Mississippi · Certified copy
Mississippi Birth Certificate: Order a Certified Copy Online
We prepare your application and file it with the Vital Records, Mississippi State Department of Health. The office mails the certified copy to you.
- Secure payment
- Encrypted data
- Email support
- Private service — not a government agency
Mississippi at a glance
- Issuing office
- Vital Records, Mississippi State Department of Health
- Who can order
- 12 relationships · see the list
- Standard processing
- 7–10 Business Days
- What you need
- Photo ID, names, date and place of birth, parents' names
- Expedited processing
- 3–5 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. Mississippi issues it for births recorded in the state.
Mississippi birth certificate: one statewide registrar near Jackson
Mississippi requires a legitimate and tangible interest. The registrant of legal age, parents listed on the record, a spouse, brothers and sisters, grandparents and children qualify, as do guardians and legal representatives with papers. Every certificate is the long form with a raised seal, issued by the state office, which serves walk-in customers in Ridgeland near Jackson.
Legitimate and tangible interest under section 41-57-2
Form 522 lists the people Mississippi treats as having a legitimate and tangible interest: the registrant once of legal age, a parent listed on the record unless parental rights were terminated, a spouse, a brother or sister, a grandparent, and a son or daughter. A guardian sends the guardianship papers, a legal representative gives a bar number and names the person represented, licensed adoption agencies may apply, and anyone else needs a court order. The state's rules shut out an alleged parent who is not named on the certificate, natural parents who lost custody through adoption, and commercial firms.
Photo ID, two documents, or a family member
Mississippi accepts one photo ID such as a driver's license, state ID, employment or school ID, military or tribal ID, resident card or U.S. passport. Instead, two documents from a second list work: a Social Security card, a utility bill with your address, a Medicaid card, a SNAP or EBT card with your address, a work ID or a Veteran ID card. If neither is possible, an immediate family member can apply using their own photo ID. Form 522 asks for the full name, date of birth, sex, county and city of birth and both parents' names, including the mother's maiden name, and needs no notary.
Ridgeland walk-in service and mail to Jackson
Mississippi is a single registration district, and the State Registrar acts as local registrar for every county. Walk-in customers go to the Vital Records office on Marketridge Drive in Ridgeland, just north of Jackson, and mailed requests go to the department's post office box in Jackson. Birth records are on file from November 1, 1912.
Long form only, and plain copies for genealogy
Short-form and abstract certificates are no longer issued, so every Mississippi birth certificate is the full long form with a raised seal. Birth records stay restricted for a hundred years. After that, family genealogists, and professional researchers with a relative's written endorsement, can obtain copies printed on plain paper rather than certified ones.
Adoption, legitimation and corrections
Adoption produces a new certificate, and the original goes into a sealed file; adult adoptees can receive non-identifying information, while identifying details follow the Adoption Confidentiality Act. When no father is listed, both parents can add him with a notarized acknowledgment, which may be rescinded within its first year; otherwise a court order is needed, and legitimation by later marriage uses an affidavit. A correction takes notarized affidavits from two people plus a document at least five years old, and the same item cannot be changed twice without a Mississippi court order.
Late registrations and chancery court orders
A Mississippi birth that was never recorded can be registered late through a notarized affidavit backed by at least two documents created five or more years earlier, or through a decree from a chancery court under section 41-57-19. Once filed, a delayed certificate can be altered only by court order. Disputes over a record are brought against the State Board of Health under section 41-57-23, and Form 522 still asks each parent's race, a field many other states have dropped.
How it works when you order with BirthChek
Our Mississippi form offers the family relationships Form 522 lists, plus legal representative. You enter the county and city of birth and both parents' names, upload your ID and sign, and BirthChek files the order with Mississippi Vital Records, where the long-form certificate is printed.
Facts checked October 24, 2026 against the sources below.
Sources
- Birth certificate application (Form 522) — Mississippi State Department of Health – Vital Records
- Identification requirements — Mississippi State Department of Health – Vital Records
- Birth certificates — Mississippi State Department of Health – Vital Records
- Rules governing vital records (October 2025) — Mississippi State Department of Health
- Where to write for vital records: Mississippi — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Where to get a Mississippi birth certificate: state and local offices
Certified copies for births recorded in Mississippi are issued by the Vital Records, Mississippi State Department of Health.
We take orders for births anywhere in Mississippi, including Jackson.
Replacing a lost or damaged Mississippi 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 Mississippi birth certificate
- You, the person named
- Brother
- Daughter
- Father
- Grandchild
- Grandparent
- Legal Representative · proof needed
- Mother
- Sister
- Son
- Spouse
- 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 Mississippi birth certificate
- Adoption (International)
- Adoption (US Only)
- Driver's License
- Dual Citizenship/Immigration
- Employment
- 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 Mississippi 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 Mississippi birth certificate?
About ten minutes. Have your photo ID nearby.