Birth certificate

Can anyone tell me how to get a a certified copy of birth certificate? It seems the one I have is not valid as it is one given from hospital and is old and illegible. I would like to do it online or by phone if possible. My cruise is in seven weeks. I was not born in the state that I now live in. Will I have a problem getting one?

[Nburwell]

All you pretty much have to do is access the official web-site of the state you were born in. They should have something pertaining to obtaining official birth certificates on the site. If they don't, they will at least have a telephone number you can call. My mom was in the same situation as you were last year before our cruise. The state was really nice about it too. Most likely they'll ship your official copy of your birth certificate via FedEx, and you'll most likely recieve it within 36-48 hours of them mailing it out.

Thankyou. I will try your suggestions.

[LisaK]

go one step further and get a passport - so much less of a hassle when going through immigration and customs, after our last cruise( 2 weeks ago) we decided to definately get the passports

[hkolln]

You need your BC BEFORE you can order a passport....they take it and mail it off with the application and you get it back with your new passport.

I too would suggest a passport if you have the time to order one and if you have a birth certificate currently....it took ours 2 weeks to get them and that I thought was fast in December....First time we'll be cruising with a passport!

[cure4glass]

I would get two copies of the BC.As mentioned previously, one will be sent with the passport application, and you should keep one in case the passport does'nt arrive in time.