Tennessee birth records can take only five to seven business days to arrive at your door once your application is processed. This is a general estimate given by the online services that work in conjunction with state government offices to deliver Tennessee birth record information to the customers requesting it. Though the estimates are helpful, turnaround times can vary depending upon the workload at a particular office at any given time.
Some states, such as New Jersey, take several weeks to deliver birth records to the people requesting them! In comparison, the state of Tennessee has a very reasonable waiting period for delivery. It all has to do with how offices are staffed, budgeted and organized ... and there is little uniformity in offices from state to state.
How to Go About Obtaining a Copy of Your Tennessee Birth Record
Even if you haven't lived in Tennessee for most of your life, if you were born in Tennessee, your birth records will reside there. To obtain a copy of your Tennessee birth record, such as a certified birth certificate, you will need to fill out a form requesting that the document be sent to you. The form will then be sent to the vital records office of the county or parish in which you were born.
These county or parish offices deal with hundreds or even thousands of requests each year. Sometimes they get backlogged with orders, resulting in delays. If you're in a particular rush to obtain your birth records, you might want to consider enlisting the help of one of the convenient online services that exist solely to help you get these records as quickly and efficiently as possible.