After nearly 15 years of having to waste Time and Money traveling to Trenton, Residents can now Obtain Birth Certificates directly from Jersey City’s Clerk’s Office

JERSEY CITY – Mayor Steven M. Fulop will join local and State officials at 11 a.m. today at 1 Jackson Square to announce the City has been granted the ability to provide those people born in Jersey City with a certified copy of their birth certificates right from the Clerk’s Office, located at 280 Grove Street, without delay or additional costs.

“We’ve continued to fight for our community to be able to once again get their birth certificates in the same city in which they were born,” said Assemblywoman Angela McKnight. “For over ten years, residents born in Jersey City had to travel to Trenton to obtain copies of their vital documents. We are making it right by alleviating the additional burdens of spending extra time and money to obtain documents that could be critical in affecting their quality of life.”

In 2004, an investigation into the Hudson County Office of Vital Statistics uncovered a scheme to create and sell fraudulent birth records.  As a result, the Department of Health (DOH) determined that all birth certificates issued by the Hudson County Office of Vital Statistics were not valid and compromised security.  The DOH ceased all operations within the County office, mandating anyone born in Jersey City seeking to obtain a certified copy of their birth certificate to either request it directly from DOH in Trenton or use the web-based system available through the DOH website – which still took a minimum of six weeks unless an expediting fee was paid. The restrictions resulting from the County-level corruption has affected many people besides the foreign born, since any copy of birth certificates issued out of the Hudson County were not able to be used for obtaining a passport and were not recognized by federal agencies.

“This speaks to what we’ve been doing here in Jersey City; with a zero tolerance for unlawful actions, we’re continuously working to improve the daily lives of our residents,” said Mayor Fulop. “We’ve been working to make the often frustrating process of obtaining birth certificates easier for anyone born here, and I’m thrilled they can now get the documentation they need quickly and efficiently right here at City Hall.”

For those born between 1918 – 2015, Jersey City will issue birth records from a database provided by the State’s Registrar’s Office. For those born in 2016 and after, Jersey City will use the State’s Vital Record Platform.  Once the State provides the Clerk’s Office with the records this month, the turnaround time to obtain the documents from the City will be immediate.

In order to obtain a birth certificate from the City Clerk’s office, residents need to provide identification and complete an application for certified copies, available in English and Spanish, all of which can be found on the City’s website at www.JCNJ.org/BirthCertificates.