The Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics registers, preserves and issues Michigan vital records, and its ordering page sets out holdings that reach further back than most states: birth, death and marriage certificates for events that occurred and were registered in Michigan from 1867, divorce records from 1897, and affidavits of parentage from June 1, 1997. Records that have been registered for more than a hundred years are not restricted, so the eligibility rules below apply to everything more recent.
For a modern record, the list of people who may apply is short: the person who is the subject of the record, the parents named on it, a legal heir, a court appointed guardian, the holder of a power of attorney where the document specifically grants access to vital records, or a licensed attorney representing the subject or the named parents. A postal application must be printed, completed and hand signed, and posted with a photocopy of the requester's valid identification. Local offices that issue vital records appear on the Michigan county pages.
- Thirty four dollars to search: the fee includes one certified copy or a no find letter, and is never refunded.
- Fourteen dollars at sixty five: an applicant aged sixty five or over ordering their own birth record pays the reduced fee for one copy.
- Forty two for an apostille: an authenticated record for use outside the United States costs more and must name the country.
- A hundred years: registered records older than that are unrestricted, whoever is asking.
Written by SearchSystems.net from Michigan's own systems: the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services ordering page, the department's vital records pages, the department's page on ordering a record by mail, the federal where to write for vital records page for Michigan, each read on October 15, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.
A search fee, not a certificate price
Michigan is explicit that the money buys a search. The standard record fee is thirty four dollars, which includes one certified copy if the record is found or a no find letter if it is not, and the department states that applying for a Michigan vital record does not guarantee that a record will be found and that all search fees are non refundable. Ordering online adds a fourteen dollar processing fee for each record. An authenticated or exemplified record, the version a foreign government requires, carries a higher search fee of forty two dollars plus the same processing fee, and the application must name the country where the document will be used.
Payment may be made by cheque or money order payable to the State of Michigan, by credit card, or in cash at the counter. One discount exists: an applicant aged sixty five or over who is applying for their own birth record pays fourteen dollars for one certified copy.
Five ways to order
Michigan offers more routes than most states, and they differ sharply in speed. A postal order uses the printed application, hand signed, with a photocopy of valid identification and the fee. An online or telephone order goes through the state's single authorised online service provider, available at any hour with helpdesk support on weekdays, and rush delivery can be bought for additional fees. A drop box sits in the main lobby of the vital records office at 333 South Grand Avenue in Lansing, open on weekdays from seven in the morning until half past five, taking a sealed envelope containing the application, a cheque or money order, a copy of identification and any supporting documents.
In person service is by appointment only, limited to Tuesdays and Thursdays between ten and two, and covers certificates of birth, death, marriage and divorce and affidavits of parentage, but not genealogy requests or corrections, which are never same day. And will call pickup, chosen when ordering online, is available on the same two days, with processing in two to five business days, an email when the order is ready, and photo identification plus the email confirmation required on arrival.
How long the wait really is
The division publishes its processing times, and they are long enough to plan around. Regular birth, death, marriage, divorce and affidavit of parentage orders run at ten to twelve weeks. Birth genealogy requests, which the department marks as high demand, run at ten to twelve weeks expedited and twelve to sixteen weeks regular. Authenticated or apostilled requests take eight to ten weeks expedited and twelve to sixteen weeks regular.
Anyone with a passport appointment, a foreign registration deadline or a school enrolment should read those figures before choosing a route, because the in person appointment and the will call pickup are the only paths that compress them, and both are limited to two days a week.
The other birth documents Michigan issues
Besides the certified copy, the division issues three related documents. A birth verification confirms only the date of birth, place of birth, filing date and name of the subject, is issued only where the information on the application matches the record exactly, and comes with no copy of the record, which makes it useful for confirming that a record exists without being eligible to see it. A record of stillbirth is issued for stillbirths that occurred in Michigan and were filed after June 1, 2003, to a named parent or by court order, while fetal deaths registered between 1906 and September 1978 must be requested on the death application instead.
And an heirloom birth announcement signed by the Governor is sold as a keepsake, with the department warning in terms that it is not a birth certificate for legal purposes.
Parentage records, and where the older ones are
An affidavit of parentage registered in the Central Paternity Registry and filed after June 1, 1997 is available to those eligible under Michigan law, and a verification of the affidavit confirms the name on the record, the birthdate, the place of birth and the date of filing without reproducing the document. Records filed before June 1, 1997 are not with the state at all: they are registered in the probate court of the county where the child was born, or the county of residence at the time of filing, which is where a request for them has to go.
A separate verification of intent to claim paternity searches the Michigan Putative Father Registry to establish whether a claim has been filed, reporting the status of any claim with the searcher's signature and date, without supplying the notice itself.
Documents for use abroad
Where a Michigan record is needed by a foreign government, the apostilled or exemplified version is the one to order, at the higher search fee and with the destination country named on the application. The department is clear that these are not for use within the United States. Two further documents exist for people marrying abroad: a statement of no marriage and a statement of no divorce, each confirming the absence of a Michigan record.
Where either needs an apostille, the applicant must work directly with the Office of the Great Seal rather than the health department, which is also true for apostilles generally once the certificate itself has been issued.
Questions about Michigan birth certificates
Related Michigan records
Michigan's other records guides on this site are the Michigan public records law guide for the Freedom of Information Act, the Michigan death records guide for the same division, the Michigan court records guide for the trial courts, and the Michigan county pages for every county office.