How to Get a Birth Certificate in Georgia Online or by Mail

To get a birth certificate in Georgia, you can order online through the state’s ROVER system, mail an application to the Office of Vital Records in Atlanta, or walk into a county vital records office. A certified copy costs $25, with a $5 charge for each additional copy ordered at the same time. Online and mail requests take up to 10 weeks. County offices often print the certificate the same day, which is the only route if you need it quickly.¹

Who Can Request a Georgia Birth Certificate

Georgia restricts access to people with a direct connection to the person on the record. You can request your own certificate, and parents listed on the record can request their child’s. Other relatives and representatives qualify with documentation:

A spouse must provide a copy of the marriage certificate, a photocopy of the spouse’s signature, and a notarized permission letter from the spouse.
Grandparents must provide the registrant’s parent’s birth certificate to prove the relationship.
Adult children or adult siblings must provide their own birth certificate showing at least one shared parent, along with valid photo ID.
Legal guardians and legal representatives must provide a certified copy of the court order establishing guardianship.

If you do not fall into one of these categories, the office will not release the record.²

What You Need Before You Apply

Have the basics about the person named on the certificate ready: full name (including last name at birth if different), date of birth, city and county of birth, current age and sex, and both parents’ full names, including the mother’s maiden name. You will also state your relationship to that person and how many copies you want.

Every applicant needs valid, unexpired, government-issued photo ID. Acceptable forms include a Georgia driver’s license or state ID (or one expired less than a year), a driver’s license or ID from another U.S. state, a U.S. or foreign passport, a U.S. military, military dependent, or veteran ID, a Georgia weapons carry license, or a school or college ID that shows a photo, ID number, and signature.

If you are mailing your application, include a clear photocopy of your ID. If you qualify through a relationship rather than as the registrant or parent, bring or send the relationship documents listed above.¹

Ordering Online

Georgia has three approved online channels: ROVER, run by the Georgia Technology Authority and the Department of Public Health, and two third-party vendors, GO Certificates and VitalChek. All three take major credit and debit cards.³

ROVER adds an $8 processing fee to the $25 certificate fee, so a single certified copy comes to $33.⁴ The third-party vendors set their own service and shipping fees. Expedited FedEx shipping is available for an extra $16, but it only speeds up delivery once the record is processed. It does not shorten the up-to-10-week processing window.³

Ordering by Mail

Send your completed application, a photocopy of your valid photo ID, and payment to:

Georgia Department of Public Health
Office of Vital Records
1680 Phoenix Boulevard, Suite 100
Atlanta, GA 30349⁵

Pay by money order or cashier’s check. Personal checks are not accepted, and cash should never be mailed.⁶ Mail orders run on the same up-to-10-week timeline as online orders.

Ordering in Person

You can go to the State Office of Vital Records in Atlanta or to your local county vital records office. Bring your completed application, your original photo ID, and payment. County offices accept cash, money orders, cashier’s checks, and credit or debit cards.

Many county offices can print the certificate on the spot. The State Office in Atlanta does not offer same-day service, so if you need the document quickly, a county office is the route to take.¹

Fees and Refunds

The certified copy fee is $25. Additional copies of the same record ordered together are $5 each. ROVER adds $8 for online processing.⁶

Georgia requires prepayment before it will search for a record, and the fee is nonrefundable. If no record is found, the state sends an official letter confirming that no record is on file, but you do not get the money back.⁶ Confirming spelling, dates, and place of birth before you apply is worth the extra minute.

If You Need the Certificate Quickly

Skip online and mail. Both are capped at up to 10 weeks of processing after your payment clears and your ID is received, and expedited shipping only changes how fast the finished certificate reaches you.¹ Your local county vital records office is the only route that reliably delivers same-day service. Call first to confirm the office issues certificates on the spot and to check what documents to bring.

Fixing an Error on a Birth Certificate

Corrections filed during the same calendar year the record was created are free. After that year closes, an amendment costs $10 on top of the $25 certificate fee.⁶

You complete a birth certificate amendment form and file it either through the probate court in your county or directly with the State Office of Vital Records. Filing through probate court has one real benefit: the court keeps your original supporting documents during the process and returns them when it is done. Submissions made directly to the state are not returned.

Supporting documents generally must be at least 10 years old and show the correct information together with the registrant’s name and date of birth. Stricter rules apply to specific fields:

Changes to a surname or date of birth require a supporting record created before the registrant’s seventh birthday.
Correcting the spelling of a first or middle name requires a supporting record at least five years old.
Hospital information corrections need a statement on the hospital’s official letterhead.
Correcting a parent’s information requires a certified copy of that parent’s birth certificate.

Standard amendments typically take four to six weeks after submission. If you cannot produce the required documentation and the state denies the amendment, you can file a petition in the Superior Court of the county where you live and ask a judge to order the correction.

Adding a Father When Parents Are Unmarried

If the parents were not married when the child was born, the father’s name is not automatically placed on the certificate. Both parents can add it by completing a paternity acknowledgment form (Form OCSE 400). Both sign the same form, both present photo ID, and both provide Social Security numbers.

Parents can complete the form at the hospital at birth. After that, it can be filed at the vital records office in the county where the child was born or at the State Office of Vital Records in Atlanta. The mother must have given birth in Georgia, and the father must be the biological father. Paternity acknowledgment is not the same as legitimation, which is a separate legal step that grants the father full parental rights. Parents can sign a voluntary acknowledgment of legitimation with the paternity form, but only during the child’s first year.

Adult Adoptees and Original Birth Certificates

Under Senate Bill 100, known as Andee’s Law and effective July 1, 2025, an adult adoptee born in Georgia can request an uncertified copy of their original, pre-adoption birth certificate. The adoptee must be at least 18.⁷ If the adoptee has died, parents, siblings, or direct-line descendants such as children or grandchildren can apply, as can an attorney or guardian acting for an eligible person. Requests tied to a deceased adoptee must include a photocopy of the death certificate and documentation of the relationship.²

Using a Georgia Birth Certificate Abroad

A Georgia birth certificate submitted to authorities in another country usually needs an apostille, which is a standardized authentication accepted by countries in the Hague Convention. In Georgia, the Superior Courts Clerks’ Cooperative Authority issues apostilles, and you submit the original certified certificate rather than a photocopy. If the destination country is not part of the Hague Convention, contact the Georgia Secretary of State’s office about a Great Seal Certification instead.

Births That Were Never Registered

If a Georgia birth was never recorded, the person whose birth went unregistered, a parent, a legal guardian, or a legal representative can apply for a delayed certificate of birth through the State Registrar. Registrants who are 18 or older and competent sign and swear to the accuracy of the facts themselves; for minors or people unable to sign, a parent, legal guardian, or legal representative does so.⁸ Because documentation requirements vary case by case, call the State Office of Vital Records at (404) 679-4702 before you start to find out what evidence to gather.

1
Georgia.gov. FAQs About Certificates
2
Georgia Department of Public Health. Ways to Request a Vital Record – Birth
3
Georgia Department of Public Health. Order Certificate Online
4
Georgia.gov. Order a Birth or Death Certificate
5
Georgia Department of Public Health. Georgia State Office of Vital Records
6
Georgia Department of Public Health. Fees
7
Georgia.gov. Obtaining A Copy of Your Original (Pre-Adoption) Birth Certificate
8
Legal Information Institute. Georgia Comp. R. and Regs. R. 511-1-3-.06