Vital Statistics, part of the Department of State Health Services, maintains birth records for the whole state and issues several different documents from them. Its birth records pages list certified copies in long form, short form, heirloom and election identification versions, along with birth verifications, which are not certified copies. The department calls ordering through the state's online service the fastest and easiest route, with post and in person attendance at a local office or the central office as the alternatives.
Who may buy a certified copy is tightly drawn. The person named on the record, their immediate family members by blood, marriage or adoption, their guardian, or their legal agent or representative may request one, and immediate family means a child, a parent or guardian, a brother or sister, a grandparent or a spouse. Everyone else must provide legal documentation showing a direct, tangible interest in the certificate, such as a court order establishing guardianship or an insurance policy naming them as beneficiary. Those limits apply only to certified copies: anyone may order a birth verification who can supply the full name of the person, the date of the event and where it happened. Local offices that issue vital records appear on the Texas county pages.
- Twenty two dollars: the fee for a certified copy in long or short form, and the same for a birth verification.
- A notary for mail: a posted application must be signed in front of a notary and carry the seal, with a photocopy of acceptable identification.
- Rejected means closed: an application with crossings out or missing boxes is rejected, and resubmission restarts the processing time.
- Five fee waivers: military personnel, homeless and foster youth, violence victims, election identification and certain child welfare requests pay nothing.
Written by SearchSystems.net from Texas's own systems: the Texas Department of State Health Services birth records pages, the department's costs and fees page, the requirements for mail and in person orders, persons qualified to request or change records, the birth record questions and answers, each read on October 15, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.
Long form, short form, verification and heirloom
Texas issues four things from one birth record, and the price list distinguishes them by use rather than by content. A certified copy in long form costs twenty two dollars and is the version the department points to for a United States passport. A certified copy in short form also costs twenty two dollars and is the version it points to for school registration. A birth verification, which is expressly not a certified copy, costs the same twenty two dollars and merely confirms that the event is on file, which is why anyone may order one.
An heirloom certificate, described as an official record for display, costs sixty dollars. Adult adoptees have a fifth option, a non certified copy of the original birth certificate at ten dollars. Records are returned by first class post at no extra cost unless expedited shipping is bought.
Ordering by post, and the application that cannot be corrected
A mail order has five elements, and the department is strict about each. The applicant must be a person qualified to receive the record. The application must be complete, with no crossings out, no correction fluid and no correction tape. It must be signed in front of a notary and carry the notary seal. It must enclose a photocopy of acceptable identification. And it must include a check or money order made payable to DSHS Vital Statistics, posted to the correct address.
The consequence of getting any of that wrong is set out plainly: an application that is not completed properly is rejected, and when an application is rejected it is considered closed, so the applicant must resubmit with corrections and the processing time starts over. In person the rules are lighter, with the original identification shown rather than copied, payment accepted by credit card as well as cheque or money order, and no notary involved, although in person service at the central office is limited to issuing certified copies of birth and death records and verifications of birth, death, marriage and divorce records.
The five ways the fee disappears
Texas has built an unusually long list of waivers into its fee schedule. Military personnel pay nothing under the Government Code provision for service members, on a letter from a unit commander. Homeless youth pay nothing under the Health and Safety Code provision, with documentation. A certificate for election identification is always free. House Bill 123 goes further, requiring the state registrar, a local registrar or a county clerk to issue a certified copy of a birth record without fee and without parental consent to a homeless child or youth as defined by federal law, to a child in the managing conservatorship of the Department of Family and Protective Services, and to a young adult aged at least eighteen but under twenty one living in a foster care placement that department pays for, with a departmental document, a foster care verification form or an attestation of youth homeless status as proof.
Senate Bill 798 requires a free certified copy for victims of family or dating violence and their children who are currently fleeing a dangerous living situation, supported by an attestation form. And House Bill 4466 requires a free copy on the request of a county or a child welfare board appointed by a commissioners court, where the request relates to a suit affecting the parent child relationship brought by a governmental entity, supported by documentation of a direct, tangible interest and an attestation from a board member.
Corrections, amendments and delayed registration
Changing a Texas birth record is a separate process with its own prices and its own shorter list of people who may ask. Only the person named on the certificate, a parent, a legal guardian, a managing conservator or a legal representative with proof may request a change or correction to a birth record. Adding, removing or replacing a parent, which seals the old record, costs twenty five dollars, and all other changes cost fifteen dollars, with supporting documentation required in each case.
Where a birth was never registered, delayed registration carries a filing fee of twenty five dollars, and the certified copy of the delayed certificate is free where the applicant resubmits the not found letter they received after applying and paying for a certificate that could not be located; without that letter a further twenty two dollars applies.
Paying to go faster
Expedited handling is a separate purchase from fast shipping, and both are needed to shorten the whole journey. The expedited service fee rose from five dollars to twenty five dollars to cover the cost of the service, and the department warns that it expedites processing of the application only and does not guarantee that the record will be issued if the application requirements are not met. To use it, the complete application packet, including the notarized application, any supporting documentation and payment, must be sent by an overnight courier such as FedEx, LoneStar or UPS to the expedited processing address, and an expedited return shipping method must be chosen and paid for, at sixteen dollars for overnight mail within the United States or twenty two dollars ninety five for express mail to a post office box. Ordinary orders are returned by first class post at no cost.
Where else a Texas birth record can be bought
A certificate does not have to come from Austin. The department publishes a list of local vital record offices across the state, organised alphabetically by city, and ordering locally is often quicker than posting an application to the central office, particularly where the certificate is needed for a passport appointment or a school deadline. Local registrars and county clerks also carry the statutory waiver duties under House Bill 123, Senate Bill 798 and House Bill 4466, so a homeless young person or someone fleeing violence can obtain a free copy at a county office rather than waiting on the post.
For anything the state cannot find, including births before the record was filed, delayed registration through Vital Statistics is the route, and for a record needed abroad the department issues documents for foreign governments with an apostille.
Questions about Texas birth certificates
Related Texas records
Texas's other records guides on this site are the Texas public records law guide for the Public Information Act, the Texas death records guide for the same vital statistics office, the Texas court records guide for the district and county clerks, and the Texas county pages for every county office.