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1.
How do I get copies of my birth,
marriage or divorce certificate? |
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2.
How do I correct my Birth
Certificate? |
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3.
How do I get a Birth Certificate
for my foreign born child I
adopted in NH? |
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4.
Where can I research my family
history? |
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5.
What is the cost of a copy of a
vital record? |
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6.
How do I get a certified copy as
soon as possible? |
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7.
What is the normal turn around
time between the request and
receipt of a certificate? |
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Questions & Answers:
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1. How
do I get copies of my birth, marriage or divorce certificate?
Effective January 1, 2005 all individuals requesting
a certified copy of a record (Pursuant to RSA 5C-16)
must present positive identification, including, but
not limited to, a driver’s license, passport or
other government issued picture Identification.
NH vital records are considered to be private and NH
Statute restricts access to them to only those
individuals who can demonstrate a "direct and
tangible interest" in the record. Certain older
records are exempt from these access restrictions.
Birth records prior to 1909 and death, marriage and
divorce records prior to 1959 are available with
unrestricted access. Individuals wishing to
research these genealogical records may do so by
visiting our Genealogical Research Center.
Alternatively, a completed application,
identification and fee may be mailed to the Division
of Vital Records Administration and staff will
perform research for you.
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2. How do I correct my Birth Certificate?
Sometimes
a person finds that the information on the official
record is not complete or
that some item of information on the certificate
does not agree with what he or she believes to be
the facts. When this is the case, it is possible to
have missing information added, or to have errors on
the certificate corrected. Any person may
apply for completion or correction of any
certificate in which he or she is directly
interested. Ordinarily, this will be the person
whose certificate needs to be completed or
corrected, one of the parents or the legal
representative of the individual. If a registrant
is 18 years of age or older, he or she must approve
the requested change when the application is
submitted by anyone other than themselves.
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3. How
do I get a Birth Certificate for my foreign born child I adopted in NH?
NH Statute
requires that the Registrar of Vital Records will,
upon request, issue a birth certificate when a
foreign born person has been adopted in a NH Court.
Contact DVRA staff for a Form VS 37 FB. By filling
out and returning this form, you will supply DVRA
the information needed to prepare a new birth
certificate. The form needs to be signed by the
adoptive parent(s) and the signature(s) must be
notarized. The fee for preparing the birth
certificate will be $25.00 which includes issuing a
certified copy of the record.
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4. Where
can I research my family history?
New Hampshire statutes allow general public access to birth
records prior to 1909; deaths, marriages and
divorces prior to 1959 for genealogical research.
These records can be found in our Research Room
located in the Records & Archives Building at
71 South Fruit Street
in Concord. The Research Room is open to the public
from 8:30am to
3:30pm, Monday through Friday. Volunteer genealogists
are available to assist you in researching records.
If you are an immediate legal family member you are
considered to have a “direct and tangible interest”
and are eligible to request and receive certified
copies of vital records that remain restricted due
to their age.
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5. What
is the cost of a copy of a vital record?
The cost of a search for
a vital record is $12.00. If DVRA staff
find a record after the search, a certified copy
will be issued free of charge. Additional
certified copies of the same record are available at
a cost of $8.00 each.
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6. How
do I get a certified copy as soon as possible?
Using a major credit card, there is an expedited
vital record service provided through a third party
vendor,
VitalChek. In addition to the $12.00 search
fee, your credit card will be charged additional
processing and shipping fees. You may initiate this service by calling
VitalChek at
877-878-8007 or visit them online by
clicking here.
VitalChek is a credit card processor that has no
affiliation with the State of New Hampshire. They
offer the ability to order your vital record over
the telephone or Internet using a major credit
card. Until your order is complete with
VitalChek and they have forwarded it to our
staff, we have no record of it and cannot assist
you.
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7. What
is the normal turn around time between the request and receipt of a
certificate?
If
you visit our office in person, we can usually issue
the certificate while you wait. If you mail in a
request, please allow 7 business days from
receipt for your request to be processed although we
endeavor to complete the requests as soon as
possible.
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