A Louisiana birth certificate costs $15.00 for the long-form certified copy when you order directly from the state Vital Records Registry.1Louisiana Department of Health. Service Fees The wallet-sized short-form card is $9.00, and buying both together is $24.00. What you actually pay depends on which format you need, where you order, and how fast you want it.
What Each Order Method Costs
The Vital Records Registry sets the base prices. Order channel and shipping speed decide the rest.
- Long-form birth certificate from the Vital Records Registry: $15.00 per copy.1Louisiana Department of Health. Service Fees
- Short-form birth certification card: $9.00 per copy.1Louisiana Department of Health. Service Fees
- Long-form and card together from the registry: $24.00 (a $0.50 discount over buying them separately).1Louisiana Department of Health. Service Fees
- Mail or VitalChek surcharge: $0.50 added by the state to every mail or online order.1Louisiana Department of Health. Service Fees
- Parish Clerk of Court: $34.00 for a long-form certificate, or $48.00 for the certificate-and-card pair.1Louisiana Department of Health. Service Fees
VitalChek, the state’s authorized online vendor, adds its own processing fee on top of the state’s certificate price and the $0.50 surcharge. That processing fee varies with document type and shipping speed, so an online order lands noticeably higher than a mail-in or walk-in total. Expedited or overnight shipping pushes the price up further, but it is the fastest way to get a certificate in hand.
Payment rules also differ by channel. Walk-in orders at the Vital Records Central Office in New Orleans take cash in the exact amount, checks, or money orders. Mail orders must be paid by check or money order made out to the Vital Records Registry. VitalChek accepts major credit cards.2Louisiana Department of Health. How to Order Birth Records
Long-Form Certificate or Short-Form Card
The two formats do different jobs, so the price difference is really a question of which document your situation requires. The long-form certificate is the full record. It lists both parents, the hospital, and the attending physician, and it is what passport applications, most government agencies, and legal proceedings ask for.
The $9.00 short-form card is a wallet-sized summary showing name, date of birth, and place of birth. Some schools and agencies accept it for basic identity checks, but it lacks the parent and hospital details on the long-form. If you are not sure which one an agency wants, order the long-form. Ordering the pair from the registry costs $24.00, which is $0.50 less than buying each separately.1Louisiana Department of Health. Service Fees
Cost to Correct or Amend a Birth Certificate
If the certificate has an error, correcting it is a separate transaction with its own fees. The Vital Records Registry’s Amendments Department charges a non-refundable $27.50 amendment fee, which includes one certified copy of the corrected certificate. Additional certified copies ordered at the same time are $9.00 each. If you cannot send in the original incorrect certificate, add a $15.00 search fee.3Louisiana Department of Health. Amendments to Birth Records
Hospital corrections requested within 90 days of the original filing date may be exempt from the $27.50 fee. Amendments take roughly 8 to 12 weeks to process.3Louisiana Department of Health. Amendments to Birth Records
Processing Time and Its Effect on Cost
Standard mail-in orders take about 8 to 10 weeks from the day the registry receives the application.2Louisiana Department of Health. How to Order Birth Records That timeline catches many people off guard. If you have a passport appointment, school deadline, or court date, the practical choice is between paying a Parish Clerk’s higher counter fee, walking into the New Orleans office, or paying VitalChek’s processing fee plus expedited shipping. Each buys speed at a different price point; the state’s own $15.00 rate is the slowest path.
Fees for International Use
A Louisiana birth certificate used in another country usually needs an apostille (for countries in the 1961 Hague Convention) or an authentication certificate (for countries that are not).4USAGov. Authenticate an Official Document for Use Outside the U.S. The apostille for a Louisiana vital record comes from the Louisiana Secretary of State’s office, not the Vital Records Registry, and it carries its own fee on top of what you paid for the certificate. Contact the Secretary of State’s Certifications Division for the current apostille fee and processing time before you submit, since the total cost for international use is the certificate fee plus the apostille fee.