Vital records · New York City
New York City birth and death certificates by mail
The city's premium mail application for a birth certificate, VR 69, devotes its fourth section to the notary. The death application VR 66 carries the same requirement. In both cases the notary completes a jurat, “subscribed and sworn before me,” and you also enclose a photocopy of your current signed photo ID. Marriage records are a different agency altogether: the Office of the City Clerk, which does not require a notary for a standard mail request.
What the mailed application needs
Mailed application needs
Notarized signature
Every mailed DOHMH application must be signed before a notary: VR 69 'Section Four: Notarize Your Application – This application must be notarized. You only need to notarize this page', and VR 66 '22. Customer signature. If by mail, must be notarized'. The notary act is a JURAT ('Subscribed and sworn before me'). You must ALSO enclose a legible photocopy of a current, signed photo ID (or two proof-of-address documents dated within 60 days). Certificates cannot be mailed 'in care of'.
Authority: NYC Health Code §207.11 (birth) and §207.13 (death)
Fees
- Birth certificate
- $15 per copy (max 3) + $7.50 premium mail processing fee; $3 per extra year searched beyond two
- Death certificate
- $15 per copy + processing fee; $3 per extra year searched
- Marriage certificate
- City Clerk: $15 short-form / $35 extended-form certificate (first copy)
Check or money order payable to NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (no cash, no starter checks); a non-premium birth form exists without the $7.50 fee but is processed manually and slower. Mail: NYC DOHMH, Attention: Premium BC Request, 125 Worth St., Room 119, CN-4, New York, NY 10013.
Official forms
- Premium Mail Service Application To Request an NYC Birth Certificate · VR 69 (Rev. 4/25)Birth
- Death Certificate Application (mail or in person) · VR 66 (Rev. 12.23)Death
- Attorney Protocol for NYC Birth Certificates · VR 210 (4/17)Birth
- Marriage record (Office of the City Clerk) – mail-in request form CC2002B; photocopy of ID, money order; no notary for a standard request · CC2002BMarriage
Who may order a certified copy
- birth: the person named on the certificate, 18 or older
- birth: the parent or legal guardian of the person named on the certificate (parent must be named on the certificate)
- birth of a deceased person: spouse, domestic partner, parent (if deceased was 18 or younger), child, sibling, niece/nephew, aunt/uncle, grandchild, grandniece/grandnephew, great-grandchild (separate application + death certificate)
- death with cause of death: spouse, domestic partner, parent, child, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, informant listed on the certificate, person in charge of disposition
- death without cause of death: also niece/nephew, aunt/uncle, great-grandchild, great-great-grandchild, grandniece/grandnephew; anyone else must document their right
- death: funeral director handling disposition, up to one year after death
Births and deaths: notarize the signature page
VR 69 tells you to notarize only the page that carries Section Four. The notary watches you sign, administers the oath and completes the jurat with the state, county and date, then seals it. Certificates are never mailed “in care of” a third party, and the fee is $15 per copy with a $7.50 processing charge on the premium form; a non-premium form without the charge exists but is processed by hand and more slowly.
The death application works the same way: item 22, the customer signature, must be notarized when the form is mailed, and the same ID rules apply. Both forms accept two proof-of-address documents dated within sixty days in place of photo ID.
Section Four of form VR 69
From the Premium Mail Service Application to Request an NYC Birth Certificate, VR 69 (Rev. 4/25). The notary completes everything after the applicant's signature.
Section Four: Notarize Your Application
This application must be notarized. You only need to notarize this page. You must submit a copy of your current ID with this application.
Signature of applicant ______ Date ______
To be completed by notary. State of ______, County of ______. Subscribed and sworn before me this ___ day of ______, 20__. Notary Public signature ______ (Notary Public seal)
A copy of a birth certificate can be issued only to the person to whom the record of birth relates, if of age, or to a parent. It is a violation of law to make a false, untrue, or misleading statement or to forge the signature of another person on this application.
A jurat: you swear to the contents in front of the notary. Contrast California and Texas, whose sworn statements use an acknowledgment.
Applying for someone else in New York City
Birth: an agent under a power of attorney is not recognised; the only third-party route is a licensed ATTORNEY using the Attorney Protocol (VR 210): Section A written authorization signed by the registrant (18+), mother/parent or father/parent ('I ___ authorize ___ to act on my behalf to obtain my/my child's birth certificate'), client's photo ID (Section B) or alternative ID (C) or an attorney affirmation with a photo taken in the attorney's presence (D), plus a completed and NOTARIZED VR 69 with the attorney's name in Section One and 'Attorney' as relationship, copy of the attorney's photo ID, proof of bar licensure and the fee; mailed to 125 Worth St, Room 119, CN-4, 'Attention: Premium Attorney Protocol Request'. Nonprofits serving minors/developmentally disabled adults may apply with a notarized application, letterhead letter and proof of legal standing (court order if applicable). Death: 'attorneys retained by an entitled party' may order with a letterhead letter, an ORIGINAL letter from the entitled party authorizing the attorney, the entitled party's ID, attorney ID and licensure; paralegals/couriers may not. Court orders are the fallback for anyone else.
The city does not recognize an agent under a power of attorney for birth certificates. The only third-party route is a licensed attorney using the Attorney Protocol, form VR 210: a written authorization signed by the registrant or a parent, the client's photo ID or an attorney affirmation with a photograph taken in the attorney's presence, a notarized VR 69 naming the attorney as applicant with “Attorney” as the relationship, the attorney's own ID and proof of bar admission, and the fee. Nonprofits serving minors or developmentally disabled adults may apply with a notarized application and proof of standing.
For a death certificate an attorney retained by an entitled relative may order with a letter on letterhead, an original authorization letter from the relative, that relative's ID, and the attorney's ID and license. Paralegals and couriers may not. Everyone else needs a court order.
A notarized authorization letter is a short jurat or acknowledgment and takes one online session.
Sources
- NYC Health – Birth Certificates (ordering by mail, Attorney Protocol, nonprofit requests)
- NYC Health – Death Certificates (eligibility, attorney orders)
- VR 69 (Rev. 4/25) Premium Mail Service Application To Request an NYC Birth Certificate
- VR 66 (Rev. 12.23) Death Certificate Application
- VR 210 (4/17) Attorney Protocol for NYC Birth Certificates
Checked October 2026. Fees and forms change; confirm with the issuing office before mailing. General guidance, not legal advice.
Other states with a notary step
California
Notarized sworn statement
Texas
Notarized sworn statement
New York
ID copy, no notary
Minnesota
Notarized signature
Iowa
Notarized signature
Arizona
Notarized signature or ID copy
Montana
Notarized signature or ID copy
Wyoming
Notarized signature or ID copy
All 50 states in the vital records guide. The sworn statement glossary entry explains the notarial act these forms use.