Free answer
The birth certificate
Varies by state
The hospital files the paperwork; your state or county issues the certificate. You order certified copies separately, for a fee, and they take time to arrive.
What people get wrong
- A hospital souvenir certificate with footprints is not a legal document.
- Processing times and fees are set locally and vary a lot. Check your own state's vital records office rather than a national average.
This one differs by state
Entirely. Fees, processing times, who may request a copy and how are all set by your state or county. There is no federal birth certificate.
Where this comes from
Checked against these sources on 2026-10-12. Rules change — if a deadline matters to you, confirm it with the authority rather than with us.
Knowing it and doing it are different jobs
That’s the answer, in full, and it costs nothing. FIRST YEAR, FIGURED OUT. is the part that remembers it for you: this and 6 other admin topics as an ordered checklist, built around your due date, ticked off as you go, alongside the roadmap, the tracker and the 3 a.m. guides.