TN 74 (06-23)

GN 00308.028 Illinois Vital Records

A. Process

Certified copies of marriage and divorce records must be obtained from county records. See the county listing in GN 00308.028C. Divorce records are available from the Clerk of the Circuit Court in the county that granted the divorce. Marriage records are available from the County Clerk in the county that issued the license.

Send marriage, death, and birth record requests to the County Clerk at the address available from the county listing in GN 00308.028C. Contact the county for cost and payment method.

Certified copies of marriage and divorce records are not available from the State office. The State office only has an index of marriage and divorce records since January 1, 1962, and can only issue a verification that the event occurred.

B. Procedure — State Sources

1. Address and Field Office (FO) Code

Division of Vital Records

Illinois Department of Public Health

925 E Ridgely Avenue

Springfield, IL 62702

FO Code 488

NOTE: You can find the most up-to-date information from the Vital Records site. In addition, you can find EIN information here.

2. Cost of Copy:

Birth records cost $10.00 for a computer-generated (short form) record, $15.00 for a full certified record (includes parents names and other identifying information), and $2.00 for each additional copy requested at the same time.

Death records cost $19.00 for a certified copy, and $4.00 for each additional copy requested at the same time.

Each search of the state marriage or divorce index costs $5.00.

3. Type of Payment:

Make payment by money order, certified check or personal check (Third Party Draft from FO) to “Illinois Department of Public Health.”

4. Remarks:

ID Requirement

A copy of a photo ID is required for all requests. If a FO employee is the requester, see GN 00308.001B.3 for acceptable forms of identification. Requests take approximately six weeks to process. For faster service, send the request by certified mail.

Birth Records in Adoption Cases

Original birth records in adoption cases occurring after 1949 are sealed and are not available to anyone. For adoptions prior to 1950, original records were not changed. Records requested under the adoptive names for these people will be returned as a “no record” search unless the individual has had the record corrected. If the applicant knows that they were adopted, the applicant should include this information with any request. The birth record that the Division of Vital Records (DVR) has on file will be corrected if the court adoption record can be located, but this will take several weeks. Original record will not be issued.

Birth Certificate (BC) Changes

Documentation for changes to a BC due to legitimation, adoption, or court order of parentage or gender change becomes sealed and is not available. In these cases, a new record is issued with the new information. There is no evidence of the prior information, but the BC number remains the same. For changes or corrections for other reasons (e.g., court order of name change, voluntary acknowledgment of paternity), the old data is lined out and the new data typed in.

The FO cannot obtain a free copy of the birth/death record. To verify or certify a birth/death record, send an E-562 to FO 488. Use Electronic Verification of Vital Events (EVVE) to verify births from 1985 and continuing.

NOTE: Sometimes it is necessary to compare the BC number shown in the “BCN” field of the NUMIDENT with the BC number shown on the actual State file birth certificate.

  • The BC might show the year in a 4-digit format (e.g. NUMI shows 11298123456 but BC shows 112-1998-123456).

  • The BC might have a lead zero for the last six digits (e.g. NUMI shows 11298123456 but BC shows 112-98-0123456).

  • The actual BC may have an additional zero after the lead "6" or "7" (e.g. NUMI shows 11293612345 but BC shows 112-93-6012345). However, prior to 2010, the numbers for all birth records for the city of Chicago usually begin with "6" or "7" (never a zero).

  • You could see a combination of the above.

NOTE: EVVE usually requires the full 7 digits for the last part of the number, so you may need to add a “zero” [GJ1] when trying to verify in EVVE. Example: Birth record number 123456 should be input as 0123456.

 

C. List Of Counties

See a list of counties here.


To Link to this section - Use this URL:
http://policy.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0200308028
GN 00308.028 - Illinois Vital Records - 06/29/2023
Batch run: 06/29/2023
Rev:06/29/2023