The Vital Registration Office of the Health Statistics Center is the state level custodian of birth certificates for people born anywhere in West Virginia from 1917 to date, and issues certified copies from the original certificate on file. It sits in Room 165 at 350 Capitol Street in Charleston, in the building the centre calls the Diamond Building, and is open on weekdays from half past eight in the morning until five, eastern time, except on official holidays. The certificate requests page states which route is quickest without hedging: ordering in person, for same day service.
The twelve dollars pays for a search, not for a sheet of paper. Twelve dollars, non refundable, entitles the applicant to one certified copy, and it buys a three year search made up of the year specified, the year before and the year after. Additional three year periods may be bought at twelve dollars each, additional copies are twelve dollars each, and where nothing is on file a No Record letter is posted back. West Virginia, the office says plainly, is not an open record state. Local offices that issue vital records appear on the West Virginia county pages.
- Twelve dollars, three years: the non refundable search fee includes one certified copy and covers the year named plus one either side.
- A long eligible list: parents, stepparents, in laws, grandchildren and great grandparents are all named, half and step relations included.
- A walk up counter: same day service in the main lobby at 350 Capitol Street, with the lunch hour the busiest time.
- A four per cent card surcharge: cards are taken at the counter only, and not by post.
Written by SearchSystems.net from West Virginia's own systems: the West Virginia Department of Health certificate requests page, the Health Statistics Center page on obtaining birth and death certificates, the heirloom birth certificate page, the centre genealogy page, the department certificate request forms page, the federal guidance on where to write for West Virginia vital records, each read on October 15, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.
Who is on the list
Most states stop at immediate family. West Virginia writes the relationships out, and the list reaches further than the phrase suggests. It covers the registrant, meaning the person named on the certificate, as long as they are eighteen or older or emancipated by court order or marriage; the mother or father as listed on the certificate, or a current stepparent; a legal guardian, who submits a copy of the guardianship papers; the registrant spouse; the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren of the registrant, including half and step relationships; a brother or sister, again including half and step relationships; a mother in law or father in law; a son in law or daughter in law; and the grandparents and great grandparents.
A legal representative of any of those people may order, as may an authorised government agency. Anyone outside the list who can demonstrate a direct or tangible interest in the record is told to contact the office for instructions rather than simply being refused.
The counter, and when not to arrive
The walk up counter is on the right side of the main lobby. The office asks visitors to allow at least a fifteen minute wait, while noting that most requests are completed much more quickly, and names the period from half past eleven in the morning to one in the afternoon as a busy time when a longer wait should be expected. It also offers a way to shorten the visit: print the application form from the forms page and fill it in before arriving.
One quirk is worth knowing in advance. The downloadable forms cannot be used by walk in customers, who are given a multi part form when they arrive, so the form brought from home serves as a set of notes rather than as the application itself.
Identification, with an expired licence allowed
The office accepts any one of four documents: a state issued driving licence, which it says may be expired, a United States or foreign passport, a military identification, or a photo identification card from a government sponsored programme. Where none of those exists, any two of four others will do: a major credit card, a motor vehicle registration card, a state social services programme card, or a recent utility bill in the name of the person requesting the certificate.
And where an applicant has none of these, the office states that exceptions can be granted on a case by case basis, which is a more generous position than most states take. A postal application needs a colour copy of the identification rather than a black and white one.
Paying, by route
At the counter, cash, cheques and money orders are all accepted, and debit or credit cards are taken subject to a four per cent surcharge. By post, only a cheque or money order will do: cards are not accepted and cash should not be sent. Online orders run through a third party vendor, and the office makes two things clear about them. Any customer service issue on an order placed that way has to be taken up with the vendor rather than the state.
And regardless of the fees the vendor charges, the state receives twelve dollars per copy, which is the office way of saying that the premium buys convenience and nothing else.
How long it takes, and the school rush
Turnaround depends on the workload in the office. During low volume periods requests are usually processed within five working days. Normal turnaround is two to three weeks, and the office notes that it is often quicker. Two seasons are different: during March and April and again during August and September the office sees high demand driven by school enrolment, and a minimum of three weeks should be anticipated. An expedited credit card service is available through the office partner at an additional charge, and the office asks anyone using it by telephone to print the application form first and have all the information, including the card details, ready for the representative.
The heirloom certificate
West Virginia sells a commemorative document alongside the legal one. The heirloom birth certificate measures eleven by fourteen inches, is suitable for framing, and comes in two designs, Heritage Quilt and Majestic Mountains. Every order includes a certified copy of the original on file, which may be used for all legal purposes, so the thirty five dollars buys both the keepsake and the working document, and fifteen dollars of it goes to the West Virginia Children Trust Fund.
The purchaser must be the person named on the certificate if they are eighteen or older, a parent or grandparent, a child or grandchild, a brother or sister, or a husband or wife. Gift cards may be bought online by anybody, but can only be redeemed at Vital Registration by one of those people, at the counter or by post. One limit applies: because of the additional time involved in making them, heirloom certificates are not available on same day service.
Apostilles, and what a certified copy proves
The office describes a certified copy as legal proof of age, United States citizenship and parentage, accepted by local, state and federal governments for a social security number, a driving licence, entrance to school or the military, a marriage licence, a passport and retirement benefits. One situation needs more than the certificate. A certified copy submitted to a foreign government may require additional authentication, including an apostille certificate from the West Virginia Secretary of State, and the office asks anyone in that position to telephone for guidance on the process.
The requirement does not apply to a certificate the registrant simply carries out of the country as identification.
Questions about West Virginia birth certificates
Related West Virginia records
West Virginia's other records guides on this site are the West Virginia public records law guide for the Freedom of Information Act, the West Virginia death records guide for the same office, the West Virginia court records guide for the judiciary case search, and the West Virginia county pages for every county office.