If you, or the person you’re requesting vital records on was born after 1909, certified birth certificates can be provided to you using a few different methods.
However, if the person you’re seeking vital records on was born prior to 1909, your search may require more work. Certified abstract copies of these vital records may be available, and can be issued if you’re able to locate them in the Ohio vital records system.
The Dayton & Montgomery County Offices of Vital Records now have automated kiosks in place to help simplify the process of finding birth and death certificates.
Using the automated kiosk helps reduce errors that many people make on their applications, provides an easy way to track the status of your application, and substantially reduces the amount of paper being used in the process. They also allow for a more streamlined and efficient customer service experience.
Before you start, you will need to pay $22.00 to the Office of Vital Records for each birth certificate or death certificate that you request, and the fees are non-refundable.
There are also a few other guidelines you’ll need to follow to ensure a seamless ordering process and prevent you from encountering any issues having the vital records you’re requesting quickly returned to you.
First, for five years after a person has died, the State of Ohio will require proof documents before they will display the person’s Social Security number on the records. This helps ensure that the Social Security number of a person that has passed away cannot be used for fraudulent activities.
To obtain a copy of vital records in Dayton Ohio, you’re going to need to call your local Vital Records office, send a request through mail, or visit the office in person.
To ensure that the records you’re requesting are quickly returned, and avoid delays in processing or a complete rejection, you will need to follow these steps and provide the following information:
You will also need to include the following information to ensure a speedy return:
To expedite the return of the records you’re requesting, you will want to send the request to the city or county health department in the city or county where the birth or death occurred.
Some offices may take your order through the phone with a valid major credit card, and many vital records offices will accept payments and online requests through their website.
In general, turnaround times are going to be significantly faster at a smaller office than they will at one of the offices in a larger metropolitan area where staff is busier. All vital offices records in Ohio have access to the centralized, statewide maintained database of birth and death records.
When your application has been received and the fee has been paid, an abstract copy of the birth or death certificate will be printed and then certified. If you need a certified book copy of the certificate you’re requesting - for foreign verification or if you filed for records more than one year after your birth - you will need to specify this request on your application.
When you’re requesting a birth record that does not require an amendment - for adoptions, to establish paternity, change your name, or other functions - and for any death record request, you will need to allow the vital records offices up to three months to process the corrections and handle any legal actions as a result of the corrections request you’ve made.
Please note that certified copies of marriage and divorce records are not available through most vital records offices.
If you’re busy or have experienced issues while trying to request vital records in the past, you can also use third party services to handle the process for you and potentially retrieve the records faster than you can on your own.
There are numerous third party services that can request vital records, birth certificates, death records, and provide other additional services in Dayton Ohio. You will need to know, though, before you use a third party service that the fees you’ll be paying are higher than what you would pay if you performed the records checks yourself.
When using a third party service, you will need to pay the state required fee of $22 to receive the records, on top of any fees that the service may charge for filing and delivering the records to you once they’ve been received.
Some third party services will have the records sent directly to your address, while others will receive the records themselves and then forward them to you.
Using a third party service saves a ton of time, especially when you’re not able to locate the records yourself. Most third party services have access to the same centralized database that the state’s vital records offices have, and have the experience necessary to locate difficult to find records.