Embassy of the United States

Helpful Information

How to GET U.S. Vital or Civil Records

This page is designed to help you locate the vital records you need, e.g. a birth or marriage certificate, a certified copy of a divorce decree, etc.  The Embassy cannot obtain such documents on your behalf.

Vital Records are documents such as birth, death or marriage certificates.  In the U.S., state, county or city governments, depending on location, usually hold such records.  Please follow the link to The National Center for Health Statistics for more information on obtaining vital records.

If you need a certified copy of a Consular Report of Birth Abroad, you must request this directly from the Department of State following the instructions available on this link. 

There are also fee-based on-line services that help obtain records, but the Embassy does not endorse the use of any particular fee-based service provider.