How to Get an NH Birth Certificate: Eligibility, ID, and Fees

To get a birth certificate in NH, submit a completed application, a photo ID, and a $15 fee to the New Hampshire Division of Vital Records Administration (DVRA), any of the state’s 234 city or town clerk offices, or an approved online vendor. In-person requests are usually handled while you wait. Mailed requests can take up to 20 business days once the DVRA receives them.¹

Who Can Request a Copy

New Hampshire limits certified birth records to people with a “direct and tangible interest” in the record. That generally covers the person named on the certificate, their parents, spouse, and children, and legal representatives acting for one of them.² Attorneys requesting a record for a client must identify themselves as attorneys, name the client, and show evidence of the client’s direct and tangible interest.³

What the Application Asks For

The application has two parts: the event section, which is about the person whose certificate you want, and the applicant section, which is about you. For the birth, you’ll list the full name on the record, the date of birth, the New Hampshire city or town where the birth occurred, and both parents’ names as shown on the record.³ The more accurate those details, the faster the office can pull the right record.

You can download the form from the Secretary of State’s website or pick one up at any New Hampshire city or town clerk’s office.²

Identification You Need to Bring or Include

Every applicant must present a valid government-issued photo ID, such as a driver’s license or passport.² If you’re mailing your request, send a legible photocopy of the ID with it. If your mailing address doesn’t match the address on your ID, include proof of the mailing address as well, like a utility bill, lease, or car registration.³

No photo ID at all? Use the “Documentary Evidence Required” form the Secretary of State provides in place of the standard ID requirement.² If you can’t document your mailing address, submit a notarized “Assignment of Additional Mailing Address” form authorizing delivery elsewhere.³

Where to Submit Your Request

In Person

The fastest route is to walk in with your completed application, photo ID, and payment. Any of the state’s 234 city or town clerks can process a request, and so can the DVRA lobby at 9 Ratification Way in Concord, which is open 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.⁴ In-person requests are usually filled the same visit.

By Mail

Mail the completed application, a photocopy of your photo ID, proof of mailing address if needed, and payment in U.S. funds to:

Division of Vital Records Administration
NH Secretary of State
9 Ratification Way
Concord, NH 03301-2410⁴

Allow up to 20 business days from the day DVRA receives your request. The office aims to turn things around faster, but plan ahead if you need the certificate by a deadline like a passport application or school enrollment.¹

Online or by Phone

New Hampshire partners with VitalChek and EB2Gov for online and phone orders paid by credit card. Both vendors charge their own processing and shipping fees on top of the state’s $15 search fee.¹ This works well when you can’t get to a clerk’s office and want the record shipped.

Fees

A certified copy costs $15. Additional copies of the same record ordered at the same time are $10 each. Credit card payments may carry a transaction fee.² If you’re ordering through a city or town clerk, make the check payable to that specific city or town.⁵

If There’s an Error on the Record

Corrections go through the clerk of the city or town where the birth occurred. Within six months of the birth filing, a parent, guardian, or legal representative can sign a request form at the clerk’s office to fix a spelling or add a first name; photo ID is required and the signed form serves as the affidavit.⁶

After six months, you file a notarized application in triplicate along with two pieces of documentary evidence dated as close to the birth as possible, such as hospital, baptismal, early school, census, or military records. One of the two can be a notarized affidavit from someone with firsthand knowledge. The correction fee is $10, plus $15 for a certified copy of the amended record.⁵

Actually changing a name on the record, rather than correcting a typo, requires a certified copy of a court order that specifies the name being changed and how the new name should appear. The same rule applies to changing a parent’s name on the record. Once the clerk receives the court order, the certificate is amended with an “A.K.A.” notation. If the surname field was left blank at birth, the person named on the record can ask the clerk to add a surname without a court order, but only if it matches the father’s surname already shown on the record.⁶

Births Before 1905

New Hampshire’s centralized state vital records system starts in 1905. Births before that year were kept at the county level, so those records generally need to be requested from the county clerk where the birth took place, and availability for the oldest records can be inconsistent. A statewide compilation of pre-1905 vital records also exists on microfilm through genealogical research libraries.

1
New Hampshire Secretary of State. Vital Records FAQs
2
New Hampshire Secretary of State. Request for Certificates
3
New Hampshire Secretary of State. Application for a Certified Copy of a Vital Record
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New Hampshire Secretary of State. Vital Records Contact Information
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New Hampshire Secretary of State. Purchasing and Correcting Vital Records
6
New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code Title I, Chapter 5-C, Section 5-C:89 – Documentary Evidence Required to Amend Birth Record