Our Birth & Death Records (Vital Statistics) division registers and issues certified copies of birth and death records and provides assistance to those seeking records not locally available.

Birth certificates

Ordering birth certificates

  • Order in-person at our Texas City office at 9850-A Emmett F. Lowry Expressway, Suite A-102. Same day issuing hours are from 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday, and acceptable payment methods are cash, money order or credit card. When applying, normally you will receive your record at the time of payment.

  •  Order by mail. Print and mail the application form with a money order.
    Birth Certificate Application Form
    *Overnight delivery service is available if the application form is sent to us via overnight delivery service (not regular mail, priority mail, or certified mail) with an enclosed prepaid overnight envelope. 
  • Order online from a private vital records service vitalchek, using a credit card.

    - Order online – Order shipped to you - Order online
    Note: Use this option if you need the order to be shipped to you.

    - Order online – Pick up in-person (Will Call) - Order online
    Note: Use this option if you can physically pick up your order in Texas City.
    Order ahead of time and pick up between 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m., Monday-Friday excluding state holidays. To use Will Call, the cut off time for same day pick-up is 3:00 p.m. Orders not picked up within 5 business days will be shipped via regular mail.

Birth certificates outside of Texas

  • If you are a US Citizen born outside of Texas, check with the National Center for Health Statistics for information regarding your home state. NCHS Vital Records website
  • If you were born in another country, check with the Embassy for that country.

Types of birth certificates offered

  • Full/Long form birth certificates are issued only for births that occurred in Galveston County only.
  • Abstract/Short form birth certificates are issued only for births that occurred out of Galveston County but in Texas only. (1926 to the present)

For more information, please email questions to vitals@gchd.org.


Death certificates

Ordering death certificates for Galveston County deaths only

  • Order in-person at our Texas City office at 9850-A Emmett F. Lowry Expressway, Suite A-102. Same day issuing hours are from 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday, and acceptable payment methods are cash, money order or credit card. When applying, in some cases you will receive your record at the time of payment. Otherwise, orders will be processed in seven to 10 business days.

  • Order by mail. Print and mail the application form with a money order.
    Death Certificate Application Form
    *Overnight delivery service is available if the application form is sent to us via overnight delivery service (not regular mail, priority mail, or certified mail) with an enclosed prepaid overnight envelope. 
  • Order online from a private vital records service vitalchek, using a credit card.

    - Order online – Order shipped to you     - Order online
    Note: Use this option if you need the order to be shipped to you.

    - Order online – Pick up in-person (Will Call)     - Order online
    Note: Use this option if you can physically pick up your order in Texas City.
    Order ahead of time and pick up between 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m., Monday-Friday excluding state holidays. To use Will Call, the cut off time for same day pick-up is 3:00 p.m. Orders not picked up within 5 business days will be shipped via regular mail.

Older records

We maintain birth and death records dating only from 1903 and later (including few birth records from 1877-1902). The Galveston County Clerk's Office has court orders and delay documents or you may wish to contact the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.

Please note: Birth records are confidential for 75 years and death records for 25 years; therefore, issuance is restricted to qualified applicants. Please attach a photocopy of ID to application. Failure to provide the purpose in obtaining the record and relationship to the applicant in the request, when the applicant is not the person named on the record, will result in the application being rejected or delayed.

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