Massachusetts Birth Certificate
Apostille for OCI
A Massachusetts birth certificate is apostilled by Secretary of the Commonwealth, Commissions Section in Boston — the state that issued it, never Washington DC and never the state you live in now. The fee is$6 per document and the typical turnaround is same-day counter service. Since 30 December 2024 this apostille is mandatory on any US birth certificate used in an OCI application.
Our price: from $99 all-in delivered within the USA, or $149 all-in couriered to India — government fee, handling and shipping in one flat number, confirmed before you ship anything.
Get a Massachusetts QuoteThe Massachusetts Route
| Apostille authority | Secretary of the Commonwealth, Commissions Section, Boston |
| Government fee | $6 per document |
| Typical turnaround | Same-day counter service |
| County pre-authentication | No — copies from either the city/town clerk or state vital records are accepted |
| Certified copy comes from | Massachusetts Registry of Vital Records and Statistics in Boston, or the clerk of the city or town where the birth took place. |
| Apostille format for OCI | Physical paper apostille — VFS Global does not accept e-apostilles |
Fee and turnaround verified mid-2026 — state fees and processing times change, so we reconfirm on the issuing office's official website before quoting.
The Massachusetts Quirk Worth Knowing
Massachusetts accepts certified copies from either the city or town clerk of the place of birth or the state Registry, which gives you two routes to the certificate — useful when one office is backed up. At $6 per document with same-day counter service in Boston, Massachusetts is one of the smoother states in this table.
Greater Boston's universities and biotech and tech employers have produced two decades of Indian-origin families with US-born children, and those children are now the OCI applicants. Massachusetts files tend to move quickly once the certified copy is in hand.
How We Handle a Massachusetts File From India
Confirm the certificate
Send photos on WhatsApp. We check it is the certified long form with the registrar's signature and seal — the version OCI processing needs — before anything moves.
Certified copy to our US address
Massachusetts Registry of Vital Records and Statistics in Boston, or the clerk of the city or town where the birth took place. Where you do not already hold a certified copy, we guide the order so it ships directly to our US processing address.
Submission to Boston
We submit to Secretary of the Commonwealth, Commissions Section by tracked mail, with India named as the destination country and the physical paper apostille explicitly requested rather than an e-apostille. Add a mailing leg each way to the office turnaround above when you plan your dates.
Apostilled original to India
You get a photo of the attached apostille before dispatch, then the original ships to your Indian address with tracking. At VFS you hand in a self-attested photocopy and keep the original.
The full seven-step process, the myths that cause rejections, and the line-item cost breakdown live on the mainOCI birth certificate apostille guide.
Massachusetts — Common Questions
Town clerk copy or state Registry copy — which one works?
What does Massachusetts charge for the apostille?
Do we need the long-form certificate?
Born in a Different State?
The apostille always comes from the issuing state. If the certificate says a different state, start there:
Massachusetts Birth Certificate?
We Know That Counter.
Send us your OCI appointment date and we will tell you honestly whether a Massachusetts file makes it — then quote one flat, all-inclusive price.
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