Virginia Vital Records: Requests, Corrections, and Penalties

Virginia vital records — certified copies of birth, death, marriage, and divorce certificates for events that happened in the Commonwealth — are issued by the Virginia Department of Health’s Office of Vital Records. Each certificate search costs $12, and you can apply online, by mail, in person in Richmond, or at any DMV customer service center.¹ Access is restricted: birth records stay private for 100 years and death, marriage, and divorce records for 25 years, so the first question is whether you’re eligible.²

Who Can Request a Certified Copy

Virginia is a closed-record state. Sharing information from a vital record is unlawful unless a statute or court order authorizes it.² In practice, that means only a defined circle of people can get a certified copy of a recent record.

Immediate family is the primary group with access. Virginia defines immediate family as a parent, current spouse, child, sibling, or grandparent of the person named on the record.³ For death certificates, grandchildren and great-grandchildren can also obtain certified copies.² Aunts, uncles, cousins, and in-laws are not on the list and cannot request vital records.

If you fall outside the immediate family but have a direct and tangible interest in a death record, you can request a Verification of Death instead of the full certificate. That verification confirms the death but omits some of the detail on the full record.³ Attorneys, executors, and other legal representatives must document their interest when applying. If the State Registrar denies your request, you can petition the circuit court in the city or county where you live for an order releasing the record.²

Once a record ages past its privacy window — 100 years for births, 25 years for the rest — anyone can request it without proving a family relationship, unless a court order or law-enforcement hold blocks the release.²

What You Need to Apply

The application asks for the full name of the person on the record at the time of the event, the date, and the Virginia city or county where it happened. For a birth certificate, include both parents’ names, with any maiden names. For marriage and divorce records, include the names of both parties and the city or county where the marriage or divorce was filed.⁴

The fee is $12 per certificate search, set by statute, and it isn’t refunded if the search returns nothing.⁵

Identification

Every applicant submits ID with the application. You can meet the requirement with one primary document or two secondary documents.⁶

Primary documents include a state-issued photo ID or driver’s license (unexpired or expired no more than one year), a current U.S. passport or passport card, an unexpired U.S. military ID for active-duty or retired members, or a current photo ID from a school or employer that shows an identification number.⁶

If you don’t have a primary document, two secondary documents will do. The secondary list is broad and includes a utility bill from the last six months, a valid voter registration card, a DD-214 discharge form, a health insurance card, a weapon or gun permit, and a state-issued photo ID expired no more than five years. A Social Security card is not on the accepted list, and VDH warns that the acceptable-document list can change without notice, so verify before you send anything.⁶ One other detail matters if you’re going in person to the DMV: DMV locations require original ID documents and won’t accept photocopies.⁷

Four Ways to Submit a Request

Online

The Office of Vital Records runs a full online application system that lets you apply, pay, and track your order. For faster service, VDH also offers next-day processing through the VitalChek network; that option adds convenience and shipping fees on top of the $12 search fee.⁸

By Mail

Send the completed application and payment to VDH, Office of Vital Records, P.O. Box 1000, Richmond, Virginia 23218-1000. As of early 2026, complete paper applications are processed within eight business days of receipt, plus mailing time both ways. Missing information or a missing ID copy will add delay.¹

Walk-In in Richmond

The Office of Vital Records lobby at 8701 Park Central Drive, Suite 100, Richmond, VA 23227 is open Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., no appointment needed.⁹ A completed application dropped off by 2:00 p.m. may be ready for same-day pickup, and the certificate will only be released to the person who submitted it. Drop-offs after 2:00 p.m. are treated as received the next business day.⁸ If you need an amendment rather than a copy of an existing record, mail it in; amendment wait times at the walk-in office have been significantly longer than usual.

Any DMV Customer Service Center

Certified copies of Virginia birth, death, marriage, and divorce records are sold at every DMV customer service center statewide. The fee is the same $12, and the same ID rules apply, with the original-documents requirement noted above.¹⁰

Marriage and Divorce: A Second Option

Marriage and divorce records are also held by the Clerk of the Circuit Court in the jurisdiction where the license was issued or the decree signed, and you can request copies from the clerk instead of the state if that’s more convenient.¹¹

Corrections and Amendments

Mistakes on a certificate — a misspelled name, wrong date, incorrect parent information — are fixed through the Office of Vital Records. Start with Form VS43, available on paper or through the online system; VDH then reviews the request and tells you what supporting documentation to send.¹²p>

The administrative fee for any amendment is $10. If you also want a certified copy of the corrected record, add the $12 certificate fee, for a total of $22. Amendments take longer to process than a straight copy request, and the exact timeline depends on the change.¹²

Updating a Gender Marker

To update the sex designation on a Virginia birth certificate, the individual (or a parent, if the person is under 18) submits a completed Form VS42 with a live-ink signature and date from a medical provider confirming that the individual has undergone clinically appropriate treatment for gender transition. Include a valid photo ID and, if a name change is part of the request, a certified copy of the court order. The fee is $10 to establish the new certificate plus $12 for each certified copy.¹³

Older Records the State Office Doesn’t Hold

The current Office of Vital Records holds indexed birth and death records from 1912 forward, divorce records from 1918, and marriage records from 1936. For anything earlier, contact the Archives Division at the Library of Virginia, 800 East Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23219, 804-692-3500; the archives hold surviving county-level birth and death records from 1853 to 1896 and marriage records from before 1936 on microfilm. For events that took place in the portion of Virginia that became West Virginia, records are held by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History in Charleston.¹⁴

Penalties for Fraudulent Use

Virginia treats fraud involving vital records seriously, and the penalties escalate with what you do with the document. Possessing a fake or stolen birth certificate to create a false identity is a Class 1 misdemeanor, carrying up to 12 months in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.¹⁵¹⁶ Manufacturing, selling, or transferring a fake or stolen birth certificate is a Class 6 felony, punishable by one to five years in prison, or at the court’s discretion up to 12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine.¹⁷ Using a fraudulent document to purchase a firearm is also a Class 6 felony, whether you produced the document or just used it.

These charges can stack with prosecution under other statutes, including identity theft. Law enforcement officers acting in their official duties are exempt.¹⁵

1
Virginia Department of Health. Online Application for a Vital Record
2
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 32.1-271 – Disclosure of Information in Records
3
Virginia Department of Health. Frequently Asked Questions – Vital Records
4
Virginia Department of Health. Commonwealth of Virginia Application for Certification of a Vital Record
5
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 32.1-273 – Fees for Certified Copies, Searches of Files, Etc.; Disposition
6
Virginia Department of Health. ID Requirements
7
Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. Acceptable Vital Records Documents
8
Virginia Department of Health. Office of Vital Records
9
Virginia Department of Health. Vital Record Walk-In Locations
10
Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. Vital Records at DMV
11
Newport News, VA – Official Website. Newport News Circuit Court
12
Virginia Department of Health. How to Request an Amendment to a Birth Certificate
13
Virginia Department of Health. What Is the Procedure to Update a Virginia Birth Certificate After a Person Has Undergone Gender Transition?
14
Virginia Department of Health. Genealogy
15
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-204.1 – Fraudulent Use of Birth Certificates, Etc.; Penalty
16
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-11 – Punishment for Conviction of Misdemeanor
17
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code Article 3 – Classification of Criminal Offenses and Punishment Therefor