Wisconsin · Certified copy
Wisconsin Birth Certificate: Order a Certified Copy Online
We prepare your application and file it with the Wisconsin Vital Records Office. The office mails the certified copy to you.
- Secure payment
- Encrypted data
- Email support
- Private service — not a government agency
Wisconsin at a glance
- Issuing office
- Wisconsin Vital Records Office
- Who can order
- 13 relationships · see the list
- Standard processing
- 10–14 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. Wisconsin issues it for births recorded in the state.
Wisconsin birth certificate: long form, short form and Milwaukee
A certified Wisconsin birth certificate goes to someone with a direct and tangible interest: the registrant, a parent, a sibling, a spouse or domestic partner, a child, a grandparent, a custodian or guardian, an authorized representative, or a person protecting a personal or property right. It comes in a long form and a short form.
What a direct and tangible interest means in Wisconsin
Wisconsin Statute 69.20 sets the test, and the state's application turns it into six checkbox categories. Immediate family covers a parent named on the record, a brother or sister, a current spouse, a child, a maternal or paternal grandparent and a registered domestic partner. A parent whose rights were terminated loses that standing. The other categories are a legal custodian or guardian, an authorized representative such as an attorney, and anyone who can show the record is needed to determine or protect a personal or property right. Grandchildren and step-relatives fit only through one of those other categories.
Long form or short form
Both versions are certified and the state calls both acceptable for most legal and identification purposes. The short form leaves out the parents' information. For a child of unmarried parents, Wisconsin issues the short form unless the long form is specifically requested, so choose the long form when an agency wants to see the parents. An uncertified copy on plain paper also exists, marked as not valid for identity or legal use, and it is not issued at all where paternity was never established or was set by court order.
Milwaukee, Register of Deeds offices and the state office
In most of Wisconsin the local place to ask is the county Register of Deeds. Milwaukee residents can also use the City of Milwaukee Health Department, and West Allis and Greenfield are served by the Southwest Suburban Health Department. Any local registrar may issue a certified copy of a record that has been enabled for statewide issuance. The state vital records office in Madison holds births from October 1907 and a limited number of earlier ones.
What the F-05291 application asks for
The form asks for a street address, since P.O. boxes are not accepted, plus a mailing address, phone and email. For the record it wants the date of birth, county, city, village or town, the name at birth and both parents' birth names. You tick your relationship category, state the purpose, and record your ID type, number and expiration date before signing; no notary is needed. Acceptable ID is a state driver's license or ID card, a U.S. government photo ID, a passport, or a tribal or military ID, or two documents such as a bank statement, a signed lease, a health insurance card, a utility bill or a vehicle registration. Expired documents are refused.
Adoption, amendments and records before 1907
After an adoption the original certificate is sealed, and not even the adult registrant may see it without a court order; a child adopted abroad needs a Wisconsin re-adoption before the state can issue a Certification of Birth Facts. Copies show every amendment except where a new record followed an adoption or a paternity action. Wisconsin accepts court orders from the United States or Canada for name and sex changes. Records filed through September 30, 1907 are open, and uncertified copies of them go to anyone; the birth index becomes public a century after the year of birth.
How it works when you order with BirthChek
On our Wisconsin form you pick one of the relationships from the state's own categories, from sibling or domestic partner to maternal or paternal grandparent or a person protecting a property right. You give the parents' birth names, a street address and your ID, and sign. BirthChek files the order with the Wisconsin Vital Records Office, and your order page follows it to delivery.
Facts checked October 24, 2026 against the sources below.
Sources
- Obtaining a vital record — Wisconsin Department of Health Services – Vital Records
- Wisconsin birth certificate application (F-05291) — Wisconsin Department of Health Services – Vital Records
- Wis. Stat. §69.20: confidentiality and direct and tangible interest — Wisconsin State Legislature
- Wis. Stat. §69.21: copies of vital records — Wisconsin State Legislature
- Where to get vital records — Wisconsin Department of Health Services – Vital Records
- Adoptions — Wisconsin Department of Health Services – Vital Records
- Genealogy — Wisconsin Department of Health Services – Vital Records
- Where to write for vital records: Wisconsin — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Where to get a Wisconsin birth certificate: state and local offices
Certified copies for births recorded in Wisconsin are issued by the Wisconsin Vital Records Office.
We take orders for births anywhere in Wisconsin, including Milwaukee and Brown County.
Who can order a Wisconsin birth certificate
- You, the person named
- Authorized Representative · proof needed
- Child
- Determination/Protection of Personal or Property Right
- Domestic Partner
- Father
- Legal Custodian/Guardian · proof needed
- Maternal Grandparent
- Mother
- Paternal Grandparent
- Sibling
- 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 Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin birth certificate?
About ten minutes. Have your photo ID nearby.