The Division of Vital Records in North Dakota Health and Human Services issues the state certified copies from 600 East Boulevard Avenue in Bismarck, and its birth records page opens with the eligibility rule rather than the price. A certified copy may only be requested by the individual named on the record, provided they are at least sixteen years old, or by the mother or father named on the record. Anybody else needs a court order, which may not be a subpoena, or other legal documentation naming them as an authorised representative.
Each copy costs fifteen dollars, and the office issues no uncertified copies, so the certified document is the only one available at any price. There are three ways to order: the secure online application, which the office calls its fastest method, a postal request to Bismarck, and an in person appointment booked in advance by telephone. Faxed applications are not accepted. Local offices that issue vital records appear on the North Dakota county pages.
- Fifteen dollars, certified only: the office issues no uncertified copies, so there is no cheaper informational version.
- Your own record at sixteen: the person named on the record may order it from that age, as may either parent named on it.
- Under two hours for pickup: an online order with web order pickup is usually ready that quickly, with directions emailed.
- No fax: the office refuses faxed applications and points urgent requests to the online route.
Written by SearchSystems.net from North Dakota's own systems: the North Dakota Health and Human Services page on certified copies of birth records, the page on requesting a certified copy of a birth record by mail, the division vital records pages, the federal guidance on where to write for North Dakota vital records, each read on October 15, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.
Ordering the record of someone who has died
A second eligibility rule applies where the person named on the birth record has died, and it is narrower than many people expect. The applicant must be an immediate relative, which the division defines as a parent, child, grandparent or grandchild, and it then names the relatives who are excluded: siblings, uncles, aunts and cousins are not eligible. An authorised representative acting on behalf of the deceased individual may also apply.
Either way, where the death did not occur in North Dakota the applicant must submit a certified copy of the death record alongside the request, so that the office can confirm the death before releasing the birth record. A sibling researching a family line therefore has to use the court order route or an authorisation rather than the relationship.
Letting someone else collect it for you
North Dakota publishes a notarised authorisation form for the common situation where the eligible person cannot make the request themselves. Signed by the individual named on the birth record, or by a parent named on that record, it grants another person access. The office is specific about what it needs: both the authorisation form and the birth request application form must be completed for the request to be processed, so an authorisation on its own will not do.
That route is often simpler than a court order for an adult child helping a parent, or a carer acting for someone housebound, and it keeps the request inside the ordinary fifteen dollar fee rather than adding a legal step.
The identification tables
The division sets out its identification requirements as two tables. One primary photo identification is enough, it cannot be expired, and it must show the person full name, date of birth and expiration date. The accepted documents are a driving licence from a United States state or territory or from a country, which may still be accepted if it expired within the last thirty days; a photo identification card from a state or territory transport department, verifiable by the issuing agency and carrying an issue or expiration date; a tribal identification card from the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, copied front and back because the office needs information printed on the reverse; a United States military identification for active duty, dependent, retired, reserve or National Guard; a United States passport; a United States visa; and a United States permanent resident card.
Two documents where there is no photo card
Where no primary identification exists, two secondary documents are required, and the division repeats that expired licences or identification cards will not be accepted. The list is precise about age as well as type: a bank statement containing the current address and less than three months old; a motor vehicle registration card from a state or territory, less than one year old and showing the current address; a social security card; a social services card issued by a state or territory, which includes federal and state health insurance cards; a tribal enrolment record issued by a tribe and containing the date of birth, sometimes called a certificate of Indian blood; a utility bill with the current address and less than three months old; a paycheck stub issued within the last three months or an annual wage statement from the last tax year, with only one of those two usable and the document required to show the name, social security number and the employer name and address; and a certificate of release or discharge from active duty.
Four steps by post, and the courier shortcut
A postal application has four steps: download and complete the birth request application form, include a cheque or money order made out to the department for all required fees, include the primary or secondary identification, and post the form, fees and identification to the division at 600 East Boulevard Avenue, Department 325, in Bismarck. Once a request is received, copies are usually posted within three to five business days, which does not include return postal time.
There is one way to compress that: any request received that includes courier return shipping is processed the next business day for overnight shipping, so enclosing a prepaid courier envelope turns a week into a day or two at the office end.
Web order pickup
The quickest route in the state is a combination of the online application and the Bismarck counter. Ordering through the secure online application and selecting web order pickup as the shipping method puts the record in the office rather than in the post, and the division says the order is usually ready in less than two hours. When it is ready the office emails directions to its office so the applicant can collect it, and asks the applicant to bring the identification used to place the order so that staff can verify they are the right person.
Where a visit is needed for another reason, appointments must be scheduled in advance by telephone rather than walked in.
The rest of the division work
Around the plain certified copy sits a set of services with their own pages: a court ordered name change updating a birth record, correcting a birth record, adding a father to a birth record by establishing paternity, updating a birth record after an adoption, and a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth. The division also handles fetal death records, certified copies of death records and a searchable public death index, and it provides authentication by apostille or certification for documents going abroad.
For events outside the state it points to the neighbouring state registries and to the federal route for births to United States citizens born abroad, and it leaves county marriage and divorce records with the counties. Its statistical publications include an annual vital event summary, a fast facts report and provisional data for the current year.
Questions about North Dakota birth certificates
Related North Dakota records
North Dakota's other records guides on this site are the North Dakota public records law guide for the open records law, the North Dakota death records guide for the same division, the North Dakota court records guide for the judicial branch records, and the North Dakota county pages for every county office.