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Vital Records

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COVID-19 Important Notice

To protect the health of our staff and customers during the COVID-19 Pandemic:

  1. N.C. Vital Records has temporarily suspended walk-in service.
    All services are still available by mail or online.
  2. Vital Records services will be delayed, and delivery times will fluctuate in response to new developments. Thank you for your patience.
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Vital Records
Vital Records

Current Processing Times for Vital Records Certificates

Due to request volume, processing time for standard orders for birth certificates from 1971 to present may take up to five weeks. Standard orders for other types of certificates may take six to eight weeks. Requests that are accompanied by an expedite fee are usually processed within five to ten business days from the time N.C. Vital Records receives the request.

Requests to change a record, such as adoptions, amendments, legitimations and name changes, may take six weeks or more (depending on volume of requests) after the processing fee is received. There is no fee to process standard paternities and the response time may take longer depending upon the volume of requests received. Requests to change a record that are accompanied by an expedite fee will be processed as quickly as possible, but may take up to fifteen business days.

Same Day Service

We offer same-day expedited service at our walk-in window at our Raleigh location. An appointment is required if customer needs in-person assistance to change or correct a record.
Office Hours for Walk-In Service are Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM-3:00 PM.
Main Switchboard Hours: Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM-5:00 PM. (see Contact Us)

NOTE: ID OF THE PERSON REQUESTING A CERTIFICATE IS REQUIRED.

For a list of acceptable IDs see What forms of ID may I use to obtain a certificate? on our FAQs page. Requests that do not include proper identification will be returned.

Other Options

Birth, death and marriage certificates also may be obtained at the Register of Deeds off-site link (ROD) office in the county where the event took place. (Please be aware that N.C. Vital Records is the only place to get a birth certificate for an adopted child.) Divorce certificates may be obtained from the clerk of court off-site link in the county where the divorce is filed.

What You Can Get Here

  • Birth Certificates: 1913-Present
  • Death Certificates: 1930-Present
  • Marriage Certificates: 1962-Present
  • Divorce Certificates: 1958-Present
  • Fetal Death Reports: 2001-Present

Order a certificate. Need older records? Here is some information that could help.