Family & Safety

It can be hard to figure out how to get a copy of your birth certificate. You must typically pay a fee, though in some situations that fee can be waived.

If you were born in Illinois

If you were born in Illinois, it is sometimes easiest to go through Illinois Department of Public Health and not an Illinois County to get a copy of your birth certificate.

To get a certified copy of your birth certificate through IDPH, use the Application for Illinois Birth Record. You will need to provide an ID, like a driver’s license (see the application for other types of ID you can use). 

A certified birth certificate is $15 for a long-form birth certificate and $10 for a short form certified copy. All additional copies cost $2.

The Application for Illinois Birth Record from the State form will ask you for specific information about:

• Full name on the birth record,
• Date of Illinois Birth,
• Place of Illinois Birth,
• Gender, and
• Full name of both parents before marriage.

You can mail or fax the application to:

Illinois Department of Public Health
Division of Vital Records
925 E. Ridgely Avenue,
Springfield, Illinois 62702-2737

Fax: 217-523-2648

You can also order a copy online. You must have a valid major credit card. The handling fee is $15 and the UPS fee is $22. 

Fees

A certified birth certificate is $15 for a long-form birth certificate and $10 for a short form certified copy. All additional copies cost $2. For more information, visit the Illinois Department of Public Health website. 

Fee waivers

There is no fee if you are a youth in care or a person under the age of 27 who was a youth in care as defined by the Children and Family Services Act, on or after your 18th birthday.

There is no fee if you received any of the following from the Illinois Department of Corrections or the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice:

• Release on parole,
• Mandatory supervised release,
• Final discharge,
• Pardon, or
• Aftercare release under the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.

To avoid a fee, you will need to provide a verification form from the Illinois Department of Corrections or the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice. It must show your date of birth and social security number.

This applies to one search fee waiver and one certified copy fee waiver.

Fee waivers for unhoused individuals

There is no charge for getting a copy of your birth certificate if you can show that you are experiencing homelessness. You may receive four birth records per year.

You must get a document from one of the following sources to show that you are experiencing homelessness:

• A homeless service agency,
• A lawyer licensed in Illinois,
• A public school homeless liaison or school social worker, or
• A human services provider funded by the State of Illinois.

Fee waivers for individuals who live in a domestic violence shelter

There is no fee if you are a domestic violence survivor and reside in a shelter for domestic violence. You will need to get a Certification Letter for Domestic Violence Waiver. You may receive four birth records per year.

This waiver must include the following information:

• Your full name,
• Your date of birth,
• A certification that you are a domestic violence survivor.

It must be certified by either:

• An advocate at a family violence center,
• A licensed medical care or mental health provider,
• The director of an emergency shelter or transitional housing, or
• The director of a transitional living program. 

Fee waivers for Cook County residents

In Cook County, there is no fee if you:

• Are unhoused,
• Live in a domestic violence shelter,
• Are incarcerated in Cook County jail or the Illinois Department of Corrections and will be released in the next 90 days, or
• Have been released from Cook County jail or the Illinois Department of Corrections in the last 90 days.

You must have a certification from the agent or agency confirming that you are eligible for a free birth certificate.

If you'd like to get a copy of your birth certificate through Cook County, visit the Cook County Clerk website to learn about this process.

Fill out the Cook County Birth Record Request Form if you believe you qualify for a fee waiver.

Other counties offer waivers for similar reasons. You should search for a fee waiver form for your specific county. 

If you were born outside of Illinois, or you don’t have an ID

You may want to Get Legal Help. It can be difficult to get these documents on your own. It can take 2-8 weeks to get an out-of-state birth certificate and even longer to get legal help, so be sure to start well in advance of your needing the birth certificate.