Michigan · Certified copy
Michigan Birth Certificate: Order a Certified Copy Online
We prepare your application and file it with the Vital Records, Michigan Department of Health & Human Services. The office mails the certified copy to you.
- Secure payment
- Encrypted data
- Email support
- Private service — not a government agency
Michigan at a glance
- Issuing office
- Vital Records, Michigan Department of Health & Human Services
- Who can order
- 8 relationships · see the list
- Standard processing
- 50–60 Business Days
- What you need
- Photo ID, names, date and place of birth, parents' names
- Expedited processing
- Set by the office
- 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. Michigan issues it for births recorded in the state.
Michigan birth certificate: a short eligibility list and the 100-year rule
Michigan restricts birth records for one hundred years. Until then a certified copy goes only to the person named, a parent named on the record, an heir, a legal guardian or legal representative, or by court order. Spouses, siblings and grandparents are not on the statute’s list unless they also fill one of those roles.
Who may order under MCL 333.2882
The Public Health Code names the people entitled to a certified copy: the subject of the record, a parent named on it, an heir, a legal representative or legal guardian, or anyone with an order from a court. The state's own instructions add detail. A power of attorney counts only when the document specifically grants access to vital records, an attorney may order for a client who is the subject or a parent, and for an adopted child only the adoptive parents are eligible. Records at least one hundred years old are open to any applicant.
Detroit, Wayne County, Oakland County and the state office
Michigan's state office holds births back to 1867, although some early births, especially before 1906, were never filed with the state. County clerks keep the births registered in their own county and issue certified copies of them. Detroit's own vital records office closed in 2013 and its records moved to the Wayne County Clerk, who now issues Detroit births along with the county's other cities and townships. The Oakland County Clerk issues only Oakland County births. When a local registrar cannot fill a request, the law has it ask the state to search.
What the Michigan application asks for and the ID tiers
The application asks for the applicant's name, mailing address, telephone and email, and a relationship chosen from the statute's categories. It then asks for the name at birth, the date and place of birth, both birth parents' names, whether the person was adopted and, if so, the name and parents after adoption, any change of name, and the purpose of the request. It must be signed in ink, with no notary needed. Identification follows three tiers: one photo ID that is current or expired less than a year; or, without it, an older photo ID or a work or student ID combined with supporting papers; or three documents from different sources, such as a signed Social Security card, a utility bill, a bank statement or a W-2.
Certified copies, apostilles and heirloom announcements
The state issues certified copies, and for documents headed abroad it can provide an authenticated copy for an apostille, meant for use outside the United States only. A birth verification confirms that a record exists without supplying a copy. Michigan also offers an Heirloom Birth Announcement signed by the Governor in several designs, but the state says plainly that it is not legal proof of birth; it goes to the person named, a parent, a guardian or an heir.
Adoptees, paternity and corrections
Adult adoptees can receive their original birth certificate from the state registrar after a clearance from the central adoption registry, and the copy is marked as a sealed record rather than the active certificate. Affidavits of parentage filed since June 1997 are kept in the Central Paternity Registry, earlier ones with the county probate court. Corrections need a notarized affidavit or a certified court order and are processed by the state, and a court-ordered name change does not by itself alter the birth record.
How it works when you order with BirthChek
In the BirthChek form the relationship choices follow Michigan's statute, including heirs, guardians, legal representatives and power-of-attorney agents. After you upload your ID, sign and pay, your order page asks for the supporting document your role needs: guardianship or legal papers, a power of attorney that names vital records, or, for an heir, the death record. We review it before filing with the state office, and you can follow each step on the order page.
Facts checked October 24, 2026 against the sources below.
Sources
- MCL 333.2882: access to vital records — Michigan Legislature
- MCL 333.2891: issuing copies — Michigan Legislature
- Order a copy of a vital record — Michigan Department of Health and Human Services – Vital Records
- Application for a certified copy of a birth record — Michigan Department of Health and Human Services – Vital Records
- Photo ID alternative documents — Michigan Department of Health and Human Services – Vital Records
- Heirloom birth announcements — Michigan Department of Health and Human Services – Vital Records
- Birth certificates — Wayne County Clerk
- Where to write for vital records: Michigan — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Where to get a Michigan birth certificate: state and local offices
Certified copies for births recorded in Michigan are issued by the Vital Records, Michigan Department of Health & Human Services.
We take orders for births anywhere in Michigan, including Detroit (Wayne County) and Oakland County.
Replacing a lost or damaged Michigan 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 Michigan birth certificate
- You, the person named
- Father
- Mother
- Heir (deceased registrant) · proof needed
- Legal Guardian · proof needed
- Legal Representative · proof needed
- Power of Attorney agent · proof needed
- 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 Michigan birth certificate
- Adoption (International)
- Adoption (US Only)
- Affidavit of Parentage
- Driver's License
- Dual Citizenship/Immigration
- Employment
- Genealogy/Family History
- Government Assistance/Benefits
- Housing
- Identification
- Income Tax
- Inheritance/Estate Settlement
- Insurance
- Legal Purposes
- Marriage (International)
- Marriage (US Only)
- Passport
- Personal Records/Use
- Retirement
- School
- Social Security Card/Benefits
- Sports
- Travel
What you need to order a Michigan 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 Michigan birth certificate?
About ten minutes. Have your photo ID nearby.