How to Order a Certified Birth Certificate

A passport application, a REAL ID appointment, a marriage license or a school enrollment packet comes back asking for a certified copy of a birth certificate, and the results fill with services charging several times the state fee. There is no national birth certificate office, which is why the search goes wrong.

Start with the state or territory where the birth happened

The CDC's Where to Write for Vital Records application guidelines state that a certificate of every birth is on file in the locality where the event occurred, that the federal government does not maintain files or indexes of these records, and that they sit permanently in a state vital statistics office or a local one. To obtain a certified copy, the page says to write or go to the vital statistics office in the state or area where the event occurred. The Where to Write for Vital Records directory lists every state and territory.

Open the directory entry for that state

Each entry gives the office address, the fee listed for a birth record, a phone number and the state's own website. The guidelines page notes that all fees are subject to change, which is why a verification number is published for each state.

Check what that state calls a certified copy

Requirements are set state by state. The California entry, as of September 2026, says a certified copy requires the sworn statement included with the application form, signed under penalty of perjury and notarized, and that a request without one is returned unprocessed. A certified informational copy, it says, needs no notarized statement.

Send the application, identification and fee together

The guidelines page lists what a request should give: the full name on the record, sex, parents' names including the mother's maiden name, the date and place of birth, the purpose the copy is needed for, the requester's relationship to the person on the record, and a daytime telephone number. It says to pay by check or money order made out to the office named in the entry, and not to send cash.

Order through the state office or the route it names

USAGov's page on getting a certified copy of a birth certificate says to contact the birth state or territory's vital records office to learn how to order online, by mail or in person, how to get a copy fast, and the cost of each certified copy. The route printed on the state's own entry is the one to use: the Texas entry sends internet orders through Texas.gov. Anything else is a reseller adding a markup.

If the birth was outside the United States. USAGov says a consular report of birth abroad serves the same purpose as a US birth certificate. The State Department page on replacing or amending a CRBA says a replacement can be requested by the person named on the record if aged 18 or older, a parent of a child under 18, an authorized government agency, or someone with written authorization from that person.

Sources. Application guidelines, state and territory directory, California entry, Texas entry, USAGov certified copy page, Replace or Amend a Consular Report of Birth Abroad.