San Mateo County Birth Certificate One-Day Retrieval and Apostille Service

A certified copy of a San Mateo County birth certificate can be obtained in several ways, as detailed below. If you have any questions, please email info@sfnotary.com or call +1 (415) 655-9455.

Important things to know about San Mateo County birth certificates

Prior to placing an order for a birth certificate for apostille purposes, please note:

• Certified copy: Informational birth certificates that bear a disclaimer—such as “INFORMATIONAL, NOT A VALID DOCUMENT TO ESTABLISH IDENTITY”—are not eligible for California Secretary of State apostille certification. You must obtain an Official Certified Copy of the birth certificate.

• Eligibility: You are only allowed to order a certified copy of a birth certificate for yourself or your child, legal ward, parent, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse, or domestic partner, as well as any clients who have extended power of attorney to you.

• Recent birth: Live births may take up to four weeks to be recorded by the hospital. For an infant born less than four weeks ago, call the County Clerk-Recorder at +1 (650) 599-1713 or Vital Statistics at +1 (650) 573-2395 to confirm that the birth certificate is in the computer system. 

Fastest: In person

The fastest way to obtain a certified copy of a San Francisco birth certificate is for us or an authorized person to order and pick it up in person at the County Clerk-Recorder’s Office in Redwood City or at the Vital Records Office in San Mateo.

Important note: If the person was born prior to 1966, the record needs to be retrieved from an offsite facility. Call the San Mateo County Clerk-Recorder at +1 (650) 599-1713 to place your request at least 24 hours prior to the day you plan to visit to avoid making two trips.

Get an Authorized San Francisco Birth Certificate in One Day

If you are legally authorized to obtain the record, we can retrieve an authorized certified copy of a San Mateo County birth certificate in one business day on your behalf for $200. Our San Mateo birth certificate procurement fee includes the cost of one certified copy with additional copies available for only the County Recorder’s certificate fee.

To authorize us to retrieve the certificate, we will draft a limited power of attorney that grants us authority solely to obtain the birth certificate. You will need to sign the limited power of attorney before a notary, either in person or through remote online notarization (RON). We can help you arrange the online notarization if needed.

To get started, please email info@sfnotary.com or call +1 (415) 655-9455 and provide the following information:

• Full name on the birth certificate

• Your relationship to the person named on the certificate

• Father’s full name as it appears on the certificate

• Mother’s full maiden name as it appears on the certificate

• Date of birth

• Whether the certificate requires an apostille or authentication (name the country where it will be presented)

• Delivery recipient’s name, complete address, telephone number, and business name (if shipping to a business)

Medium: Order online

You can order a certified copy of the San Mateo County birth certificate online through a California-approved third-party vendor such as VitalChek, State Vital Records, Vital Records Online, or GoCertificates. You can choose to have it delivered to yourself and then mail it to us, or you can send it directly to us:

SF Notary + Apostille
459 Fulton Street #303
San Francisco, CA 94102

Please note: Some third-party processors are quoting up to six weeks or more to deliver your certified copy. If you cannot wait that long, choose the in-person option instead.

Slowest: Order through the mail

Option 1: Order the birth certificate from San Mateo County

You can order a certified copy of a birth certificate by mail from the San Mateo County Clerk-Recorder. In this case, you will need to sign the form before a local notary or an online notary and then mail the form and a check or money order to the issuing agency.

Please be sure to complete all fields in the application when applying by mail. Also, be careful to order an Official Certified Copy, not an Informational Certified Copy.

You can have the San Mateo County birth certificate shipped directly to us by adding our information in the “Mailing Address” field on the application.

C/O SF Notary + Apostille, 459 Fulton Street #303, San Francisco CA 94102

Option 2: Order the birth certificate from the State of California

You can also order a certified copy of a birth certificate by mail from the California Department of Public Health – Vital Records. You will need to sign the form before a local notary or an online notary and then mail the form and a check or money order to the issuing agency.

Please be sure to complete all fields in the application when applying by mail. Also, be careful to order an AUTHORIZED COPY, not an INFORMATIONAL COPY.

You can have the CDPH birth certificate shipped directly to us by adding our information in the “Mailing Address” fields on the application.

C/O SF Notary + Apostille, 459 Fulton Street #303
94102 San Francisco CA USA

Please note: Government agencies can take several weeks to deliver your certified copy. If time is a concern, choose the in-person option instead.

Contact us before you ship the certified copy

Whichever option you select for ordering a certified copy of a birth certificate, please email info@sfnotary.com with the following information before sending the certificate to us:

• 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 apostilled birth certificate

• The destination country (e.g. France)

• The physical location of the birth certificate or ordering status if you ordered one

Please note: government agencies can take several weeks to deliver your certified copy. If time is a concern, choose the in-person option instead.

The instructions on this page only apply to San Mateo County birth certificates. If you need a birth certificate from another county that is not San Mateo, please visit the website of that county for instructions. Each county uses different forms and employs different processes.

If you have any questions, please email info@sfnotary.com 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.