How to Quickly Obtain Birth Certificate After Giving Birth

The birth certificate shouldn't take too long (I think up to 6 weeks before you can pick it up, but usually sooner). It's the passport that takes forever!

It was my experience that you get the paperwork for that right in the hospital. You can mail it I think with a check and get it in a few weeks. maybe there is a way to pay more?

The hospital should give you a temporary one, at least mine did, and it was good enough for me to obtain legal documents with.

I was told it takes a month for the birth certificate to be prepared. My son was born 7/24 and I had his in a month. When I looked on birth certificate, all necessary signatures (doctor, records official, etc) were done on 8/12 so that's about two weeks. They give you the form to order it at hospital. I would send in form with money order (no personal checks) when you leave hospital. I would then began calling them weekly once baby turns 2 weeks. You should have it by the time baby is 4 weeks.

Call the Social Security office. I know you can pay extra to expedite a Passport. The Birth Certificate to get the passport should be available at you local clerks office that holds the records. You get it immediately when you go there. How long it takes to register with them after the birth, I forget. I have a 2 1/2 year old and it has been a 5 minute process to get a copy. I live in California so I am sure every state maybe different.

In the state of Nevada, you get the birth certificate before the social security number to answer someone else's comment. I think it is quicker if you are able to go to the issuing office. So if they are issued out of L.A. see if you can go directly to that office and pick it up sooner.

I've always ordered my birth certificates from the hospital before I leave. Included in the mile high stack of papers they give you. I always got it within 6 weeks or less. It usually got to me before the hospital pictures of the baby. See if that form is included in the other papers the hospital gives, that may speed things up. Good luck.

We took our son to Canada about a month after he was born. We got his birth certificate really quick- like within a couple weeks (my husband went there to the office to pick it up) and we got the expedited service for his US passport which took one afternoon.

Good luck!!

I think you can actually get the birth cert about three-four weeks after the birth. I don't think there's much you can do speed up that process, but the passport you can order expedited...it's an extra fee and you may have to go to LA to do it, but that's the part you can get done faster...

Good luck.
-M

I am also from Canada (Toronto area) and I went straight to the records office on La Cienega, stood in line and got my son's birth certificate on the spot. Then we rushed over to AAA and got my son's passport photo done and did a rush/emergency passport. All in all it was pretty quick, just time consuming! Best of luck to you! And if you ever want to get together with a fellow Canadian with our kids, let me know. :-)

C.,

I'm not sure where you are, but in Clark County Nevada they do give you something temporary at the hospital. They also give you the paperwork to send to the state for the birth certificate. I did this, but was tired of waiting for it to come in the mail, so after a few weeks, I went straight to the health district office in Las Vegas and was able to get a birth certificate right there on the spot. Several months later we got the one I mailed in for. Hope this helps.

A.

You can do it yourself and get it THAT day. Just call your local county office and ask them in the event of a hospital birth, can you apply for your own and tell the hospital you will do it yourself.

We have homebirths, so with all 3 kids, we just called the county and made an appointment. They e-mailed us the forms, we filled them out (any monkey can do it), faxed them in and then went in on our appointment with the baby and we paid for 2 birth certificates and walked out with them in hand. No red tape, nobody at the passport office or airline not knowing if they could process a temporary certificate - easy.

We also got a temporary one from the hospital. It looks like hospital stationary with type face, name, DOB, hospital info. Not like the official with a state seal/stamp. I cannot remember if you have to have babies social security card to get the birth certificate or visa-versa but either way I would go online and research the process to get both. Once you have all of the info I would go ahead and print out any paperwork you can. Get your envelopes addressed and stamped, fill out any info you can pre-baby. Pack it to take to the hospital. Have someone finish at the hospital and throw it in the mail on the way home. I think it only took about six weeks. While you are researching your states procedures/processing for obtaining these documents find out if you can pay extra to expedite. I do know that once you get the documents for the passport you can pay extra to expedite the passport, I read this at the post office when we got ours, but it is very expensive.... $80?? Maybe more. We waited 10 weeks for ours but it was during that time about two years ago when they had that big deal at the SSA with approving passports.

AHH! you just reminded me that I haven't gotten my last baby's birth certificate and she just turned two last week!!!! I know that in the hospital they give you paperwork that has to be notorized in order to get the BC by mail. I do not know if it is any faster. I didn't check where you live but if you are in CA I think it will probably take a few months especially with all the state problems/furloughs going on. Do children under 1 need passports? I am not sure. Good luck. Congratulations on your new little one on the way.