How do you prepare a Massachusetts high school, college, university transcript for an apostille?
The transcript must be certified/signed by a school official (principal, registrar, counselor, etc.) The signature of the school official must be original.
Sample certification:
This is the original transcript issued to [ name of the student ].
[ Original signature of the school official ] [ Date ]
The signature of the school official must be notarized by a Massachusetts notary public.
Acknowledgment (individual capacity):
State of Massachusetts
County of _________
On this day of , 20 , before me, the undersigned notary public, (name of the school official who signed the document) personally appeared, proved to me through satisfactory evidence of identification, which were (description of ID) , to be the person whose name is signed on the preceeding or attached document, and acknowledged to me that he/she signed it voluntarily for its stated purpose.
(Signature of Notary Public)
Notary Public [ Official stamp/seal of the Notary stamp ]
Other acceptable notarial certificates:
Acknowledgment (representative capacity):
State of Massachusetts
County of _________
On this day of , 20 , before me, the undersigned notary public, (name of the school official who signed the document) personally appeared, proved to me through satisfactory evidence of identification, which were (description of ID) , to be the person whose name is signed on the preceeding or attached document, and acknowledged to me that he/she signed it voluntarily for its stated purpose, as (position of the school official, e.g. Principal, Registrar, etc.) for (name of the school) .
(Signature of Notary Public)
Notary Public [ Official stamp/seal of the Notary stamp ]
Witnessing signature:
State of Massachusetts
County of _________
On this day of , 20 , before me, the undersigned notary public, (name of the school official who signed the document) personally appeared, proved to me through satisfactory evidence of identification, which were (description of ID) , to be the person whose name is signed on the preceeding or attached document in my presence.
(Signature of Notary Public)
Notary Public [ Official stamp/seal of the Notary stamp ]
Jurat:
State of Massachusetts
County of _________
On this day of , 20 , before me, the undersigned notary public, (name of the school official who signed the document) personally appeared, proved to me through satisfactory evidence of identification, which were (description of ID) , to be the person whose name is signed on the preceeding or attached document in my presence and who swore or affirmed to me that the contents of the document are truthful and accurate to the best of his/her knowledge and belief.
(Signature of Notary Public)
Notary Public [ Official stamp/seal of the Notary stamp ]
Can a notary certify a copy of a transcript?
Yes (General Law - Part III, Title I, Chapter 222, Section 15).
However, please check with the receiving foreign school / agency if they will accept a notarized copy. Many foreign schools require an original transcript signed by the school principal or registrar.
In case a notarized copy is acceptable, the notary should use the following notarial certificate:
Copy certification:
State of Massachusetts
Parish of _________
On this day of , 20 , I certify that the (preceeding) (following) (attached) document is a true, exact, complete and unaltered copy made by me of (description of the document) , presented to me by .
(Signature of Notary Public)
Notary Public [ Official stamp/seal of the Notary stamp ]
