not match the passport
The most common rejection abroad has nothing to do with the apostille. A diploma issued to a maiden name, a middle name dropped on the transcript, or a transliteration that differs from the passport spelling will stop a visa or licensing file cold. Foreign offices compare the credential to the passport character by character. If your name has changed since graduation, an apostilled marriage certificate or court order bridges the gap, and we add it to the order. If the university’s records use a different spelling, ask the Registrar about a name change on the record before ordering.
The notarial certificate is incomplete
The Commonwealth checks the notary’s signature, printed name and commission expiration against its own records. A notarization with a missing expiration date, an expired commission or a name that differs from the commission record is refused. Foreign offices read the same block. A Spanish registry or an Italian consulate will sometimes refuse a document because the notarial certificate lacks an element, even when the apostille is valid. Our notarization requirements guide lists what the certificate must show.
The wrong document, or an electronic one
An employer that asked for the diploma will not accept the transcript, and a registry that wants a certified copy will not accept a letter. Electronic transcripts and PDF diplomas cannot be apostilled at all, because the Commonwealth authenticates an original signature on paper. Order the paper, notarized version and confirm which document the destination wants before you order.
Translation done before the apostille
Countries that require a certified translation almost always want the translation to include the apostille itself. A translation produced before the apostille is attached is incomplete and gets refused. We coordinate translations after the apostille, so the translator sees the whole document.
Apostille sent to a country that needs legalization
An apostille is worthless in a non Hague country. Graduates headed to the Gulf, Vietnam, Egypt or Jordan need legalization through the U.S. Department of State and the embassy. We confirm the route before the first fee is paid.
Pre-flight check for Suffolk credentials
- Name
- Matches the passport exactly, or a name change document is included
- Document
- The one the destination asked for: diploma, transcript or letter
- Format
- Paper, with an original notarized signature
- Notary block
- Signature, printed name, commission expiration, seal
- Route
- Apostille for Hague countries, legalization for the rest
- Translation
- After the apostille, covering the apostille
Send us a photo of a Suffolk transcript and the destination office’s request before you order anything from the Registrar on Tremont Street. Ten minutes of review at that stage saves a second round through the university and the Commonwealth.
Your Suffolk apostille in five steps
Tell us the document and the country
We confirm whether the destination takes an apostille or legalization, which document it wants and whether a translation is required.
Request the notarized document from the Registrar
Follow the Registrar’s apostille request steps for undergraduate, graduate or law records, or ask us to guide you through them.
Send the notarized document to us
Mail it to Tewksbury or drop it off. We check the notarial certificate before it moves.
We authenticate it
Apostille at One Ashburton Place, or the full legalization chain through Washington and the embassy for non Hague countries. Federal documents run in parallel.
You receive the finished package
Tracked, insured delivery to you or directly to the employer, university, bar or lawyer abroad, with certified translations if required.
What a Suffolk apostille costs
Suffolk charges its transcript and document fees. The Commonwealth charges $6 per apostille. Our service fee starts at $149.95 per state document and covers review, the trip to the Commonwealth, courier handling and tracking. Federal documents start at $199.95. Legalization for non Hague countries is quoted step by step, because each government office charges its own fee.
Every quote is itemized before you pay, and a transcript plus diploma go on one order with one tracking number. See the full pricing page and the college diploma apostille page for the general academic process.
Get an itemized quoteFrequently asked questions
Does Suffolk University issue apostilles?
No. The Registrar’s Office prepares and notarizes the official document through its apostille request process. The apostille itself is issued by the Secretary of the Commonwealth at One Ashburton Place for $6 per document.
My degree is going to Saudi Arabia. Do I need an apostille?
No. Saudi Arabia is not in the Hague Convention. Your documents need legalization: Massachusetts certification, U.S. Department of State authentication, Saudi Cultural Mission attestation for academic records, then the Saudi embassy. We handle the whole chain and quote it up front.
Does China accept an apostille on a Suffolk degree?
Yes, since November 2023. Most Chinese employers and universities now accept an apostilled diploma and transcript with a certified Chinese translation instead of consular legalization.
Can I keep my original diploma?
Usually. The Registrar can notarize a copy, and most employers and universities accept an apostilled notarized copy. Some licensing boards and bars want the original, so we confirm with the destination first.
I already left the United States. Can you do this without me?
Yes. Request the notarized document from the Registrar and have it sent to our office, or authorize us to coordinate it. We obtain the apostille or legalization and ship the finished package to you anywhere. Our guide for clients abroad explains the steps.
How long does it take?
About five business days for the state apostille once the notarized document reaches us, plus the Registrar’s processing time. Legalization for Gulf countries and Vietnam takes several weeks because of the federal and embassy steps. Rush handling is available.
Can you apostille a Massachusetts bar certificate with my law degree?
Yes. A certificate of good standing from the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers is a state document and can be apostilled in the same order as the diploma and transcript.
Do you also handle Boston University, Northeastern and Emerson documents?
Yes. Each university has its own notarization process, and the state and federal steps are the same. Start with our college diploma apostille page.
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Your Suffolk degree, recognized abroad
Tell us the document and the destination. We confirm the route, coordinate the notarization and deliver the finished set on deadline.
