Tennessee Birth Certificate: How to Order, Fees and Eligibility

The Tennessee Department of Health's Office of Vital Records issues Tennessee birth certificates, and a certified copy costs $15, with each additional copy also $15. You can order in person at the Nashville office or any county health department, by mail, or online through VitalChek, the state's only authorized online vendor. For other states, see our guide to birth certificates by state.

Information last verified on October 8, 2026. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

This page covers how to order a certified copy of a Tennessee birth certificate, what it costs and how long it takes, who may order one, and how to correct or amend a Tennessee birth record. It applies to births that occurred in Tennessee.

Where to order a Tennessee birth certificate

The state office is Tennessee Vital Records, 1st Floor, Andrew Johnson Tower, 710 James Robertson Parkway, Nashville, TN 37243. Office and lobby hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.

You do not have to go to Nashville. The Department of Health says all county health departments can issue any birth or death certificate registered statewide with the Office of Vital Records, and you do not need to travel to the county where the birth occurred. You still need ID, and applicants who are not entitled on their own must bring documents showing they are.

Start from the office's how to get a certificate page. It names VitalChek as the only official vendor authorized by the state to process card transactions for online orders. Order from the office, a county health department or VitalChek rather than an unofficial website.

How to order

In person

At the Nashville office's customer service window, you do not need an appointment to get a certified copy. The office accepts cash, check, credit or debit card, and money order. You can also apply at any county health department.

By mail

Send the signed application (form PH-1654), a photocopy of your ID or a notarized application, and a check or money order made payable to Tennessee Vital Records to the Nashville address above.

Online

The Office of Vital Records does not take online orders directly. Online orders go through VitalChek, and the state says any additional fees are collected by that independent company. The state's page does not list VitalChek's fee amounts, so check the total before you pay.

What you need to know about the record

If you order directly from the office, you must provide at least the year the birth occurred, or a range of years.

How much a Tennessee birth certificate costs

These are the birth record fees on the office's fee page:

A copy of the corrected certificate after an amendment is a separate fee. The fee table shows no expedite fee, and the office's pages do not describe an expedited service.

How long it takes

The office's processing time page lists these estimates, dated June 23, 2026, for certificate requests that need no change to the record, and warns that the times change with request volume:

Allow for postal delivery time on top of any mail estimate. For a newborn, the office says certified copies are generally available 5 to 10 business days after the birth, and that a mail request needs an additional four to six weeks for delivery. These are the office's estimates, not guarantees.

Who can get a certified copy

The office's entitlement guidelines list the people entitled to a birth certificate: the person named on it (self), mother, father, son, daughter, husband and wife. The guidelines name Tennessee Code sections 68-3-205 and 68-3-206 and Rules 1200-07-01-.11 and -.12 as the governing law.

Two limits matter in practice:

• An unlisted father is not entitled. If the father is not listed on the child's certificate, he cannot get a certified copy.
• Picking up for someone else. Other than the person named on the certificate, certified copies may only be issued to a spouse, parent, legal guardian or child of that person. An authorized representative needs photocopies of signed ID for both people and a signed release statement.

Legal guardians, legal representatives and attorneys can also order with documentation: guardianship papers, a power of attorney (only while the registrant is living), an attorney's letter on firm letterhead naming the entitled party, with a copy of the bar card, a driver's license and the representation agreement, or a notarized letter from an entitled person (or a letter with that person's ID).

ID requirements

The office's identification requirements page accepts photocopies. You need one of these: a current driver's license, current passport, military ID, alien or permanent resident card, employment authorization card, Certificate of Naturalization, or Certificate of Citizenship.

Without one of those, you can provide two items from a secondary list, which includes a pay stub or W-2, vehicle registration, voter card, DD-214, utility bill or bank statement, health coverage card, medical record, insurance policy page, signed Social Security card, or a police report for a stolen ID. If the application is signed and notarized, no additional ID is required.

By mail, send a photocopy of a government ID bearing your signature or a notarized application. For a newborn, the mother's hospital copy dated within the last two calendar years also works.

Certified copies and passports

The office says the certified copies it issues always have a raised seal, and that you need a certified copy of a birth certificate for a passport. Its pages do not describe long-form and short-form versions, and they do not describe a non-certified informational copy for recent births.

For a first U.S. passport, federal rules call for a birth certificate that shows your full name, place and date of birth, and your parents' full names, is signed by the official custodian of birth records, bears the issuing office's seal, and shows a filing date within one year of birth (22 CFR 51.42). For REAL ID, federal rules accept a certified copy of a birth certificate filed with the vital statistics office in your state of birth (6 CFR 37.11). State-issued vital records used in a country that belongs to the Hague Apostille Convention need an apostille from that state's secretary of state (USA.gov).

Correcting or amending a Tennessee birth record

The form is PH-1186, Application to Amend a Tennessee Birth Record. Amendments are free within the first 6 months after the birth (except a rescission) and $15 after that, plus the fee for a copy of the corrected certificate.

Misspelled or missing names

For a child under 1, the office needs a notarized affidavit signed by all parents listed on the record. For a registrant more than 1 year old, it needs a notarized affidavit showing the full name, date of birth, the incorrect name as listed and the correct name, plus documentary evidence.

A court order is needed instead if a new certificate was made for an adoption or parentage, the name was amended before, a Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity was signed, or an Affidavit of Surname was signed at the birth. A keying error made when the new certificate was created can be fixed without a court order, and changing a first and middle name entirely requires review by the office first, so contact it for instructions.

What counts as documentary evidence

The office says documentary evidence must be at least 5 years old (sometimes older documents are required), and the office asks for the oldest document available. It must show the fact being corrected, the date it was created, and the registrant's name and date of birth or age.

Date of birth corrections

If only the day is wrong, the document must have been created before your 21st birthday. If the month or year is wrong, it must have been created before your 10th birthday, and a year correction also needs the names and dates of birth of your siblings.

Parent information

To correct a parent's information, the office generally needs a notarized affidavit and the parent's birth certificate. Some situations require a court order.

Adding a father

A father can be added through a Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity only if all of these are true: the child has not reached their 19th birthday, the mother was not married at the birth or within the 300 days before it, both parents want the father added, and no father is already listed. Otherwise, a court order of paternity is needed. When parents marry after the birth and no father is listed, a new certificate can be requested with form PH-1673, signed by both parents before a notary, if the mother was not married to someone else at the birth or within the 300 days before it.

Legal name change

To put a court-ordered name change on a Tennessee birth certificate, send an original, certified copy of the court order that changed your name, with the fee. The court process itself is covered in our guide to Tennessee name change laws.

Sex designation

The office's sex correction page, which is undated and was read on October 8, 2026, says Tennessee law does not allow the amendment of a birth certificate due to gender reassignment surgery. Only a mistake in recording the child's sex can be corrected, with a notarized affidavit, documentary evidence of the correct sex, and the amendment and copy fees.

If a birth was never registered

If you are age one or older and the office finds no record of your birth, it sends a letter certifying that no record is on file, along with instructions for filing a delayed certificate of birth. The office says many agencies accept that letter in place of a birth certificate.

Preparing and filing a delayed certificate costs $15, and the office lists 45 days for delayed certificates. For a home birth less than a year ago, contact the county health department in the county where the child was born.

Adoption and original birth records

After an adoption, Tennessee seals the original birth record and the adoption documents, and the office prepares a new birth certificate for a $15 fee. Access to the original record depends on state law; see our guide to Tennessee adoption records.

Older records and genealogy

The Tennessee Vital Records Office keeps birth records for 100 years. After that, it sends them to the Tennessee State Library and Archives for public access and family research. Whether birth certificates are public in other states is covered in are birth certificates public records.

This article is general legal information about Tennessee birth certificates, not legal advice. Fees and procedures change; confirm with the Tennessee Department of Health Office of Vital Records before ordering. Information last verified on October 8, 2026.

Related

• Birth certificates by state
• Are birth certificates public records?
• Tennessee adoption records
• Tennessee name change laws

Last updated: October 8, 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much is a birth certificate in Tennessee?

The Office of Vital Records charges $15 for the first certified copy and $15 for each additional copy. Online orders through VitalChek carry additional vendor fees that the state page does not list.

Can I get a Tennessee birth certificate the same day?

Yes, in person. The office's processing table dated June 23, 2026 lists same-day service for in-person requests that need no change to the record, and no appointment is needed at the Nashville office. Any county health department can also issue a Tennessee birth certificate.

Can I get my Tennessee birth certificate at any county health department?

Yes. The Department of Health says all county health departments can issue any birth certificate registered statewide, so you do not need to go to the county where you were born. Bring ID.

Who can get a copy of a Tennessee birth certificate?

The person named on it, their mother, father, son, daughter, husband or wife, plus legal guardians, legal representatives and attorneys with documentation. A father not listed on the certificate is not entitled to it.

How do I correct a birth certificate in Tennessee?

File form PH-1186 with a notarized affidavit and, for a registrant over 1, documentary evidence at least 5 years old. Amendments are free within the first 6 months after the birth (except a rescission) and $15 after that; the office lists about 2 weeks.

Can I change the sex on a Tennessee birth certificate?

The Office of Vital Records says Tennessee law does not allow amending a birth certificate due to gender reassignment surgery. Only a mistake in recording the child's sex can be corrected, with a notarized affidavit and documentary evidence.