Birth and Death Certificates

Certified birth certificates are legal documents that prove a birth occurred. Only people with specific relationships to the person on the birth record can receive a certified copy of a birth certificate.

To obtain a certified copy of a birth record from Skagit County Public Health, you must:

• Complete a Birth Certificate Order Form:
  • English: use the Birth Certificate Order Form or submit the form online.
  • Spanish: use the Birth Certificate Order Form or submit the form online.
• If you are identified in a notarized form signed by a qualified applicant, or you are an agent identified in a Power of Attorney, complete an Authorized Representative Form (available in English and Spanish).
• Pay the applicable fee or fees. Fees start at $25.
• Provide documentation to prove your qualifying relationship (acceptable proofs of eligibility are available in English and Spanish).
• Provide valid government identification or alternate identification (acceptable proofs of identity are available in English and Spanish).

Once you provide acceptable proofs of identity and eligibility, complete the application, and pay the fee per certified copy, issuance may occur immediately. We accept cash, check, and MasterCard or Visa credit cards. We process and mail requests the same day we receive them.

By law, every person, physician or otherwise, who delivers an infant must prepare a standardized birth certificate that verifies the fact of the birth. State law prescribes the form of the document. All original birth certificates are on file with the Washington State Center for Health Statistics office in Olympia, Washington.

Some hospitals or physicians may issue parents of a newborn a card or document that states the fact of birth. This is not a valid birth certificate. The only valid certificate is the original certificate on file with the Center for Health Statistics in Olympia, Washington. Only Skagit County Public Health or the State Office is authorized to issue certified copies. These are photostatic copies certified by the appropriate government official as being true copies of the original document and they fulfill all legal requirements.

Certified copies of birth certificates are valuable and often essential for many purposes. These purposes include verifying age for school enrollment, obtaining driver's licenses, establishing citizenship, proving eligibility for Medicare, providing necessary information for life insurance policies, acquiring passports, and other identity or age verifications. Some government entities also use birth records to determine population trends and to develop a wide variety of health-related statistics.

Some families keep two birth certificates for each family member. One copy is kept in a safe place outside the home, for example, in a safety deposit box to protect against loss by fire. The second copy is kept on file at home and is the copy for routine use.