Vital Record Retrieval Service

San Francisco City Hall, representing vital record retrieval Need a certified copy of a vital record from San Francisco or the Bay Area? SF Notary + Apostille explains how the process works.

What is a vital record?

A vital record is a certificate issued by a government agency when important life events occur. The most common examples include birth certificate, declaration of domestic partnership, marriage certificate, divorce decree, and death certificate.

What is certified copy of a vital record?

A certified copy of a vital record is a copy issued by the responsible agency (usually the county clerk, county recorder, or health department) that has a signature and a raised seal. The certified copy may be needed for identification, citizenship, or legal reasons, either here in the US or abroad (along with an apostille).

How do I obtain a certified copy of a vital record?

In general, you can obtain a certified copy of your own vital records, along with those of your children, legal wards, parents, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, spouse, and domestic partner. We have detailed instructions for obtaining vital records in person, online, or by mail on the following pages:

Note: Confidential Marriage Certificates or Confidential Declarations of Domestic Partnership can only be retrieved by the participating parties. If you are unable to go in person, you will have to order those certified copies by mail.

SF Notary + Apostille can retrieve the vital record for you

By far the fastest way to obtain a vital record is to go in person and pick it up at the counter. If you or a qualified family member are not able to go, or if you just want to skip the hassle of sitting in traffic and waiting in line, we can retrieve the vital record on your behalf, get it apostilled (if needed), and ship it to you or another party anywhere in the world.

Just follow the steps below.

Step 1: Email us your request

In order to get a quick price quote for our vital records retrieval service, email [email protected] with the following information:

The type of vital record you need retrieved
The county it was originally issued in
A statement about whether you need an apostille or just the certified copy
- If you do need an apostille, the destination country (e.g. France)
Your name, telephone number, and current physical location
The name, address, telephone number, and email address of the person to whom we will ship the vital record
A scan of the vital record, if you have one
- If you do not have a scan, please also provide this necessary information:
  - Birth certificate: Baby’s name, date of birth, and parents’ names
  - Non-confidential declaration of domestic partnership: Both parties’ names, date declaration was recorded
  - Non-confidential marriage certificate: Both parties’ names, date marriage was recorded
  - Divorce decree: Both parties’ names, date divorce was recorded
  - Death certificate: Decedent’s name, date of passing

We will respond with a price quote without delay. Once we’ve agreed upon a price, we will send you an invoice and start the retrieval process.

Step 2: Sign a Limited Power of Attorney authorizing our agent to retrieve the record

In order to obtain a certified copy of a birth, marriage, or death certificate on your behalf, we need to provide a notarized Limited Power of Attorney authorizing our agent to retrieve the vital record for you. If you are in the Bay Area, we can send a mobile notary to your location with the Limited Power of Attorney.

If you are in another county or state, we will send you the Limited Power of Attorney via PDF. You can visit your local notary in person or have your signature notarized using a remote online notarization (RON) service. If you are outside of the country, you can use a RON service or visit a US notary at a US Embassy or Consulate. Regardless of your location, we can help to arrange an electronic notarization—please contact us for more information. Please email [email protected] or call +1 (415) 655-9455 to discuss.

Non-confidential declarations of domestic partnership and divorce decrees are public record, so this step is not needed for either of those vital records.

Step 3: We do the rest

As soon as we have the notarized Limited Power of Attorney, our designated agent will travel to the relevant county office and pick up the vital record for you. If you also need an apostille, we will obtain that from the Secretary of State in Sacramento. If you need the vital record authenticated for a non-Hague apostille country, we will obtain the extra legalization. In any case, we will ship the vital record to you or the specified recipient.

We use FedEx Priority Overnight Service for USA destinations and FedEx International Priority Service for overseas destinations. Moreover, for any document shipped overseas, we will also send you a scan of the apostilled vital record for your records.

Frequently asked questions about vital record retrieval

What is the easiest way to get a certified copy of a vital record?

Certified copies of vital records can be ordered in person, online, or via mail. Going in person is much faster than ordering online or through the mail, which can take six weeks or more to arrive. If you go in person, however, you’ll have to deal with driving in traffic, finding parking, and waiting in a long line. The easiest method is to have SF Notary + Apostille go on your behalf and ship the vital record to you or the requesting party.

How long is your turnaround time?

Generally, once we have the notarized Limited Power of Attorney in hand, our turnaround time for retrieving a vital record from a Bay Area county is 1-2 business days. If you also need an apostille, that’s usually another 1-2 business days.

What if the record was issued in another California county?

If you need a vital record retrieval from a California county outside the Bay Area, send us a request. We have colleagues in San Diego, Los Angeles, Sacramento, and around the state whom we can send to retrieve the vital record on your behalf.

What if the record was issued in another state?

We generally only focus on California vital records, but we work with mobile notaries all over the country, and we may be able to recommend a local service for document retrieval.

What if the record was issued in another country?

We are unable to assist with retrieving documents issued by other countries. Please contact the local issuing agency for instructions.

Contact us

In order to obtain more information or place your order, please email [email protected] or call +1 (415) 655-9455.

Disclaimer: Information on this website is for informational purposes only. These instructions are based on our knowledge and experience and are meant to be helpful; however, they might contain errors. Please let us know if you encounter mistakes so that we can promptly correct them. SF Notary + Apostille is not a law firm, and its agents are not attorneys. Please contact a licensed attorney or your local bar association for counsel on legal matters.

Vital Record Retrieval – Birth – Marriage – Death | Call +1 (415) 655-9455