How to Apply for a California Birth Certificate

When a child is born in California, the hospital employees at which the birth took place will collect, prepare and submit the necessary statistical data of the newborn to the Department of Public Health. Once the information is received, The Department of Health will complete the registration process with the State of California. The birth certificate creation process takes about one to two months. An application for the copy of a birth certificate can be requested through the hospital at the time of birth as well as through the California Department of Health.

Things You'll Need

• California issued identification

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Instructions

• 1

  Request a birth certificate order form from the hospital in which your child is born. Completely fill out the birth certificate request. You must make this request during your stay immediately following the birth of your child. Skip this step if you have already completed your hospital stay.

• 2

  Download the Application For Certified Copy Of Birth Record to request a birth certificate for yourself or someone else (see Resources). In order to receive a certified copy of a California Birth Certificate for someone other then yourself, you must be the parent, legal guardian, sibling, grandparent or attorney for the individual. You may also request a certified copy for someone else if you are a law enforcement agent acting on behalf of official business or are entitled to receive it due to a court order.

• 3

  Take the Sworn Statement which is included in the Application For Certified Copy of Birth Record to an authorized California Notary. You must sign it before the Notary and have it notarized. There may be a fee involved depending upon who notarizes the statement. Financial institutions such as banks often provide Notary services. Law enforcement and government employees acting within the extent of the law for official business purposes, are exempt from the notary requirement.

• 4

  Send the completed hospital request for birth certificate or the Application for Certified Copy of Birth Record along with the Sworn Statement if applicable, to the Office of Vital Records via U.S. mail. Include a check or money order to cover the application fee. As of June 2010, the application fee was $14.

  Office of Vital Records - MS 5103
  P.O. Box 997410
  Sacramento, CA 95899-7410

  You can also send the request via courier to the following address:

  California Office of Vital Record
  MS 5103
  1501 Capitol Avenue
  Sacramento, CA 95814