New Jersey Birth Certificate Apostille
Two things surprise people about a New Jersey birth certificate apostille. It does not come from a Secretary of State at all — it comes from the Department of the Treasury — and the only birth certificate it will accept is one issued by the state Office of Vital Statistics and Registry, which means the copy from a town or municipal registrar generally will not work. There is also a box on the request form marked Apostille Seal, and a form submitted without it ticked comes back as a plain certification.
Which New Jersey birth certificate copies qualify for an apostille
| Issuing office | Apostille | What decides it |
|---|---|---|
| Office of Vital Statistics and Registry (Trenton) | Accepted | The only routinely accepted source. This is the copy to order if there is any doubt. |
| Local or municipal registrar | Not accepted | Valid for most everyday purposes in New Jersey, but generally not accepted for an apostille. Reorder from the state office. |
| A "certification" rather than a certified copy | Not accepted | Printed on plain paper and marked for genealogical use. It is not a legal record and cannot be apostilled. |
| Birth before 1 January 1923 | Not accepted | Held by the New Jersey State Archives, not by Vital Statistics. The Archives copy is obtained first and follows a different route. |
Before the request is filed
- Check the paper. A New Jersey certified copy is printed on security paper with a raised seal; a certification is plain paper and says so. Only the first can be apostilled.
- Confirm the issuer is the state Office of Vital Statistics and Registry, not the town or city where the birth was registered.
- Tick the Apostille Seal box on the REG-27a or REG-28a request form. Leaving it blank produces a certification and the request has to be filed again.
What New Jersey sends back
- A municipal or local registrar copy.
- A "certification" issued for genealogical research.
- A REG-27a or REG-28a submitted with the Apostille Seal box left blank.
Where it is filed
| Authority | New Jersey Department of the Treasury (Division of Revenue) |
|---|---|
| Filed in | Trenton |
| State fee | $25 per apostille. |
| Turnaround | about 24–48 hours once we file in person for most state documents |
The apostille is issued by the Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services within the Department of the Treasury in Trenton. Requests addressed to a New Jersey Secretary of State go nowhere, because the office that name implies does not handle this.
New Jersey birth certificate apostille FAQ
Why does the Treasury issue New Jersey apostilles instead of a Secretary of State?+
New Jersey assigns the competent-authority function to the Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services inside the Department of the Treasury. Most states place it with a Secretary of State, so guides written nationally send New Jersey requests to an office that does not exist for this purpose. The destination on the envelope is Trenton, at Treasury.
What is the difference between a certified copy and a certification?+
A certified copy is printed on New Jersey security paper, carries a raised seal, and is a legal record of the birth. A certification is a plain-paper extract issued for genealogical research and is marked as not valid for establishing identity. Only the certified copy can be apostilled, and the two are easy to confuse when ordering online.
My town clerk gave me a certified copy with a seal. Why is that not enough?+
Local registrars in New Jersey do issue genuine certified copies, and they work for most domestic purposes. For an apostille the Treasury needs a signature it holds an exemplar for, and in practice that means the state Office of Vital Statistics and Registry. Ordering the state copy is faster than trying to get a municipal one accepted.
The birth was in 1919. Where do I start?+
With the New Jersey State Archives, which holds birth records before 1 January 1923. Vital Statistics has nothing to issue for that year, so a request filed with them stalls. The Archives copy is obtained first and then follows the normal Treasury route.
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Federal Apostille™ is a private, independent courier and document-processing service. We are not affiliated with any state vital records office, the U.S. Department of State, or any government agency.