How to Get a Copy of Your Birth Certificate in New York

To get a copy of your birth certificate in New York, you order it from one of two agencies depending on where the birth happened. Births in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, or Staten Island are handled by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Births anywhere else in the state go through the New York State Department of Health in Albany. The fees, forms, and turnaround times are different for each, and sending your request to the wrong office is one of the most common reasons applications come back unfilled.

Who Is Allowed to Order One

New York restricts certified birth certificates to a short list of people. For NYC records, you qualify if you are:

The person named on the certificate, and at least 18 years old
A parent whose name appears on the certificate
A legal guardian, with the original guardianship or custody court order attached
A human services organization acting on behalf of a minor or a developmentally disabled adult

Spouses, siblings, and adult children of the person named on the certificate cannot request a copy on their own in New York City. Anyone in those categories needs a court order granting access.¹ The state’s rules for births outside NYC are similar. If someone eligible is applying on your behalf, they generally need a signed, notarized letter of authorization from you.

What to Gather Before You Apply

Have the following ready:

Full name as it appears on the birth certificate
Date of birth
City, town, or village of birth
Full names of both parents, including the birthing parent’s pre-marriage name
Hospital name, if you know it

The state form asks for all of these.² Missing the hospital or certificate number won’t get your application rejected, but supplying it helps the search.

You also need to prove your identity. Accepted photo IDs include a current driver’s license, a state-issued non-driver photo ID, a passport, or a U.S. military photo ID.³ For NYC mail applications, submit a legible photocopy of your current, signed, unexpired ID, and have the application itself notarized.¹ If you don’t have a photo ID, the NYC application lists proof-of-address alternatives such as a utility bill or government letter. Notarization in New York is capped at $2 per signature, and banks, UPS stores, and many libraries offer the service.

Ordering an NYC Birth Certificate

NYC gives you three ways to order, each with its own price and speed.

Online

The NYC Health Department recommends ordering online as the fastest option.⁴ Orders go through VitalChek, the only authorized vendor. The fee is $15 per certificate plus a $9.30 processing fee, payable by credit or debit card. Processing takes about two weeks, then regular mail delivery adds roughly another two weeks. UPS Express delivery is available for an extra $21 and speeds up shipping only, not the two-week processing.⁵

By Mail

Download the NYC application, complete and notarize it, include a photocopy of your signed photo ID, and mail everything with a check or money order for $15 per copy (payable to the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene) to:

NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
Attention: BC Request
125 Worth Street, Room 119, CN-4
New York, NY 10013¹

Mail orders take roughly 12 weeks.⁵ If that timeline doesn’t work, ordering online is much faster.

In Person

The Office of Vital Records is at 125 Worth Street, Room 119, Manhattan (Lafayette Street entrance), open Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 3:30 PM. All in-person visits require an appointment scheduled in advance.⁶ The fee is $15 per copy plus a $2.75 processing fee, payable by credit card, debit card, check, or money order. Cash is not accepted.

If you bring an original Category 1 photo ID (driver’s license or passport, for example) and the person is not deceased, you can walk out with the certificate the same day.⁶ With only proof-of-address documents or a photocopy of your ID, the certificate is mailed instead. In-person orders are limited to birth records from 1920 or later; older records must be requested by mail or online. For emergencies involving travel, healthcare, housing, employment, or military service where no appointment is available in time, you can email nycdohvr@health.nyc.gov to ask for expedited help.

Ordering a New York State Birth Certificate Outside NYC

If the birth happened anywhere in New York outside the five boroughs, the New York State Department of Health holds the record.

Online or by Phone

State online and phone orders go through VitalChek. The certificate fee is $45 per copy, plus a per-transaction vendor processing fee.⁷ These orders get priority handling and are typically processed within five to ten business days of receipt, which makes this the fastest route for state records.⁸

By Mail

Mail orders cost $30 per copy. Send the completed DOH-4380 form, a copy of your ID, and a check or money order payable to the New York State Department of Health to:

New York State Department of Health
Vital Records Certification Unit
P.O. Box 2602
Albany, NY 12220-2602⁷

Regular mail processing runs 10 to 12 weeks, and the state notes that longer delays are possible.⁹ If you’re on any deadline, the extra $15 for the online option pays for itself.

Through the Local Registrar

Many city and county clerks’ offices keep birth records for births that happened in their jurisdiction. Contacting your local registrar can sometimes be faster than going through Albany, especially for recent births. Fees and availability vary.

Fees and Timing Side by Side

NYC online (VitalChek): $15 per certificate plus a $9.30 processing fee; about two weeks processing, then regular mail. UPS Express delivery: $21.
NYC mail: $15 per certificate; notarization required (up to $2 in New York); about 12 weeks.
NYC in person: $15 per certificate plus a $2.75 processing fee; same day with an appointment and original photo ID. No cash.
NYS online or phone (VitalChek): $45 per certificate plus a per-transaction vendor fee; five to ten business days.
NYS mail: $30 per certificate; 10 to 12 weeks or longer.

All fees are per copy, so ordering multiples multiplies the certificate charge. VitalChek processing fees are charged per transaction for state orders and per order for NYC orders.⁵⁷

If the Certificate Has an Error

Check every detail when the copy arrives. Misspelled names, wrong dates, and missing parent information are more common than people expect, and catching them now saves trouble later when you use the document for a passport or REAL ID.

For NYC records, the Health Department handles corrections by mail or by appointment in person (in-person visits don’t speed up processing). What you submit depends on what you’re fixing. Adding or correcting a first or middle name requires a supporting document that is generally from before the child’s seventh birthday, or at least 10 years old, such as an immunization record, a school letter showing your date of birth and correct name, a census record taken after birth, or a life insurance policy. A full first, middle, or last name change requires a certified legal name change court order. Correcting a parent’s information requires original records like the parent’s birth certificate or marriage record dated before the child’s birth. For a child under one year old, the fastest route is to bring the original certificate and a correction application back to the hospital where the child was born.¹⁰

For births outside NYC, contact the local registrar where the birth was registered, or mail the state’s correction form and original supporting documents to the New York State Department of Health, Vital Records Correction Unit, P.O. Box 2602, Albany, NY 12220-2602.¹¹ A parent or guardian must sign for anyone under 18. Original documents are returned after processing.

If You Need to Use It Abroad

To use a New York birth certificate in another country, you generally need an apostille, which is a certification that verifies the document’s authenticity for international acceptance under the Hague Apostille Convention. For a New York-issued birth certificate, the apostille comes from the New York Secretary of State. The fee is $10 per document, and apostilles are returned by first-class mail.¹² You submit the original certified birth certificate (or a certified copy) with your request.

If the destination country is not part of the Hague Convention, you need an authentication certificate instead. That process starts with state-level authentication, then goes to the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Authentications with Form DS-4194 and the applicable fee.¹³ Don’t notarize the original before submitting it for authentication; doing so can invalidate it.

Born Abroad to U.S. Citizen Parents

If you are a U.S. citizen born in another country, New York is not the issuing authority for your birth record. Your record is a Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA) issued by the U.S. Department of State. To request a replacement, submit a notarized Form DS-5542 with a photocopy of your valid photo ID and a check or money order for $50 per record to:

U.S. Department of State
Passport Vital Records Section
44132 Mercure Cir.
PO Box 1213
Sterling, VA 20166-1213¹⁴

Add $22.05 for 1-3 day shipping within the United States. A replacement CRBA with an attached apostille also costs $50.¹⁴

1
NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Application To Request an NYC Birth Certificate
2
New York State Department of Health. Mail-in Application for Copy of Birth Certificate
3
Onondaga County. Birth Certificates Online – Office of Vital Statistics
4
NYC Health. How to Order Birth and Death Records
5
NYC Health. Birth and Death Records Fees and Processing Times
6
NYC.gov. Birth Certificate Order – NYC311
7
New York State Department of Health. Birth Certificates
8
New York State Department of Health. Internet and Telephone Orders – New York State Department of Health
9
New York State Department of Health. Ordering Birth, Death, Marriage and Divorce Records by Mail
10
NYC Health. Birth Certificates: Corrections
11
New York State Department of Health. Public Instructions for Birth Record Corrections/Amendments
12
New York Department of State. Apostille or Certificate of Authentication
13
U.S. Department of State. Preparing a Document for an Authentication Certificate
14
U.S. Department of State. How to Replace or Amend a Consular Report of Birth Abroad