No birth certificate!

[FreeTime]

We headed out the door today to get our passports and I told DH to get his birth certificate. He handed me a birth RECORD! Will he be able to get a copy of his birth certificate on the same day?

How close is too close to the day of our trip to get our passports. We are leaving in mid may. The post office told me that we will be fine because they have to have them returned within six weeks, but we will be cutting it very close if we don't get them for another week.

 

[cmcsharon]

We're in the same situation...leaving Mid May! We've been trying to get DH's birth cerificate since January!!! We live in CA and he was born in NJ...so it's not like we can just go down and get it!! I've ordered 2 certified copies of the birth certificate...just in case. If the passport doesn't arrive in time we can always just use the 2nd copy and his ID to get him on.

But...at this point we don't even have the BC to order the passport!!! I've told DH...he may end up sleeping in the rental car at the port...'cause the kids and I are getting on that ship!!!

 

[encmerk]

If worse come to worse you can pay and extra $30 and get his done in 48 - 36 hours. Also, if you live near a passport processing center, for example we live near Palm Springs, but it gets processed in LA. I have known individuals who where in a crunch to hand walk it down at the processing center. It might take all day but you will have it. My opinion get all the other passports done, and if you have to only pay the $30.

I hope this helps.

 

[anlashokna]

http://www.vitalchek.com/

This is probably the quickest way to get an official birth certificate. Passports will be back in 6-8 weeks...normally less. You guys should be okay for mid may.

 

[FreeTime]

We live in the county of his birth. Can't we just go to the local office and get it or does it have to be ordered by mail thru the local office?

Maybe we will go ahead and get everyone elses like someone else said. Then DH can get his later. I was mostly concerned about the kids getting theirs because I want some type of official ID for them.

 

[anlashokna]

Yep birth certificates on kept/registered on several levels. Should be on record with the county register or whatever they call the agency in your county and you should be able to get an official copy from them. No idea on the charge for getting one though. Every state is different.

 

[Az Pirates]

Let us know how you made out with the birth cert.
As someone else posted it depends on where you are. I think some counties will get them for you same day - others will make you submit a form and wait even if you go in person.
We are also out of state now and I know it was definitely quicker for us to go through the county directly rather than through the state office.

There are places that can get a passport for you in 48 hours - but you'll pay for it BIG TIME.
I checked on expedited fees through the PO here for a passport and it is an additional $60.00 plus you have to pay an additional postage fee (not sure exactly how much) and that will get you your passport in two weeks.

Good luck - if everything goes smoothly I would think you'd have time to get everything even without the extra fees.

 

[scrapperjill]

We live in the county of his birth. Can't we just go to the local office and get it or does it have to be ordered by mail thru the local office?

Maybe we will go ahead and get everyone elses like someone else said. Then DH can get his later. I was mostly concerned about the kids getting theirs because I want some type of official ID for them.

Yes you should be able to go to your local records office...and get a certified bc...the same day...It took us just a few min...to get all of ours.

 

[Rence]

Every state and county is different. You may want to try a google search for your state and county name along with birth certificate or vital records. They may have the information as to how to obtain one on the web. If not, you may want to try to call to see what the hours are and what the procedures are.

DH will probably have to go in person as most locals are pretty strict about who can get a BC. You may find that they have really unusual hours for processing requests. Many locations will be able to provide the BC while you wait, but as mentioned some counties will take the request and mail the BC at a later date. There is little uniformity with how these are handled.