Rhode Island · Certified copy
Rhode Island Birth Certificate: Order a Certified Copy Online
We prepare your application and file it with the Center for Vital Records, Rhode Island Department of Health. The office mails the certified copy to you.
- Secure payment
- Encrypted data
- Email support
- Private service — not a government agency
Rhode Island at a glance
- Issuing office
- Center for Vital Records, Rhode Island Department of Health
- Who can order
- 18 relationships · see the list
- Standard processing
- 30–45 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. Rhode Island issues it for births recorded in the state.
Rhode Island birth certificate: Providence, Warwick, Cranston and the 1960 line
Rhode Island lets the registrant over eighteen, parents, guardians, grandparents, adult siblings, a spouse or partner and adult children order a certified birth certificate, along with attorneys, title examiners and genealogical society members on official duty. Any city or town hall can issue a birth from 1960 onward; earlier ones come from the town of the parents or the state.
Who may order under section 23-3-23
Rhode Island's statute and the Department of Health's regulation name the registrant once over eighteen, a parent or guardian, a grandparent, a brother or sister over eighteen, a spouse or civil-union or registered domestic partner, and the registrant's adult children. Attorneys, title examiners and members of incorporated genealogical societies may order in their official duties, as may anyone protecting a personal or property right or holding a court order. For births to unmarried parents the list narrows to the mother, the adult registrant, the named father, a guardian with proof and their attorneys. Some city halls apply narrower lists at their own counters.
City and town halls, before and after 1960
For a birth in 1960 or later, any Rhode Island city or town hall can issue the certificate. For an earlier birth, ask the city or town hall where the parents lived, or the state Center for Vital Records in Cranston, which can issue any Rhode Island record by appointment. Providence handles requests through its Department of Vital Records on Dorrance Street, while in Warwick and Cranston the City Clerk issues birth records. A record meant for a foreign government must come from the state rather than a city or town, and only the state can change a record.
The VS-82B application
The state form asks for the name at birth, any court-ordered name change, the date, city or town and hospital of birth, and both parents' full birth names. You tick a relationship, from self, child and parent to spouse or partner, sibling, grandchild through the mother or father, or attorney, state the reason and sign an attestation; there is no notary block. A photocopy of a valid government-issued photo ID goes with the application, and some city halls accept two pieces of mail showing your name and address instead.
A century of privacy, and the State Archives
Birth records open to the public a hundred years after the birth. The Rhode Island State Archives holds those open births and can certify records from 1853 to 1925, while certified copies of births before 1853 come from the city or town clerk. Non-certified copies go to government agencies and researchers.
Adoptees, paternity and amendments
After an adoption the original certificate is sealed and a new one is issued. Adult adoptees born in Rhode Island can obtain a non-certified copy of their original, and after an adoptee's death direct descendants or a legal representative may apply. When the mother was unmarried, a father is added only by joint affidavit or court order. Only the State Registrar amends a record; the same item cannot be changed twice without a court order, name changes need a court order, and a sex field can be changed to M, F or X by affidavit in person.
How it works when you order with BirthChek
Our Rhode Island form lists the relationships the regulation names, including grandparents on either side, title examiners and genealogical society members, and those non-family requesters upload their supporting documents. You enter the city or town and hospital of birth and both parents' birth names, upload your ID and sign, and BirthChek files the request with the state Center for Vital Records.
Facts checked October 24, 2026 against the sources below.
Sources
- RIGL §23-3-23: disclosure of records — State of Rhode Island General Assembly
- 216-RICR-10-10-1: vital records — Rhode Island Department of State – Rules and Regulations
- Application for a certified birth record (VS-82B) — Rhode Island Department of Health – Center for Vital Records
- Vital records — City of Providence
- City Clerk: records and licenses — City of Cranston
- Vital statistics — City of Warwick
- Vital records — Rhode Island Department of State – State Archives
- RIGL §23-3-15: new certificates after adoption — State of Rhode Island General Assembly
Where to get a Rhode Island birth certificate: state and local offices
Certified copies for births recorded in Rhode Island are issued by the Center for Vital Records, Rhode Island Department of Health.
We take orders for births anywhere in Rhode Island, including Providence.
Who can order a Rhode Island birth certificate
- You, the person named
- Brother
- Daughter
- Father
- Grandchild
- Grandfather
- Grandmother
- Husband
- Mother
- Sister
- Son
- Spouse
- Wife
- Legal Guardian · proof needed
- Attorney · proof needed
- Title Examiner · proof needed
- Genealogical Society · 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 Rhode Island birth certificate
- Adoption (International)
- Adoption (US Only)
- 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 Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island birth certificate?
About ten minutes. Have your photo ID nearby.