Due to public health measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, you should expect delays processing your request for authentication services. Please consider waiting to mail your request until we resume normal operations. Effective March 20, 2020, we suspended in-person counter service.
You should expect delays for pending and recently submitted requests to the Vital Records Office due to public health measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. We are currently in Phase 2 of our three phase reopening plan.
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) record facility closed on December 7 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and requests that require a file search may take longer.
Phase 2: Most of our staff will return to the office. We will focus on processing cases on a first in, first out basis, prioritizing our oldest cases. Delays will continue.
Phase 3: We will adjust to our new normal for operations. As we maintain health measures to protect our staff, we expect that service delays for certain products will remain due to work practices to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
As a reminder, all phases are fluid and can be quickly changed due to local public health conditions.
As a U.S. citizen, our Office of Vital Records can support you by providing copies of birth, death, and marriage records issued overseas at a U.S. embassy or consulate. Certified copies of Panama Canal Zone birth and death records are also available through the Office of Vital Records.
Our Office of Authentications issues both Apostilles and Authentication Certificates. If you need U.S. Department of State documents to be authenticated, please refer to the Office of Vital Records.
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