New Jersey's Office of Vital Statistics and Registry starts its ordering guidance with a decision rather than a form: when ordering a copy of a vital record you must first determine the type of copy that will meet your needs. A certified copy has the raised seal of the office issuing the record, is always issued on State of New Jersey safety paper, may be used to establish identity, and is a legal document. A certification is issued on plain paper with no seal and clearly indicates that it is not valid for establishing identity or for legal purposes, which makes it a genealogy document rather than an identity one.
Four things go with every application: a completed application form, a copy of the proofs of identity, the correct fee, and, for certified copies only, proof of the applicant's relationship to the person listed on the record, plus a marriage certificate where the applicant's name changed on marriage. Requests may be made online, by post, by telephone or at a local office of vital statistics, and the state has stopped taking cash at its Trenton counter since June 18, 2026. Local offices that issue vital records appear on the New Jersey county pages.
- Twenty five dollars: the initial search plus one certified copy, one certification or a no record statement.
- Two dollars for extras: each additional copy of the same record ordered at the same time.
- Relationship proof for certified copies: required for a certified copy, not for a certification.
- A dollar a year for genealogy: each additional year searched on a genealogical request.
Written by SearchSystems.net from New Jersey's own systems: the New Jersey Department of Health ordering page, the department's fees at a glance page, the department's online requests page, the department's page on genealogical records, the department's ordering forms, each read on October 15, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.
Which copy to ask for
The practical difference between the two documents is what they can be used for. A certified copy is the one needed for a passport, a driving licence, a social security matter, a school enrolment or any other proof of identity, because it carries the raised seal and the state safety paper. A certification carries neither and says so on its face, which means it will be refused wherever identity has to be established, but it is cheaper to obtain in evidential terms because no proof of relationship is required, and it answers the questions a family historian is usually asking.
For death records the difference is also substantive: a certification omits the social security number and the cause of death medical terminology, which are precisely the fields a certified copy carries.
The fee schedule, line by line
Twenty five dollars pays for the initial search together with one certified copy, one certification or a no record statement, so the fee is spent whether or not a record turns up. Additional copies of the same record ordered at the same time cost two dollars each, which makes it much cheaper to order several at once than to come back later. Genealogical requests follow the same structure, with the addition of a dollar for each extra year searched, so a search across a decade of possible birth years costs nine dollars more than a single year.
Amendments are priced separately and modestly: two dollars to record an adoption, a legal name change or the cancellation of a marriage, civil union or domestic partnership record, with twenty five dollars for the first certified copy of the new or amended birth certificate afterwards and two dollars for each additional copy. Cheques and money orders are made payable to the Treasurer, State of New Jersey, and cash should not be posted.
Local offices, and where fees differ
New Jersey runs a two tier system. The Office of Vital Statistics and Registry in Trenton holds the statewide records, while local offices of vital statistics in the municipalities hold and issue copies of records registered with them and handle local corrections. The state publishes its own fees but notes that at local offices the fees for copies of vital records and corrections vary by municipality, so the local registrar for the town where the birth was registered may charge a different figure and will often be faster.
Jersey City and Hudson County birth records are handled through their own published arrangements, which is worth checking before applying anywhere else for a birth in that area.
The apostille, in three steps
An apostille seal is an additional seal required for certain certified records that will be presented to a foreign government that is a member of the Hague treaty, and the department notes that it is often required for international adoptions or for establishing dual citizenship, advising applicants to contact the consulate of the country involved to find out whether it is needed. The sequence has three steps. Obtain a certified copy of the record from the Office of Vital Statistics and Registry.
Indicate on the application that the record will need an apostille seal, so that the copy issued carries the original signature of the State Registrar or an assistant or deputy state registrar. Then forward that document to the New Jersey Department of Treasury, which issues the seal, because the health department does not.
Corrections, adoptions and sex designation
Changing a New Jersey record is handled separately from ordering a copy, with the department publishing guidance on correcting a vital record, on amending sex designation, and on domestic and foreign adoptions, as well as questions and answers for adoptees and birth parents about changes to the vital records law. The amendment fees are low, but each amendment produces a new certificate that has to be bought at the ordinary twenty five dollar rate.
Where an adoption is recorded, the new birth certificate replaces the original for ordinary purposes, and the department's adoption pages set out how an adoptee may seek the earlier record under the current law.
Ordering, and checking where the order is
Applications may be submitted online through the department's request service, by post using the published English or Spanish forms, by telephone, or in person. Whichever route is used, the same four elements have to be present, and the most common reason for rejection is identification: the department publishes a list of acceptable forms and expects copies of them with a postal application. Once an order is in, the status can be checked through the department's online service rather than by telephoning, which saves time during busy periods.
For a certificate needed quickly, the local registrar of the municipality where the birth was registered remains the fastest counter in New Jersey, as it issues from its own copy of the record rather than searching the statewide file.
Questions about New Jersey birth certificates
Related New Jersey records
New Jersey's other records guides on this site are the New Jersey public records law guide for the Open Public Records Act, the New Jersey death records guide for the same office, the New Jersey court records guide for the courts' record service, and the New Jersey county pages for every county office.