Duplicate birth certificates are available to people who have lost or misplaced their birth certificates. The vital records offices of every state and commonwealth in the U.S. have in their possession all the birth records of every person born within that particular state. By supplying the right information as requested from that state or commonwealth, anyone should be able to obtain a copy of birth certificate.
Once the necessary information has been submitted, it ordinarily shouldn't take that much time for states to deliver duplicate birth certificates. The exceptions are cases where births occurred very early in the century - roughly from 1900 to 1910 and before - these birth records may take a little more time obtain. This is because they've been archived as historical record and often take more time to locate.
How to Get Duplicate Birth Certificates
Duplicate birth certificates are usually remitted as state-certified copies. In some cases, however, people may request non-certified birth certificates. Many states will also issue non-certified copies in honor of these occasional requests.
So how do you obtain a duplicate of your birth certificate? There's the traditional way - go to the state directly - which involves a little bit of time and legwork on your part. The other way that many Americans are turning to is to go online and have a professional service do it for you. This is becoming a popular choice because of all the time and effort saved.