Well, I must say things went well for me here in Germany. I called up the first address I saw in the internet, and voila, "Translation & Apostille Services", in Fifth Avenue convinced me right off the bat. I sent them a copy of my birth certificate and got it back along with the Apostille within a week using PayPal.   

I think that the instructions need to be updated:
According to the New York Department of State, there's an Apostille request form that needs to be filled out for mail requests: Apostille/Certificate of Authentication Request Form , and it asks that you attach a self-addressed/stamped return envelope.I'm going through this now - it took about a month to get my birth certificate (which was ordered through VitalChek with the Apostille box checked) in Manhattan.  

I was able to obtain a long form birth certificate through the VitalChek system.

Actually, a certified copy of the NYC birth certificate (short or long form) can be apostilled without a letter of exemplification. If you have an original and need it apostilled, please contact http://www.foreigndocumentsexp... or call (646) 267-1140

I live in London and have just used Foreign Documents Express for my american birth certificate. It took them exactly eight days from the time the fedex driver left my house to the time he delivered my birth certificate again.

I would highly recommend you use them.

There is an erroneous comment related to a critical area of the apostille process noted here: that you cannot get anything but the short-form of the birth certificate from Vitalchek.com.  This is simply not true. A client of mine from Manhattan just ordered a birth certificate through Vitalchek (I actually sat with her while she ordered it) and she checked off "apostille" as the reason for getting the birth certificate and got exactly what she needed to obtain an apostille: the long-form birth certificate and the Letter of Exemplification.  

If you need assistance with obtaining your apostilles in Manhattan, you can contact us at www.apostillenewyorknyservices... or by calling 917-693-3692.--Mike  

Mike, I obtained the 'certified long form' from VitalChek and the Italian Consulate in NYC rejected it since it wasn't issued by the state. So: at least one consulate doesn't like Vitalchek. 

Thomas, long form birth certificates with a letter of exemplification can now be ordered through Vitalcheck. You just need to select the Apostille option.

Thomas, I successfully ordered my son's birth certificate with the letter of exemplification through the online VitalChek. You just need to indicate its purpose as apostille. Thanks so much for this helpful post.

I can confirm that you can do this through VitalChek. Just make sure you indicate "apostille" in the corresponding purpose drop down menu on their web site. It took about two weeks to obtain the documents.

hey just want to know after i recieve my nyc B.C. w/ letter of exemplification & mail it to the manhattan county clerk to get notarized can they mail off to albany to get apostilled or should i just have them mail it back to me & do it myself?

Thomas,

Thank you very much...I am not sure of the prices but here is the latest in the steps that need to be performed.

http://www.dos.state.ny.us/cor...

It's all there. The above url and steps are currents as of 3/23/11

Regards,

"In the same boat...just for a different country!" LOL!

FYI - I did order via VitalCheck and just make sure you select 'FOR APOSTILLE' and it did come within 2 weeks from NYC. Realize I did try to do this through the mail with NYC and after 12-14 weeks still did not receive anything, clearly it is 'lost' in NYC. I have a friend that did the same thing, going through NYC through the Mail is a lost cause.

I was able to get documents from Italy, non-NYC towns in NY and from other states with NO PROBLEMS, however, NYC is the ultimate in efficiency and red-tape.

Try expressvitals.com. My birth certificate came with in 3 days and I didn't have all this hassle.

Thanks, a lot of the prices have gone up, and I used the website you suggested and they did it for $230 including fedexing the birth certificate back to me in London. I sent it Thursday and he had it back in the post on Friday afternoon - well worth spending the cash. Apparently you can get the apostille on the original birth so we cut out step one - but your blog was a great saviour - many thanks again.

Thank you so much for this information. I almost ordered certs last month, but was afraid because the form didn't ask enough questions for me to be sure i would receive the right documents.

I feel much better about doing this over the phone. THANK YOU!

Would this website help? http://foreigndocumentsexpress...

WELL..SOUNDS SIMPLE ENOUGH ----I WILL FOLLOW STEP BY STEP...I AM IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC ...AWAY I GO I WISH ME LUCK

As in most states, but speaking for Texas there is ONLY one place for every county/city in TX to get an apostille done. That is downtown Austin, TX at the Texas Secretary of State's office. We provide same day, next day and two day apostille service to people and companies around the world for the state of Texas. You simple mail us via snail mail or overnight mail your documents and then choose how fast you want your documents back.
www.mobileaustinnotary.com
512-318-2500

I live in France so should i :
1. get the doc in step1 by mail in France
2. mail them back to NYC for step2
3. get them again in France by mail and mail them back again for step3
4. then receive the apostille in France ????
your help will be very much appreciated

I suggest to contact an apostille service in New York (http://tinyurl.com/36owpwk), it will be time & cost effective. You may want to shop around for price but I recommend Translation & Apostille Services (www.flatratetranslation.com). They are knowledgeable super-responsive.

This is awesome. Thank you for the heads up, I hope I can get this done quickly.

Thank you VERY much!

thanks sooooo much for this info! The NY Vital Statistics website was confusing and didn't include enough information!

I just received my birth certificate/ letter of exemplification that I ordered 2 weeks ago through the online vital check system which I paid 38.00 for...I checked the apostille box when ordering and while they did send me the long form birth certificate AND the letter of exemplification, IT WAS NOT MY BIRTH CERTIFICATE BUT SOMEONE ELSE'S!!! Now, trying to get the situation fixed is proving to be a HUGE headache!! Will post when and how I get it resolved in case this happens to anyone else. So far have sent email correspondence through the respective websites to both Vital Check and the NYC Dept. of Mental health and hygene. If anyone else has had this problem please post me!

Andrea--

For you and anyone else in New York City who wants more personal attention and not a conveyor-belt mentality, I would highly recommend www.apostillenewyorknyservices.... One person handles your documents from start to finish to avoid mixups like yours.

Oh no.. Good luck, I have dealt with that headache. Have you solved the situation to this problem?

Thank you for explaining the process in this detail. I called NYC 311 twice and once at the Birth Certificate section for this info. Those people who answer the phones do NOT know what they are saying, they are apparently NOT TRAINED. They do not know about the process to attain the vault copy, and that it needs to get certified at a different location, and that the APOSTILLE is a THIRD STEP. They kept referring me to the County Clerk for an Apostille! One of them -- in the Birth Records section got so frustrated with me that she suddenly put me on hold for 3 minutes (I thought to ask her superiors) but then after coming back, she still had no answer and hung up on me. DUMB AS DOORKNOBS!

do I have to go to Manhattan town clerk, if my parents were born in Kings County (Brooklyn) to go through the steps of an apostille ?

The information here sent me in the right direction, and I have some information to add. It may already be in the comments, but I'm not up to reading through all 123 of them to find out, so apologies if this is redundant.

A birth certificate can be ordered directly from:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/ht...

The website includes a link to a table of frequently updated turnaround times. It appears that the fastest method is to order online.

According to a phone representative, if you select "Apostilling/Authentication" as the reason for needing the birth certificate, it will come with a letter of exemplification.

It didn't work for me. Although I select Apostilling/Authentification, I got an useless short form. I had to do it again... through the mail this time.

Pierre,
Did you get the letter of exemplification with it or just the short form birth certificate? wondering b/c I already order it through vital check as well and did as you did, selecting the apostille as reason for ordering...

I hope this works. I just ordered mine this way before reading this blog post and your comment. In my case, I need this (along with apostilled copies of my father's certificate of naturalization and my parent's marriage certificate) to get dual Austrian citizenship.

[Pardon the split post, but the complete post wasn't accepted the first time around and it took me a while to figure out which special characters to remove from the second half.

Part 1 of 2 is the next comment. This is part 2 of 2.]

======================
Step 2: Obtain certification by Manhattan County Clerk Notary Department

The current address is:
NY County Clerk, Attention Notary Department
60 Center Street
New York, NY 10007

My father went in person, paid 3 dollars and walked out of the office 10 minutes later with the certified letter of exemplification.

======================
Step 3: Obtain apostille from New York State Department of State

The current NYC office address is:
New York State Department of State
Certification Unit
123 William Street
19th Floor
New York, NY 10038

My father went in person (10 minute walk from the 60 Center Street office), paid 10 dollars and walked out of the office 7 minutes later with the apostille.

End product: 3 pages stapled together

Page 1: document from New York State Department of State (from Step 3)
Page 2: letter of exemplification from birth certificate from New York City Dept. Of Health and Mental Hygiene obtained through VitalChek (from Step 1) with a slip of paper (certification) stapled on it and stamped by Manhattan County Clerk Notary Department (from Step 2)
Page 3: birth certificate from New York City Dept. Of Health and Mental Hygiene obtained through VitalChek (from Step 1)

======================
New (?) official NYS page on obtaining apostles

The webpage http://www.dos.state.ny.us/cor... has a very good description of the apostille process (including addresses of the various offices involved. It could be that the page hasn't existed in this form all too long, as it mentions a very recent slight revision in the method in which NYS DoS produces apostilles. Effective April 15, 2010, apostilles will be produced with a black and white laser printed facsimile of the New York State Department of State Seal. The Great Seal of the State of New York will no longer be embossed either directly on any apostille or on a gold foil wafer placed on an apostille.

I will comment on one point. The page states regarding the obtaining of the documents form NYCDo Mental Hygiene: "This service is not available online." While this is technically true (not available from the city's website), online orders via www.vitalchek.com are possible (see my experience above).

======================
Advice: My 2 cents

If you are abroad and have someone near NYC to do steps 2 and 3 (big thank-you to my parents!), get an additional copy from VitalChek, so that at the end of the day you have two apostilles - one to send via mail/courier, and the other as a redundant backup (i.e. to bring in person or to have stored at your parents). In case something goes wrong with the shipment, you will be glad to have invested the extra 15+3+10 dollars.

For people in an extreme hurry, order from VitalChek now. (My mother went to the New York City Dept. Of Health and Mental Hygiene in person on Tuesday, June 01, 2010 and chose the fast shipping option. The birth certificate from that order has not yet arrived.)

Today is Wednesday, June 16, 2010. Time from reading this blog page to apostille: 18 days (11 business days)!

Thank you, Thomas Crampton! Thank you, all those who posted comments!

Please post your experiences in the future (just a quick note to confirm it worked for you on mm/dd/yyyy), as it helps those who have no experience with the process.

Hi, thanks to this blog entry, I was able to quickly get my apostille. To confirm information of the original entry and the comments (and the information of the link at the end of this comment), I post my experience for others.

======================
Step 1: Order Birth Certificate for Apostille at VitalChek

I placed an order at www.vitalchek.com choosing as Reason: "Apostille/Authentification". I used the UPS Air shipping offer for the 20 miles distance to be covered so as to get 5-10 business days processing time (processing time currently averages 15-30 business days via regular mail). My order was placed online the day before the Memorial Day weekend.
To give an idea of the actual times experienced, here is the info from the Order Status page on www.vitalchek.com .
------------
Your order was received by VitalChek on Friday, May 28, 2010.
Your identity has been verified.
Your payment was received.
Your order was transferred to New York City Dept. Of Health and Mental Hygiene on Wednesday, June 02, 2010.
Your order was shipped via UPS Air on Monday, June 14, 2010.
------------
The order arrived in NY 10706 on Tuesday, June 15, 2010.
Enclosed were:
1) my certificate of birth as a "The City of New York Vital Records Certificate"
2) a letter of "exemplification of birth or death record" stating that the "foregoing transcript is a true copy of said original record, identified as" (followed by the certificate number)

======================
Step 2: Obtain certification by Manhattan County Clerk Notary Department

The current address is:
NY County Clerk, Attention Notary Department
60 Center Street
New York, NY 10007

My father went in person, paid 3 dollars and walked out of the office 10 minutes later with the certified letter of exemplification.

Hi,

I know somebody already mentioned this, but can anyone confirm that if you order a NYC birth certificate from VitalCheck, and select the Apostille/Authentication option from the drop down menu, that they will send you a LONG FORM copy along with THE LETTER OF EXEMPLIFICATION?

Also, assuming they send you both, does it still have to go to Manhattan County for certification, or can it go straight up to Albany for the apostille?

Thank you in advance.

yes, if you select Apostille/Authentication option, you will receive the long form. To your second question, yes you still need to send to the Manhattan County Clerk before you go to the Department of State for the actual apostille.

i have the same question does it still go to the county or can it go straight to Albany?

The VitalCheck service does actually offer a long form birth certificate, you just have to specify LONG FORM when prompted for reason for needing birth certificate.
hope that helps!

It won't let you check box for long form AND apostille at the same time though

Does anyone know if walk-in application, in Bureau of Vital Records
125 Worth Street NY, NY 10013, are processed on the same day??
Do I get my birth certificate with the letter of exemplification on the
same day if I apply in person????

Does anyone ever answer this number? I can't seem to get through:

Bureau of Vital Records
125 Worth Street NY, NY 10013
Tel: 212-788-4500

Yeah after 3hrs on the phone, and what a headache for no good reason because the people who answer phone have no idea how to help you. Oh and dont call after 1200pm because you will be on hold until they close and without ever getting an answer or talking to someone.

Goodluck.... Call 311 and complain they need to get that department fixed.

They Never Pick up, just got threw there website it works took me 2 weeks to get My Birth Certificate

how do i obtain an "affidavit to amend" for documents issued in new york state? inre: my father's & mother's birth certificates & their marriage cert. after receiving these, may i then apply for apostilles?
marilyn rothenberg
[email protected]

Thomas, thank you so much for blogging this. As an american born girl trying to get dual citizenship for Dominican Republic, it has been a bit challenging due to the language barrier.i tired to go to the Dominican Embassy to get some information, but the paperwork and staff mainly speak SPanish and I had some trouble deciphering the information I was given. My parents were both born there and I'm heading out there to take care of some business matters, so when someone suggested getting a dual citizenship to facilitate the process. My head spun. But you have made this such an easy process! just wanted to thank you for my making my life a little easier!

I just ordered a New York State birth certificate (not NYC), and I ordered it through VitalChek before seeing this website. I was able to call up VitalChek, and after about 30 mins on hold, I was able to update the order so that they would send me the long form. There is no option to do this online, but if you call them up, you may be able to have them make the change (depending on what state's records you are ordering). It took about 1 minute after I got through to someone, and it didn't cost me any extra money.

THE INFO IS GREAT...I NEED TO GET A LEGALIZED/APOSTILLE BIRTH CERTIFICATE FROM NEW YORK , BORN IN MANHATTAN..WILL BE USED IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC FOR LEGAL PURPOSES..

WHAT IS THE CORRECT PROCEDURE?????????????HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey Celeste! I'm doing the same thing for Dominican republic, i think we follow the same procedure and then when all the papers are done take them to the Dominican Embassy at 1501 broadway (4th fl) to apply for a Cedula, to finish the process.
Good luck!

Thank you so so much for this information!!

I am trying to order a birth certificate from New York to Canada. Tried calling the Bureau of Vital Records as mentioned above but they said I have to order it through VitalCheck. When I try to order it through VitalCheck I get an error on the province when trying to enter my address. I finally found a way around this my first typing in a US address then changing it to a Canadian address but then it asks me for my social security card for verification. I don’t have a social security card so I could not order it. Has anybody else had these issues when ordering the birth certificate?

I just hit a roadblock in obtaining my Italian citizenship. I was born in NY to an Italian father but my mother had my stepfather adopt me when I was 10. I just found out that I can't get a copy of my original birth certificate without petitioning the court by hiring a lawyer.

Anyone have any experience with this?

Also view this site to get more information on the apostille.

For out side of the city you can just order it from the DEPT of vital statistics via the vitalcheck or goto the town clerk where you were born and get the long form. Then take it to the county clerk of where you were born and have them sign off on it. Then take it to the dept of state.

Hey everyone, I have just ordered my long copy. I ordered it via vital check but it took over a month. I keyed in the wrong year and Vitalcheck does not deal with NYC certificates. After spending hours on hold I finally have it in hand. I live in Albany now and once i got the certificate i overnighted it to the county clerk. They sent it back to me via per paid postage and then i brought it to the DPT of state in albany and got my apostille. I also helped my friend order his it took 2 weeks for his. They say 5-10 days. On the order select the option for apostille and they give you the long form and the leter of exemplifacation.

Thomas,
I was born in Manhattan and am currently back, but only until Sunday. I have my Long Form Birth Certificate (wish I had read this before I ordered the short form one through VitalCheck and then had to deal with getting a Long Form one...ugh!). My question is: is there any way to do this IN PERSON? I don't think I have time to deal with post (as I am only here until Sunday), so I was wondering if you knew of a way to expedite the process?
All advice is much appreciated!
Thanks!

Vital check now offeres the long form, when ordering the birth certificate for new york under reason select apostille and then they will get the long form and the letter of exepmlification. I just did it for my self on 2/5/2010 Had no issues and i took it to albany my self to get apostilled. Thanks to your site i knew where to get my nyc certificate notarised by the county clerk. Just wanted to let you guys know.

An update on step One in the process of getting the vault/long birth certificate. You have to do it now via the internet, they will not help you via the phone. There is at one point in the online process an dropdown list, which asks your reason for obtaining this birth certificate and you need to answer with the Apostille answer. This will automatically get you the letter of exemplification. The cost is $15.- plus the Vital Check fee $8.30 and the Carrier fee $15.- (UPS)

I have just received the vault copy, hooray and will move on to step 2. I will call them (New York County Clerk's office) first just in case this has changed to.
Your blog was still the most helpful in this process.

Thank you Thomas! I will follow all the steps to acquire the sought after Apostille for my son, who just found out today that he can also become a Dutch citizen. Hope you are still happily married and living in France.

Excuse me, how can I make an Apostille of a NY Birth Certificate as soon as possible?

Thank you very much for sharing this information, especially the details on Birth Certificate. Do you remember how long it took to get the mail request done for an Apostille from Dept of State?

The street name on step 2 is Centre St., You can take in your documents from 9 - 4 and on Step 3 they are opened from 9 - 3.30

what would I do if I was born in Yonkers,NY to obtaim a apostilled birth certificate?

peter did you ever live in boston around 1969

Be sure to get perfect clarification from the mayor of the town hall where you will marry. That is a must. In Europe, people tend to think New York City is in fact the State. So first I was told I did not need because I was born in Yonkers and at the 11th hour, they said I did need it. I used an outside agency to coordinate everything. Everything must be dated within 90 days but the town hall wants it 21 days ahead so it is pretty tight.....Bon Chance

While living in Paris seemed like this was going to be a problem, with your advice, it went pretty smoothly and all is wonderful in our world again. Many thanks. Merci', Bonne Journee, Au Revoir...

City residents do not have to mail docs to Albany--there is a Manhattan location:

New York State Department of State
Certification Unit
123 William Street
19th Floor
New York NY--

http://www.dos.state.ny.us/COR...

I process NY birth, death and marriage certificates on a regular basis for Apostille. This walk thru service takes less than a day, If you like to use my service, I available.

Could you please inform me as to how to contact you? Thx.

Hello,I will need my birth certificate(born yonkers,NY),my mothers,(Bronx)my fathers(bronx) their marriage certificate,my grandparents marriage(both Bronx certificate all apostilled.What would your fee be? I am in Italy and would like to have it done by some one who is currently in the US.P.Nuzzi

My previous comment: Dates are - Received by NYC on 31-Aug and not 16-Sept (not 16-Aug -- woops!)

Hi All,

Very informative. I am at step 2. My papers are confirmed received on 31-Aug. It is now 16-Aug. I call and asked what is the status. They tell me it will take at least another week or so.

When I do call the person sometimes seems that they can not "find water in the ocean".

Has anyone else encountered this absurd bureaucratic delay from NYC cluck (clerk) office??

If you ever need a California Apostille in 1-2 business days contact, Apostille Pros. They are located in Beverly Hills. They did everything perfectly. I was in New York; therefore, was unable to do it. They also took care of my son's birth certificate for Florida as well. Expedited that! Not sure how they were able to do that, but they took care of everything as well as translation.

http://apostillepros.com

Great comments but while this info say--'...people born in New York City require an Apostille," is not completely true. I was born in Yonkers and am being told that I need an Apostille. I just cannot imagine how to coordinate getting the birth certificate from Yonkers, and sending it to Albany for the Apostille and still comform to the 90 day prior time requirement when the town hall here wants it 21 days before the wedding date. Have others been using a outside company to obtain or doing it all themselves. This just seems conflicting in requirements. I do understand how people outside NY confuse the fact that New York State is NOT in New York City...lol Thanks...

I planned to marry in France, Chailly en Biere. I have all my certified copies, dated correctly and at the eleventh hour, the town hall says they require an Apostille for my certified birth certificate. The translator will not begin the process without it, therefore the wedding has to be postponed at a terrible cost. But all that being said, everything I find online says the apostille is only required for New York City births. I was born in Yonkers, NY. I wonder if the typical stereotype has occurred in that all New Yorkers to foreigners is New York City. Can you shed some light on this for my next venture to put the correct papers in place. My email is: [email protected]

Hello Thomas!

So helpful, I was going crazy trying to find out how to get the apostille de la haya for my husband's birth certificate. I am from Spain and he is from New York, but his mother is from Spain and apparently we do need his birth certificate stamped so he can become a Spanish citizen.

I wonder if your birth certificate had to be less than 6 months old, which is another of the requirements to become a Spanish citizen or to register our marriage in the Spanish consulate in New York.

Also, my husband was born in North Tarrytown, Westchester county, should the address and the process be the same?

Thank you so much for sharing that information!
Maria

Just received my Apostille Birth Certificate from NY in order for me get married in Quintana Roo, Mexico(Cancun). I followed all the instructions above, with a few exceptions. Step #1 can be completed on the internet through vitalchek. Just make sure you check the box that states "Apostille/Authentification" when completing the information on the request form. For step #2 you are permitted to send a $3 check for the certification to the County Clerk's office. Step #3 can either be mailed to the Manhattan or Albany NY Departement of State location. Either office will put the Apostille Seal on your documentation.
With each step I sent the documentation "priority mail" and enclosed a self addressed stamped envelope (priority mail) from the USPS. The process took a little less than one month to complete. I was very pleased with how quickly each document was returned to me. Thanks for the guidance.

This information on the blog is very helpful, but this post is inaccurate in that VitalChek will not give you a Letter of Exemplification along with your birth certificate. You must go through directly, the Vitals Office.

The apostille process is different by state and country. I used www.apostille.org.uk to get my apostille in the UK

The thing about apostilles is that it can be very simple or extremely complicated depending on your situation. There's more information about the apostille process here, including step-by-step instructions.

A Personal check is acceptable for the certification through the mail.

You can do it on line - check Apostill/Exemplification as the reason when completing the application.

I was born in Mineola, NY (Long Island) What if you need to obtain a birth certificate with Apostille, How do you do that?

When you order a long form birth certificate, do you ALSO have to request the
letter of exemplification from them? and then get it "Authenticated" by the Secretary of State?

I have an ORIGINAL LONG FORM Birth Certificate.

Hello Tom
I'm applying for dual citizenship. My mother was born in New York and got back to Spain, when the war he and his family came to Mexico, now I can get the Spanich citizenship but I need my father´s birth certificate with aposille, how can I get it?

Dear Thomas,

Thank you for your fine and instructive article. I am now at phase one of the process (Just sent the envelope to the Office of Vital Records) and following your directions. I have 2 questions here: Firstly what exactly is the letter of exemplification? I asked for this on the phone of course, along with the long form, but don't know what it means. The second question is about the payment: I was asked to pay $15.00 as opposed to 35, so I hope I haven't made a mistake :-)
A basic fact that impresses me here is that a Birth Certificate, which bears an official seal of the U.S., is not accepted as proof that someone was born as stated. (What other purpose could this paper possibly have?)
-thanks again for your guidence through this tunnel of bureaucracy.

I had to pay $35! I hope you got it!

Well, they only asked for $15 for the long form- so that's what I paid - the difficult part was getting the money to them in an "acceptable form". I sent $15.00 US by registered post after having had an international check, drawn up at an American bank, rejected. I do have my apostille now :-)

Must be because I did it online with VitalCheck and it cost $35 for the long birth certificate and exemplification letter. Now my father's sending that with the $3 check to get notarized. Let's hope that that goes smoothly so that he can send out for my apostille soon. What a long process! Congrats on having your apostille!

Yes, I hope they do accept your check :-) I've written a small commentary about the experience at my website here: http://www.vandf.gr/index_file... -Good luck:-)

I wrote a US check so I won't have any problem. Thanks!

Hello Thomas,

What is the difference between the long the form and the short form? I lost my daughter´s birth certificate.
I got one by phone 4 years ago but i cant tell wheter its a long form or short? do u have a sample?
thanks

Thank you! I am applying for dual Italian citizenship and had no idea that the birth certificate need to be in long form--your outline of the process helped save me so much time and headaches!

UPDATE!!!

First of all, thank you Thomas - you were the only site that made sense of this process - you are a lifesaver. I am now in the middle of step three for my marriage in Mexico...

The New York Department of State has a new address:

NY DEPARTMENT OF STATE
MISCELLANEOUS RECORDS UNIT
1 COMMERCE PLAZA
99 WASHINGTON AVENUE
ALBANY, NEW YORK 12231
(SAME PHONE NUMBER)

Dear Thomas,

I just got the long form birth cert. by mail but am not sure about the letter of exemplification. is it a seperate letter? how does it look like?

Thanks for your help and support

Sharon

Hello, so glad I found this site. I live in France and I need to get an apostille(d???) copy of my birth certificate. I was born in New York and my main problem is how much of a hassle this will be because I'm overseaes. I may ask the help of my sister living in the US. Are the documents automatically mailed back to me after every step? Also, is there a faster way to do this. This all just too complicated especilly because Im out of the country.

Thank you so much for posting this! I'm trying to apply for Italina dual citizenship and when I went to the Web site and called 311, as noted on the site, they said they didn't do the long form anymore. I just called vital records via the number you listed and an application is on the way!

Thanks for all the info, however, there is one question I have not seen addressed... How can you get the long copy of your birth certificate if you are adopted? (and born in NYC) I've tried through the mail and had my application rejected because I didn't know my birth father's name. I tried to go in person to 125 Worth St. with what information I did have and the woman basically shooed me away and said "NEXT!".... Is there a way, without lying on an exemplification form, to get this long copy? Many thx...

Thank you so much for posting this information! It had all been such a mystery. I am applying for dual citizenship and started collecting the required documents in 2003. Children halted my plans a bit. Do you think i could still us my birth certificates with letter of exemplification from 2003 or do I need to get a new one since more than a year has passed? I am finding conflicting information. Thank you kindly, Pam

Stumbled across yr posting while searching for some info. i'm in the process of arranging civil partnership in Belgium and oh boy they're crazy about this apostille. Lucky that in America it seems relatively easy (by post, payment w/ credit card), while I have to do it in Indonesia and here are the steps and different institution I have to go through:

1. neighbourhood head
2. community head
3. area community head
4. bigger area community head
5. civil registry
6. ministry of religious affairs
7. ministry of justice
8. ministry of foreign affairs
9. belgian embassy (original copy legalisation)
10. sworn translator (to Dutch)
11. belgian embassy (translation legalisation)

I have to ask my whole family to do it since none of those accept mail application. i am now in step 5 and thinking whether it's worth it to have this civil partnership :-)

On top of that, i have to get the same clearance in two other countries I've lived in the past. Grrrrrrr

I obtain these every day by walking the documents thru the system personally. I usually can provide & ship the apostille next day after receiving it. One additional day if the lines for processing are very long.
Kenneth A Edelstein