California Department of Public Health (2024)

**NOTICE REGARDING REAL ID**

The deadline to obtain a Real ID has been extended to May 7, 2025.

The Real ID Act is a new federal law regarding driver licenses that may affect many individuals. CDPH encourages customers to review the requirements to obtain a Real ID driver license. The requirements may include obtaining a copy of a birth and/or marriage certificate and possibly amending a record for accuracy. Checking the requirements with your local Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) may help you plan and minimize potential delays to obtaining required documentation.

For more information regarding the requirements for California’s REAL ID, please visit DMV’s REAL ID Interactive Checklist​.

Please review CDPH Vital Records’ current Processing TimesandFees.

Vital Records

The California Department of Public Health – Vital Records (CDPH-VR) maintains birth, death, fetal death/still birth, marriage, and divorce records for California. Services provided by CDPH-VR include issuing certified copies of California vital records and registering and amending vital records as authorized by law.

Once an order has been accepted for processing, CDPH-VR does not cancel or refund orders.

CDPH-VR sends all vital records via First Class Mail through the United States Postal Service (USPS). CDPH-VR is not responsible for any lost, misdirected, or undelivered mail by USPS or any other delivery service.

Obtaining Certified Copies​of Vital Records:

• Birth certificates​
  
• Death certificates
  
• Marriage certificates
  
• Divorce certificates
  
• Fetal Death/Still Birth certificates
  

If you were born in another state, see Where to Write for Vital Records on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)website.

​​​Obtaining Heirloom Birth Records:

• ​​​Heirloom Birth Records​
  

Correcting orAmending Vital Records:

• Birth certificates
  
• Death/Fetal Death certificates
  
• Marriage certificates
  

Establishing a California Vital Record: