Birth and Death Records

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Fees and Processing Times

VitalChek: Only Authorized Online Vendor

For the fastest service, order certified copies online through VitalChek, which is the only vendor authorized by the Health Department to process birth and death certificate orders. There are unauthorized vendors charging customers high fees for help getting a certificate. If you ordered a certificate through an unauthorized vendor and would like to file a complaint, visit the NYC Department of Consumer Protection or call 311.

Birth and Death Certificates

Online Orders

• Processing time: Two weeks (delivery by regular mail can take an additional two weeks).
  • Allow an additional two weeks for long form birth certificates, birth certificates from 1910 to 1919, death certificates from 1949 to 1970, or for any other record that requires searching.

  Mail Orders

  • Processing time: Six to eight weeks (delivery by regular mail can take an additional two weeks). Add additional time for your application to be delivered to our office. The processing time does not start until we receive your application.
    • Allow an additional two weeks for long form birth certificates, birth certificates from 1910 to 1919, death certificates from 1949 to 1970, or for any other record that requires searching.

    In-person Orders

    • Processing fee: $2.75, plus $15 per certificate

    Certificate Corrections

    The below fee applies to both mail and in-person orders, and it is the same even if more than one item is corrected as part of the request. You cannot order a certificate correction online. There is a nonrefundable $40 application processing fee for most applications, and a $15 fee per certificate.

    • Processing time: 12 weeks. Delivery by regular mail can take an additional two weeks. Add additional time for your application to be delivered to our office. The processing time does not start until we receive your application.
    • Processing fee: $40 (for most types of certificate corrections).
      • There is no fee for the following types of corrections: Acknowledgments of Parentage/Paternity; Orders of Parentage/Filiation/Paternity; adding a parent who was married prior to the birth of the child; adding a child’s given name, if submitted by a parent to the Health Department within 60 days of the child’s birth; adding a child’s given name, if submitted by a parent to the hospital within 12 months of the child’s birth; correcting hospital errors and omissions, if submitted by the hospital where the child was born within the first 12 months of birth.

      Types of Payment Accepted

      • Online orders: You must have a personal checking account or a credit or debit card.
      • Mail orders: Enclose a money order or personal check in the exact amount, made payable in U.S. dollars to the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Cash is not accepted.
      • In-person orders: You can use a credit or debt card, as well as a check or money order in the exact amount. Cash is not accepted

      Refunds

      Refunds vary based on how the order was submitted. For all orders, processing fees will not be refunded.

      • In-person orders: Fees paid by credit card and money orders will be returned immediately. Debit/EFT charges are a manual process, so these fees cannot be refunded electronically.
      • Mail orders: Money order or check payments will be returned by mail.

      Processing time for a manual refund can take three to 90 days, due to the order being processed by the NYC Department of Finance.

      Once you have canceled an order, all documents and payments will be returned to you. You then must resubmit the order according to the instructions provided. If the order is accepted and searched, this process can take five to seven business days. Note, this process will take the same amount of time as a new submission.

      If the requested certificate cannot be found, the requestor will be mailed a "Not Found Statement". There is no refund for Not Found Statements.

      Not Found Statements must be returned by mail. It must be the original Not Found Statement issued. If the customer submits the "Not Found Statement" with the additional information requested within three months of the cancelled order, we will do another search for different information at no additional cost. However, a search for multiple years requires an additional $3 for each extra year.

      If your submitted certificate correction application is rejected, you have one year from the date when your rejection was processed to resubmit your documents without having to pay an additional $40 processing fee. For the certificate copy fee, each case will vary.

      Chat: For more help ordering a certificate, you can chat online with an operator, Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.