Florida · Certified copy
Florida Birth Certificate: Order a Certified Copy Online
We prepare your application and file it with the Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics. The office mails the certified copy to you.
- Secure payment
- Encrypted data
- Email support
- Private service — not a government agency
Florida at a glance
- Issuing office
- Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics
- Who can order
- 7 relationships · see the list
- Standard processing
- 11–12 Business Days
- What you need
- Photo ID, names, date and place of birth, parents' names
- Expedited processing
- 2–5 Business Days
- Proof of relationship
- Required for some relationships
A certified copy is the document most agencies accept for a passport, a driver's license, school enrollment or benefits. Florida issues it for births recorded in the state.
Florida birth certificate: who can order under section 382.025
Florida keeps birth records confidential for one hundred twenty-five years. Until then a certified copy goes only to the registrant at eighteen or older, a parent, a guardian or another legal representative, or someone with a court order. After the registrant dies, a spouse, child, grandchild or sibling may also ask, and the copy is marked deceased.
Who qualifies for a certified Florida birth record
Section 382.025 of the Florida Statutes sets out the list. The registrant may order once of legal age, which the state treats as eighteen; a certified homeless youth, or a minor whose disabilities of nonage were removed by a court, may also order their own record. Parents, guardians and other legal representatives qualify while the registrant is alive. Once the registrant has died, a spouse, child, grandchild or sibling of legal age, or their legal representative, may order too. Records more than one hundred twenty-five years old that are not under seal are open to anyone. Someone outside these groups can still receive a copy if an eligible person signs a notarized affidavit releasing it.
Replacing a lost Florida birth certificate
A lost, damaged or duplicate Florida birth certificate is replaced the same way a first copy is ordered: the same eligibility, the same application and the same identification. What you receive depends on the year of birth. For births since 2004 the computer-generated certification also shows the time, weight and place of birth and the parents' dates and places of birth; for births from 1850 through 2003 it shows the name, date of birth, sex, county and parents. Both are printed on security paper with an embossed seal. A commemorative certificate signed by the Governor exists for framing, but the state says it cannot be used where a certified record is required.
What the Florida application and ID check require
The application (DH 726) asks for the registrant's full name, sex, date of birth, city or county of birth, and both parents' names before their first marriage, together with the applicant's contact details, relationship and signature. Attorneys add the client's name, the client's relationship to the registrant and a bar or license number. A copy of a valid photo ID goes with every request: a driver's license, state ID card, passport or military ID, front and back. A foreign license or ID, a consular card or a Matricula card is accepted together with two more items, such as a vehicle registration, a health insurance card, a school or work ID, or recent mail showing your address.
Miami-Dade County and the other county health departments
Registration of births became mandatory in Florida in 1917, and the state holds a limited number of records going back to 1850. County health department offices across the state, Miami-Dade County's included, issue certified copies of Florida births recorded from 1917 on, by mail or at the counter. Only the state registrar, local registrars and people the department appoints may issue certified copies, which is why every legitimate copy, wherever it is printed, follows the same eligibility rules.
Paternity, adoption and corrections
A father can be added by acknowledgment only when the mother was unmarried at the birth and no father is listed; both parents sign before a notary or two witnesses. After an adoption the court clerk reports it, a new birth record is filed and the original is sealed. A child born abroad and adopted in Florida receives a Certificate of Foreign Birth, which the state notes is not proof of citizenship. Most corrections need documentary evidence, and changing a minor's name needs both listed parents. Records sealed by adoption, a paternity determination or a court order cannot be ordered with the standard application.
How it works when you order with BirthChek
BirthChek walks you through the same facts the Florida form asks for and checks that your relationship is one the statute allows before you pay. You upload both sides of your photo ID and sign once on screen. If you are ordering as a legal guardian or legal representative, your order page then asks for the document that gives you that role, and we review it before filing. Our team files the request with the state office, and the order page shows each step until your certified copy is mailed.
Facts checked October 24, 2026 against the sources below.
Sources
- Florida Statutes section 382.025: certified copies of vital records — The Florida Legislature
- Birth certificates — Florida Department of Health – Bureau of Vital Statistics
- Application for Florida birth record (DH 726) — Florida Department of Health – Bureau of Vital Statistics
- Amendments and corrections — Florida Department of Health – Bureau of Vital Statistics
- Commemorative birth certificates — Florida Department of Health – Bureau of Vital Statistics
- Where to write for vital records: Florida — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Where to get a Florida birth certificate: state and local offices
Certified copies for births recorded in Florida are issued by the Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
We take orders for births anywhere in Florida, including Miami-Dade County.
Replacing a lost or damaged Florida birth certificate
A replacement is simply a new certified copy of the same birth record. You answer the same questions as for a first copy and nothing on the record changes. Order one when your copy is lost or damaged, or when you need more than one copy for applications running at the same time.
Who can order a Florida birth certificate
- You, the person named
- Father
- Legal Guardian · proof needed
- Legal Representative · proof needed
- Mother
- Parent
- My relationship is not listed · proof needed
Relationships marked "proof needed" must send proof of the relationship with the application; we tell you what counts after you order.
If your relationship is not listed, the office may refuse the application or ask for a court order.
Reasons to request a Florida birth certificate
- Driver's License
- Employment
- Genealogy/Family History
- Government Assistance/Benefits
- Housing
- Identification
- Income Tax
- Inheritance/Estate Settlement
- Insurance
- Legal Purposes
- Marriage (US Only)
- Passport
- Personal Records/Use
- Retirement
- School
- Social Security Card/Benefits
- Sports
- Travel
What you need to order a Florida birth certificate
- A photo ID: driver's license, state ID, passport or military ID
- Full name on the certificate and date of birth
- City or county of birth
- Both parents' names, including the mother's maiden name
- A debit or credit card
- Proof of your relationship, for the relationships marked above
Prefer to order directly? Find the office in the CDC directory
Ready to order your Florida birth certificate?
About ten minutes. Have your photo ID nearby.