How to Order a Birth Certificate Online in California

To order a birth certificate online in California, you place the request through a third-party vendor authorized by the California Department of Public Health – Vital Records (CDPH-VR), because the state does not run its own online portal. Each certified copy costs $31 as of January 2026, plus a vendor service fee, and state-level orders take roughly five to seven weeks to process.¹²

Before you start the order, decide which of the two certified copy types California issues you actually need, because that choice controls what you’ll upload.

Pick Authorized or Informational First

California issues an Authorized Certified Copy and an Informational Certified Copy. Both contain the same birth record data and both are officially certified. Only the authorized version can prove identity.³

You want the authorized copy for anything practical: a passport, driver’s license, Social Security, school enrollment. It is restricted by law to the person on the record, their close family (parent, legal guardian, child, grandchild, grandparent, sibling), a spouse or domestic partner, an attorney for that person or their estate, and people acting by court order or statute. Getting one requires a notarized sworn statement confirming your relationship or authority; legal guardians also submit supporting court paperwork.⁴

The informational copy is available to anyone with no sworn statement. It prints with the legend “INFORMATIONAL, NOT A VALID DOCUMENT TO ESTABLISH IDENTITY” across its face, and no government agency will accept it as proof of who you are. It exists for genealogical research or personal records.³

Gather Your Information and Documents

Collect everything before you begin. The online vendors ask you to upload documents during the order, and the portal generally won’t hold a half-finished application for you to come back to.

Birth record details: full name at birth, date of birth, city and county of birth in California, and both parents’ full names, including the birth parent’s last name at birth.
A current government-issued photo ID: driver’s license, state ID card, or passport. You’ll upload a scan or clear photo.
For an authorized copy, proof of your relationship to the person on the record, such as your own birth certificate, a marriage certificate, or a court order.
For an authorized copy, a notarized sworn statement. The statement is built into Form VS 111, and you must sign it in front of a notary before uploading. California notaries charge up to $15 per signature.

The underlying form is CDPH-VR’s Application for Certified Copy of Birth Record (Form VS 111). You can download it from the CDPH website to review or complete in advance, though the vendors walk through the same fields electronically.⁵

Place the Order Through an Authorized Vendor

CDPH-VR authorizes independent companies to accept electronic requests and transmit them to CDPH-VR or a county vital records office for processing. As of 2026, the authorized online vendors are VitalChek, State Vital Records, Vital Records Online, and GoCertificates.¹

The flow is similar across vendors. You select “birth certificate,” choose California, and pick authorized or informational. The system prompts you for the birth record details and asks you to upload your ID and any eligibility documents. For an authorized copy, you also upload the notarized sworn statement. Review carefully before submitting. Errors in names, dates, or the county of birth are the most common reason orders get delayed or returned.

Direct any questions about an in-progress online order to the vendor, not to CDPH-VR. The state office won’t have your order details until the vendor transmits them.¹

What You’ll Pay

Effective January 1, 2026, the state fee is $31 per certified copy, authorized or informational. The increase was enacted under Assembly Bill 64 (Chapter 662, Statutes of 2025).²

Each vendor adds its own service fee on top, typically in the range of $7 to $10, though this varies and may change. Budget roughly $38 to $42 total per copy. Vendors accept major credit and debit cards. If you shift to mail-in ordering directly with CDPH-VR instead, payment must be by check or money order payable to “CDPH-VR,” and cash is not accepted.

If CDPH-VR cannot locate your record, the $31 fee is not refunded. The state treats it as a search fee and issues a “Certificate of No Public Record” in place of the certificate.²

How Long It Takes

CDPH-VR’s current average processing time is five to seven weeks from the date the office receives the application, and that can stretch further during high-volume periods. Certificates are mailed via First Class USPS, so add a few days of delivery on top.⁶

There is no expedited service through CDPH-VR. Paying extra to a vendor for “rush” handling only speeds up the vendor’s portion of the work. CDPH-VR still processes requests in the order they arrive.

Order From the County of Birth for Faster Service

If you need the certificate sooner than the state’s timeline allows, order from the county where you were born instead. CDPH-VR itself recommends this route: “Because of the large volume of requests processed at CDPH-VR, you can often obtain your certificate more quickly from the county office.”⁶

County registrar-recorder offices keep their own copies of birth records filed in that county. Many offer online ordering through VitalChek, with processing times noticeably shorter than the state’s five-to-seven-week window. Some also allow walk-in or mail requests. Check the birth county’s registrar-recorder website for its options and fees, which may differ slightly from the state’s.

One limit worth knowing: a county office only holds records for births that occurred in that county. If you aren’t sure which county you were born in, or the county can’t locate the record, you’ll have to go through CDPH-VR, which holds statewide records.

If the Certificate Is Going Abroad

Ordering the certificate is often only the first step when it will be used in another country. Foreign authorities generally require the document to be authenticated, either with an apostille (for countries in the 1961 Hague Convention) or a separate authentication certificate (for non-Hague countries).⁷

California apostilles come from the California Secretary of State, not the federal government, because birth certificates are state-issued. The fee is $20 per apostille. You can submit by mail to the Sacramento office or visit Sacramento or Los Angeles in person; in-person requests carry a $6 special handling fee per signature authenticated. The birth certificate submitted must be an authorized certified copy bearing the state registrar’s signature. Order that first, then send or bring it to the Secretary of State. Mail processing takes roughly five weeks, and in-person drop-off takes about seven business days.⁸

1
California Department of Public Health. Obtaining Certified Copies Online
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California Department of Public Health. Vital Records Fees
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California Department of Public Health. Authorized Copy vs. Informational Copy
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California Department of Public Health. Application for Certified Copy of Birth Record VS 111
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California Department of Public Health. Vital Records Obtaining Certified Copies of Birth Records
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California Department of Public Health. Vital Records Processing Times
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Travel.State.Gov. Office of Authentications
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California Secretary of State. Request an Apostille