The Health Analytics and Vital Records section of the Alaska Department of Health issues the state certificates, taking postal and fax orders at a box in Juneau and running two walk in offices, one on Commercial Boulevard in Juneau and one on Old Seward Highway in Anchorage, both open on weekdays from half past eight in the morning until half past four. Its vital records orders page sets out who may order and makes the confidentiality rule plain: all vital records are strictly confidential until they are released as public records, with births public after a hundred years and all other events after fifty.
The request form prices a certified birth certificate at thirty dollars for the first copy and twenty five dollars for each additional copy of the same record ordered at the same time. A request that arrives without an applicant signature, a copy of a government issued identification and payment will not be processed, and the office warns that sending the same request by more than one method means paying for each one. Local offices that issue vital records appear on the Alaska borough pages.
- Thirty dollars, then twenty five: the first certified copy and each additional copy of the same record ordered together.
- A fourteen year old may order: the child listed on the certificate can request it from that age with a current school identification.
- Fifteen dollars at a hundred years: a public record white copy for a birth that occurred more than a century before the application.
- Weeks or months: two to three weeks through the authorised online vendor, two to three months by post or fax.
Written by SearchSystems.net from Alaska's own systems: the Alaska Department of Health vital records orders page, the Alaska birth certificate request form and instructions, the Health Analytics and Vital Records section pages, the section fee schedule, the federal guidance on where to write for Alaska vital records, each read on October 15, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.
Who may order, and the school identification rule
Alaska lists five categories. The parents listed on the current certificate. The child listed on the certificate, if fourteen years or older, along with a current school identification, which is a lower age than almost any other state sets and a sensible one for a teenager who needs a document for work or travel. A legal guardian with certified guardianship papers. A third party, who must have a notarised letter of consent for the release of information from the certificate holder or the legal guardian.
And attorneys and government agencies, who must send a letter on their letterhead stating who they represent and why the record is needed, with supporting original certified or notarised documentation. The office adds one firm limit to that last category: faxed legal documents are not accepted, however the rest of the request arrives.
The hundred year line and the white copy
Because Alaska birth records become public a hundred years after the event, the section sells a document for them that other states do not name: a public record white copy, priced at fifteen dollars and described on the form as being for births that occurred more than a hundred years before the application date. Anyone may order it, since the confidentiality rule has lapsed, which makes it half the price of a certified copy and the right choice for a genealogist working on an Alaskan family line.
Records of all other events, including deaths, marriages and divorces, become public after fifty years on the same principle.
Two heirloom designs
Alongside the legal document Alaska sells an heirloom certificate at fifty five dollars for the first copy and fifty dollars for each additional copy of the same record ordered at the same time, and the form offers a choice between two pieces of Alaskan art: The Embrace by Rie Munoz and Polar Bears by Jon Van Zyle. It is a keepsake rather than a substitute for the certified copy, and at nearly twice the price of the plain version it is bought for the frame rather than the filing cabinet.
An apostille, needed where the certificate will be used in a foreign country, costs twelve dollars for the first and two dollars for each additional one, and the form asks which country it is for.
How long it takes, and when not to telephone
The section publishes its waits rather than hiding them, and they are long. Expect at least two to three weeks for requests placed through the authorised online vendor, and two to three months for requests made by post or fax. A request cannot be filled until the record itself has been registered, which may take up to two months after a birth has occurred, so a new parent ordering immediately will wait for the registration first.
The office then makes a request of its own: do not contact it unless the request has been pending for longer than those times. For anything other than a plain copy the wait is longer still, since all paternity, adoption and correction work, including a legal name change, has a standard processing time of three months with no expedited service available.
The hundred and eighty day expiry
Alaska puts a clock on its own correspondence. If the office writes asking for additional documents or information, the application expires a hundred and eighty days from the date of that letter where the applicant does not respond. Once expired, the application is closed for non response, and all documents and payments must be resubmitted as a new application, meaning the fee is paid again. Six months is generous as deadlines go, but the consequence is absolute, and an applicant who has been asked for a guardianship order or a consent letter should deal with it rather than set it aside.
Refunds are not processed for duplicate orders either, so a second attempt sent in frustration costs a second fee.
Identification, and what counts as expired
A photocopy rather than an original is required, and the accepted documents are a driving licence or other state issued identification, a passport, a military identification, a tribal or federal bureau card bearing a picture, or a school identification. The expiry rule is unusually forgiving: an expired identification is accepted provided it is less than one year expired. For an applicant with none of these documents, the section publishes a telephone number for assistance rather than refusing the request outright.
Payment follows the route: a cheque or money order made out to the Alaska Vital Records Office, cash for walk in orders only, or card details completed on a posted or faxed form, with a thirty dollar charge for a returned cheque.
Shipping, and who carries the risk
The form prices three domestic shipping choices: regular post at no fee and with no tracking, priority post with tracking at thirteen dollars, and priority post with tracking and signature on delivery at eighteen dollars, with international shipping arranged by telephone. Attached to them is a warning worth reading before choosing the free option. Alaska Vital Records is not responsible for items once they have been shipped, and if documents cannot be delivered, are returned or are lost, a new request must be submitted along with identification and payment.
In other words a lost certificate costs another thirty dollars and another two to three months, which makes the thirteen dollar tracked option cheap insurance.
Questions about Alaska birth certificates
Related Alaska records
Alaska's other records guides on this site are the Alaska public records law guide for the Public Records Act, the Alaska death records guide for the same section, the Alaska court records guide for the court system records, and the Alaska borough pages for every local office.