To order a birth certificate in Mississippi, submit Form 522 with a copy of your photo ID and payment to Mississippi Vital Records. A certified copy costs $17 for the first copy and $6 for each additional copy of the same record ordered at the same time.1Mississippi State Department of Health. Birth Certificate Application Instructions You can order by mail, in person at the Vital Records office in Ridgeland, or online through VitalChek, which adds its own service fee on top of the state charge.
Who Can Order a Certified Copy
Mississippi limits birth certificates to people the law considers to have a “legitimate and tangible interest” in the record.2Justia. Mississippi Code 41-57-2 – Certain Persons Not Entitled to Access to Records In practice, that covers:
- The person named on the certificate, if they are of legal age
- A parent listed on the record, if parental rights have not been terminated
- A spouse, sibling, grandparent, adult child, or grandchild, with proof of the relationship
- A legal guardian or authorized representative with documentation of that authority
If you are applying on behalf of someone else, plan to include documents that show your connection to the person on the record. Applications missing proof of eligibility or valid ID come back unprocessed.3Mississippi State Department of Health. Questions and Answers About Vital Records
What to Gather Before You Apply
Every request uses the Application for Certified Mississippi Birth Certificate, Form 522, which you can download as a PDF from the Mississippi State Department of Health website.4Mississippi State Department of Health. Application for Certified Mississippi Birth Certificate (Form No. 522) Print it, fill in every field, and sign it.
The form asks for the full name as it appeared at birth, the date of birth, the place of birth including city and county, both parents’ full names (mother’s maiden name included), and your reason for requesting the certificate.
Photo ID
You must include a photocopy of a valid government-issued photo ID. Send a photocopy, not the original. Accepted forms include:1Mississippi State Department of Health. Birth Certificate Application Instructions
- Driver’s license with photo
- State-issued photo ID
- U.S. passport
- U.S. military ID
- Employment or school/university ID
- Tribal ID
- Alien registration or permanent residence card
- Temporary resident card
If You Don’t Have Photo ID
You have two options. An immediate family member can order the certificate using their own photo ID as the applicant. Or you can submit two forms of non-photo identification from the following list:3Mississippi State Department of Health. Questions and Answers About Vital Records
- Social Security card
- Utility bill showing your address
- Medicaid card
- SNAP/EBT card showing your address
- Work identification
- Veteran Universal Access ID card
How to Submit Your Request
By Mail
Send the signed Form 522, a photocopy of your ID, and payment to:4Mississippi State Department of Health. Application for Certified Mississippi Birth Certificate (Form No. 522)
Mississippi Vital Records
P.O. Box 1700
Jackson, MS 39215-1700
Payment must be a bank cashier’s check or a bank or postal money order, made payable to Mississippi Vital Records. Cash and personal checks are not accepted.1Mississippi State Department of Health. Birth Certificate Application Instructions Mail requests are processed in the order received and returned by regular U.S. mail, generally within 7 to 10 business days after the office receives them. If you want faster return delivery, include a prepaid courier envelope with your paperwork.
In Person
Walk-in requests are handled at 222 Marketridge Drive, Ridgeland, MS 39157, Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., closed on state holidays.3Mississippi State Department of Health. Questions and Answers About Vital Records Bring your completed application, valid photo ID, and payment. If the record is readily available, you can leave with your certificate the same day. If the office has to search for the record, expect a longer wait.
Online or by Phone
VitalChek is the private vendor authorized to process online and phone orders for Mississippi Vital Records. It accepts American Express, Discover, MasterCard, and Visa, and offers expedited UPS delivery. Online orders typically arrive in 3 to 5 business days. VitalChek charges a service fee on top of the $17 state fee, so if you want to keep the cost down, order by mail or in person.5Mississippi State Department of Health. Order Birth, Death or Marriage Records Online or by Phone
Ordering Multiple Copies
The $6 additional-copy rate only applies when you request the extra copies at the same time as the first. If you know you’ll need certificates for a passport, school enrollment, Social Security, and a driver’s license, order them together in a single application. Coming back later means paying $17 for each first copy all over again.
One dollar from each certificate fee goes to the Mississippi Children’s Trust Fund, which supports child abuse prevention.6Justia. Mississippi Code 41-57-11 – Payment for Birth and Death Certificates Keep in mind that the search fee is non-refundable even if no record is found.3Mississippi State Department of Health. Questions and Answers About Vital Records
Records Before November 1912
Vital Records only maintains Mississippi birth records from November 1912 forward.7Mississippi State Department of Health. Birth Certificates If you need a record from before that date, Vital Records will not have it, and the Mississippi Department of Archives and History does not hold birth records either. What Archives does have is genealogical material that can help establish identity, including “Enumeration of Educable Children” files that list children ages five to eighteen with their parents or guardians, going back as far as 1850 in some counties.8Mississippi Department of Archives & History. Genealogy Those records sit at the William F. Winter Archives and History Building in Jackson and generally require an in-person visit.
If You Need the Certificate for Use Abroad
Most foreign governments will not accept a U.S. vital record unless it carries an apostille, an internationally recognized certification that the document is genuine. In Mississippi, the Secretary of State issues apostilles for $5 per document.9Michael Watson Secretary of State. Apostilles and Authentications
Send the original certified birth certificate (not a photocopy) with a completed information sheet and a $5 check or money order payable to Secretary of State to:
Secretary of State
Capital Towers
660 North Street
Jackson, MS 39201
Attention: Notary/Apostille/Authentication
If you ship by FedEx or UPS and want the documents returned the same way, include a separate prepaid return envelope. Otherwise the office returns everything by regular mail. Questions about preparing documents go to the Notary Division at 601-359-1615.