New Jersey Birth Certificate: Order a Certified Copy Online

Eligible relatives and the documents that prove the link

New Jersey asks every relative other than the registrant and parents to show how they are connected:

• Spouse or civil union partner: the marriage or civil union certificate.
• Brother, sister or grown child of the registrant: your own birth certificate, which shows the shared parent.
• Grandchild: your birth certificate and your parent's, plus a marriage certificate if a name changed.
• Registrant whose name changed by marriage: the marriage or civil union certificate.
• Executor: proof of appointment.
• Attorney: proof of the retainer and the client's own proof of relationship, or a court order; a subpoena is not enough.

A stepparent needs the biological parent's authorization unless they adopted the child or hold custody, and someone helping an eligible person needs that person's notarized written release.

Replacing a New Jersey birth certificate

A lost, damaged or duplicate New Jersey birth certificate is replaced by ordering a new certified copy. The certified copy is printed on safety paper with a raised seal and is the version that establishes identity. If the copy is for use abroad, choose the certified copy for an apostille: the apostille can be added only to a copy issued by the state office, which then goes to the Department of the Treasury. Copies issued by a municipal registrar are valid for every use except apostille. The time of birth appears only on a certified copy, and only when it was recorded.

Municipal registrars, Jersey City and the state office in Trenton

New Jersey records births at the municipal level as well as centrally. The local registrar of the municipality where the birth happened can issue a copy, and the state's Office of Vital Statistics and Registry in Trenton issues copies for births anywhere in the state and serves walk-in customers. Jersey City is a notable example: its city clerk issues Jersey City births after 1925, and those copies are accepted for REAL ID and passports.

What the application asks for and the ID rules

The application asks you to choose the type of copy, give your relationship, name, mailing address, email, telephone and reason, and provide the child's name at birth, the city, county and date of birth, both parents' names at birth and any later name change. The state needs at least the full name, the city, the exact date, the mother's maiden name and the father's name if listed. Identification is a photo driver's license or non-driver ID with your current address, or a license without a photo plus one alternate document, or two alternates such as a vehicle registration, a voter registration card, a passport, a school ID or a recent bank statement or utility bill. Sending the copy to an address other than the one on your ID needs a notarized letter.

Genealogy, adoption and the eighty-year line

New Jersey separates genealogical records from others at eighty years: a birth counts as genealogical when the person has died and the birth was at least eighty years ago, and earlier records from 1848 through 1925 are kept by the State Archives. After an adoption the state issues a new birth certificate and seals the original; since 2017 adult adoptees may request a non-certified copy of the original. Changes to a child's first or middle name are simplest before age seven, and a delayed report of birth requires a questionnaire and documentary proof.

How it works when you order with BirthChek

New Jersey is a state where BirthChek always asks for proof when you are not the registrant or a parent. You choose your relationship, fill in the birth details the state needs, upload your ID and sign. After payment, your order page lists the exact documents for your relationship, such as your own birth certificate or a marriage certificate, and you upload them there. We check them before filing and keep you posted on the order page until the certificate is mailed.