Birth Certificates: How to Request, Who Qualifies, and Where to Use

To get a certified copy of your birth certificate, contact the vital records office in the state or territory where you were born, submit a signed application with a photocopy of your government-issued photo ID, and pay a fee that typically runs between $10 and $35. Ask specifically for the long-form certificate. You can usually apply by mail, online, or in person, and in-person requests are the fastest when the office is nearby.

Ask for the Long-Form Certificate

Birth certificates come in two versions, and only one of them is reliably accepted for federal purposes. The long-form certificate is a full copy of the original record filed at birth. It lists your name, date and place of birth, parents’ full names, the hospital or facility, the attending physician or midwife, and the registrar’s signature and seal. The short-form certificate, sometimes called an abstract or computer extract, is a condensed version that may show only your name, date of birth, and place of birth.

That difference matters at the passport office. The State Department requires that the certificate list your parents’ full names, carry the registrar’s signature, show a filing date within one year of birth, and bear an official seal or stamp from the issuing city, county, or state.¹ Many short-form certificates lack parent names or the registrar’s signature and get rejected. The long form costs the same. Order it the first time and you won’t be reordering later.

What to Gather Before You Apply

The application itself is short, but you’ll need a few things in front of you before you start:

The full legal name on the original record, the exact date of birth, and the city and county where the birth occurred.
Both parents’ full names as they appear on the record, including the birth parent’s maiden name.
A government-issued photo ID: a driver’s license, U.S. passport, or military ID card. Bring the original for in-person requests or include a photocopy for mail-in applications.
Payment. Fees for a single certified copy typically run from about $10 to $35 depending on the jurisdiction. Most offices accept checks, money orders, and credit cards. Some charge a search fee even if no record is found.

If you’ve lost all your identification, most states offer workarounds. A sworn statement of identity or a notarized letter paired with a photocopy of a parent’s ID can sometimes substitute for your own photo ID.² If even that’s out of reach, getting a replacement driver’s license first is often the easier path, since motor vehicle offices have their own identity verification procedures.

Three Ways to Submit Your Request

You have three basic options. The right one depends on how quickly you need the certificate and how close you live to the issuing office.

By Mail

Put the signed application, your fee, and a photocopy of your ID in an envelope addressed to the vital records office in the state where you were born. Certified mail with a return receipt gives you a paper trail confirming the office received your package. Many jurisdictions want the application signed under penalty of perjury, and some ask that it be notarized. Standard processing runs anywhere from two to eight weeks depending on the office’s backlog, and the certificate arrives by first-class mail unless you pay extra for overnight shipping.

Online

Most state vital records offices now offer online ordering, either through their own portals or through authorized third-party vendors that partner with government agencies. These platforms walk you through the application, collect payment electronically, and send confirmation immediately. The government agency still prints and mails the physical certificate, so online ordering doesn’t always speed up delivery, but it does eliminate the wait for your envelope to arrive at the office. Third-party vendors typically add a service fee on top of the state’s base price.

In Person

Walking into a local vital records office is the fastest route when it’s available. Bring your completed application, your original photo ID, and payment. Many offices can print a certified copy the same day after verifying your identity and locating the record. Not every county office handles birth certificates directly, so call ahead to confirm hours and whether you need an appointment.

Expedited processing is available in most jurisdictions for an additional fee, typically under $25. It can cut a multi-week mail wait down to a few business days. You’ll usually pay separately for expedited shipping on top of the processing surcharge.

Who Can Actually Request One

Birth records are confidential, not public. Only specific people can legally order a certified copy:

The person named on the certificate once they’ve reached the age of majority, which is 18 in most states.
A parent listed on the record can request copies for their child at any age.
A legal guardian with current court-certified guardianship papers bearing the court’s official seal.
An attorney acting on behalf of an eligible person, typically by submitting a signed affidavit or letter of representation alongside the application.
An executor or administrator of an estate who produces letters testamentary or an original court order showing their legal authority.

Spouses, siblings, and adult children of a deceased person can sometimes request the certificate as well, though this varies by jurisdiction and often requires documentation of the death and the family relationship.

Where You’ll Need the Certificate

A certified birth certificate isn’t a document you use once and file away. It shows up at nearly every major administrative milestone, which is why it’s worth keeping at least one certified copy on hand.

Passports

The State Department requires a certified birth certificate as primary evidence of U.S. citizenship when you apply for a passport, with the parent names, registrar’s signature, filing date, and official seal described above.¹ A photocopy won’t work, and neither will an electronic or mobile birth certificate. You submit the original certified copy along with a separate photocopy on standard white paper.

REAL ID

Since May 2025, federal agencies including TSA require a REAL ID-compliant driver’s license or identification card for boarding domestic commercial flights and entering federal facilities.³ To get a REAL ID from your state motor vehicle department, you have to present proof of identity, and a U.S. birth certificate is the most common document used for that purpose.⁴ A U.S. passport also works. If you don’t have one, you’ll need that birth certificate.

Social Security Card

The Social Security Administration requires a birth certificate when you apply for an original Social Security number. For U.S.-born applicants, the SSA verifies the birth record directly with the issuing office. If no birth certificate exists, the SSA may accept a religious record made before age five, a U.S. hospital record of birth, or a U.S. passport.⁵

Employment Verification (Form I-9)

When you start a new job, your employer must verify your identity and work authorization on Form I-9. A certified birth certificate bearing an official seal qualifies as a List C document, which establishes employment authorization.⁶ You’ll still need a separate List B document like a driver’s license to prove your identity, since a birth certificate alone doesn’t carry your photo. For millions of workers without a passport, the birth certificate and driver’s license combination is the standard way to complete I-9 paperwork.

Schools and Benefits

Public schools require a birth certificate to verify a child’s age and establish residency. Government benefit programs that depend on age or family status also require certified copies with a raised seal. A photocopy in your filing cabinet won’t satisfy these requirements. The document needs to come directly from the registrar’s office with the proper security features.

If No Birth Certificate Exists

Some people discover their birth was never officially registered. This happens more often than you’d expect with home births, births in rural areas decades ago, or records lost to fires or natural disasters. Others find that their state’s vital records office has nothing on file. The situation is stressful but not hopeless.

Start by requesting a formal Letter of No Record from the vital records office in the state where you were born. That letter confirms no birth certificate is on file, and it’s itself a required document for several alternative pathways. For passport purposes, the State Department accepts the Letter of No Record combined with early documentary evidence from the first five years of your life, such as a baptismal certificate, a hospital birth record, early school records, a census record, or a doctor’s record of postnatal care.¹ If you can produce only one such document, you can supplement it with Form DS-10, a birth affidavit signed by someone with personal knowledge of your birth.

Federal regulations confirm that acceptable secondary evidence includes hospital birth certificates, baptismal certificates, medical and school records, and affidavits from people who know the circumstances of the birth.⁷ The SSA has similar alternatives and may accept a religious record made before age five or a hospital birth record when no state-issued certificate exists.⁵

You can also pursue a delayed registration of birth through your state’s vital records office, which creates an official birth record after the fact. This requires an application with supporting evidence, the same kinds of early documents mentioned above, and the resulting delayed certificate will note that it was filed late. That notation doesn’t diminish its legal validity, but the process takes time and the evidentiary requirements are strict. Gather whatever early records you can find before contacting the vital records office. Showing up empty-handed means the process stalls before it begins.

If You Were Born Outside the United States

If you were born abroad to at least one U.S. citizen parent, you don’t have a U.S. birth certificate to request. Your parents may have reported the birth to a U.S. embassy or consulate, which would have issued a Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA, Form FS-240). The State Department notes that a CRBA is not technically a birth certificate, but it documents that you were a U.S. citizen at birth and serves the same practical purpose for most domestic transactions.²

To replace a lost or damaged CRBA, submit a notarized Form DS-5542 along with a photocopy of your valid photo ID and a $50 fee by check or money order payable to the U.S. Department of State. Processing takes four to eight weeks. If your CRBA was originally issued before November 1990, expect 14 to 16 weeks, because the National Archives handles those older records manually. Expedited shipping within the U.S. is available for an additional $22.05.⁸

1
U.S. Department of State. Get Citizenship Evidence for a U.S. Passport
2
USAGov. How to Get a Certified Copy of a U.S. Birth Certificate
3
TSA. TSA Publishes Final Rule on REAL ID Enforcement Beginning May 7, 2025
4
USAGov. Get a REAL ID
5
Social Security Administration. Learn What Documents You Need for a Social Security Card
6
USCIS. Form I-9 Acceptable Documents
7
eCFR. Subpart C – Evidence of US Citizenship or Nationality
8
U.S. Department of State. Replace or Amend a Consular Report of Birth Abroad