As organized as you try to be, important documents tend to disappear at the most inopportune of times, such as when you've just moved across the country, need to register your child in school, and can't find his birth certificate. If your child was born in New York, obtaining a birth certificate is relatively straightforward.
Instructions
1. Gather the following personal information regarding the person whose birth certificate you are ordering: full name, date of birth (month, day and year) and legal names of parents identified on the birth certificate (including mother's maiden name).
2. Go to the NYC Department of Vital Records website if the person whose birth certificate you are searching for was born in Manhattan, Kings, Queens, the Bronx or Staten Island. To order online, the birth certificate must be for you or your children, as long as you are named on the certificate. If you are not named, you must apply by mail or in person. Call 212-788-4520 to order by phone.
3. Submit the required fees, which in 2010 are $15 plus a mailing and service charge of $8.30.
4. Visit the NY State Department of Health website to order a birth certificate for someone born in any other part of the state than NYC. The birth certificate must be for you or your children, as long as you are named on the certificate. A spouse, child or other persons can only obtain a birth certificate by order of a New York State Court. Call 877-854-4481 for telephone orders.
5. Pay the required fees. Each birth certificate copy costs $30 plus a $15 priority handling fee, totaling $45 per birth certificate copy, in 2010. There is an additional $7.25 vendor processing fee per transaction.
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