Certified Copy of Birth Cert - How?

[teamfour]

Who provides the service to get a certified copy of my birth cert?

[Arwenmark]

You need to call or write to the county in which you were born and in some cases the exact town or city. Pay a fee and they send it too you.

[Sheffie]

If you can get to the county in which you were born, you should be able to pick it up pretty much immediately.

[reklawr]

Who provides the service to get a certified copy of my birth cert?

 

You need to get a copy of your birth certificate from the Dept of Vital records.....

Click on this link:

 

http://www.dhh.louisiana.gov/offices/page.asp?id=252&detail=6489

[johnql]

Check out the following link. It gives specific info on obtaining certified birth certificates for people born in Louisiana (assuming that's where you were born).

 

http://www.dhh.louisiana.gov/offices/page.asp?id=252&detail=6489

[teamfour]

Thanks for all the replies, but maybe I asked the question in the wrong way (and maybe the answer is the same regardless).

 

I have a certified birth certificate. I just want someone to make a copy of it so I don't have to bring the original on the ship. Can a notary do this?

 

BTW, I was born in Boston.

[Arwenmark]

No a notary cannot do it and you will NEED to bring it on the ship unless you have a passport. You can obtain another certified copy from vital records in Boston, that is the only way to get one.

[johnql]

Thanks for all the replies, but maybe I asked the question in the wrong way (and maybe the answer is the same regardless).

 

I have a certified birth certificate. I just want someone to make a copy of it so I don't have to bring the original on the ship. Can a notary do this?

 

BTW, I was born in Boston.

I don't believe you can do what you're asking. Only certified bc's are valid and only government agencies can issue them. You might want to obtain an additional, certified one. I have several certified bc's at home just in case I need one.

[Starr Mtn]

Thanks for all the replies, but maybe I asked the question in the wrong way (and maybe the answer is the same regardless).

 

I have a certified birth certificate. I just want someone to make a copy of it so I don't have to bring the original on the ship. Can a notary do this?

 

BTW, I was born in Boston.

 

 

Suggest that you obtain a Passport. Then you can leave your

certified copy of your birth certificate at home when you travel ! But you will need to send in your certified copy of your birth certificate with your

passport application (along with the application and appropriate photos). Your certified copy of your birth certificate will be returned to you.

[Starr Mtn]

Thanks for all the replies, but maybe I asked the question in the wrong way (and maybe the answer is the same regardless).

 

I have a certified birth certificate. I just want someone to make a copy of it so I don't have to bring the original on the ship. Can a notary do this?

 

BTW, I was born in Boston.

 

 

Suggest that you obtain a Passport. Then you can leave your

certified copy of your birth certificate at home when you travel ! But you will need to send in your certified copy of your birth certificate with your

passport application (along with the application and appropriate photos). Your certified copy of your birth certificate will be returned to you.

[Sheffie]

In the OP's signature, it shows that he/she is traveling this month; therefore, there isn't enough time to obtain a passport.

 

To the OP: you have to take the certified copy. When you get on the ship, just put it in your safe until it is time to pack up and leave. Be sure to carry it in your carry-on so that it won't go astray.

[mollyeilis]

I just have to clear something up.

 

There's no such thing as an ORIGINAL birth certificate. OK, there is, but it's the paperwork that's on file with the county where you were born. ANY b.c. you have is a COPY, albeit a certified copy, and perhaps one that was originally received years and years ago.

 

But if ya had the original, no one else would know you exist!

 

So don't worry about bringing your certified b.c. (which yes, I know, many places and people call "original", but no one has their "original" b.c. unless it's the one their parents *originally* got from vital records). Unless there was a disaster in your home county and all records are gone (in which case counties have measures in place to help anyway), you can ALWAYS get another certified b.c. for something like $18. It's something to protect, but it's NOT something to freak out about, thinking you will never get another.

 

My mom had my "originally received" b.c., and I had it right before college, but then it was lost or tattered, so we simply called the county, sent some money, and I have what one would call an "original" (but not really), certified birth certificate that was printed and stamped by a notary in '87, though I was born in '69. Easy peasy!

 

So don't worry about it. Or if you do, just get another certified copy, keep the one you originally got at home, and bring the other with ya, if the one you originally got is valuable for sentimental reasons and you don't want it to get tattered or water-spotted or lost, etc.

 

Hope that helps!

 

(this is a personal crusade of mine after hearing nonsense about "original" b.certificates while I was planning my wedding, and then recently while trying to explain to my mother in law that there is NO SUCH THING as an "original" death certificate, while her friends told her she HAD to have and keep the "original" d.c. of her husband...)

[mollyeilis]

So anyway, you just contact the vital records office in Boston, send them money, and they'll send you another. :)

 

But you really don't need another.

 

(get a passport! they are easier and more waterproof!)

[teamfour]

Thanks for all the replies. We plan on getting passports right after this trip is over.

[Capt_BJ]

this site tells where/who to contact for states, territories and a few cities

 

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/howto/w2w/w2welcom.htm

 

to get a certified copy of birth cert. Got mine in 48 hours by paying for FedEx.

[WatchHill]

As a registrar in my town, I can tell you that we have been flooded with requests for BC's in the past few months. Many clerk's offices in MA also process passport applications.

In MA, you need to contact the town in which your parents resided at your time of birth, NOT the town in which you were born [most towns don't have hospitals]. In some instances, it's the same community, though not always. The town/city has the ORIGINAL birth certificate in their vault. I was born in Boston, though my parents lived in a western suburb and that's the town that has my original birth certificate.

The original is photocopied and stamped with the raised seal and signed by the clerk. So, when you request a BC, you are receiving a copy of the original.

Many old BC's are difficult to read and will not copy or arrived in less than quality condition. Then the information is retyped onto a BC form, with page & volume number, and then certified. Cost varies from town to town. We only charge $5, but I've heard of prices as high as $20.

 

Darcy

[curiousl8y]

Who provides the service to get a certified copy of my birth cert?

 

This link should do what you need.

 

http://www.vitalchek.com/

 

Just as an FYI, I googled a bunch of links trying to find something cheaper, and all roads lead back to this company. They seem to have a monopoly on getting Certified Birth Certificates if you want to accomplish it online, which most of us do, if we're no longer living in the town in which we were born. These people make it hassle free.

 

Also FYI, when I originally went to the Post Office to apply for my passport with my notarized with raised seal copy of my birth certificate in hand, they rejected it because it was not certified. However, that birth certificate worked just fine for me last year to board our ship and to cross the Canadian Border.

 

Linda

 

L