Letter of Exemplification

[Drew927]

I obtained a copy of my Grandfathers death certificate from the NYC archives. At the time, the clerk who made the certified copy did not ask if I needed such a letter. Will I need a letter of Exemplification for this document?

[mler]

Most definitely. If you asked for a long form suitable for apostille, the exemplification should have been attached.

I had a similar problem with my own amended birth certificate. When I went into the city for apostilles, I stopped at the Vital Records, and told them that the exemplifcation was omitted. They added the exemplification to my document on the spot--about a ten minute wait--so I was able to walk my documents through the apostille process (City Clerk and Apostille).

[DeFilippis78]

What is an exemplification letter?

Alicia

[johnnyonthespot]

New York State will not apostille a document issued by New York City unless it has an attached Letter of Exemplification.

This Wikipedia article does a decent job of explaining: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exemplified_copy

[DeFilippis78]

All my documents will be from Jersey. But I have get my great grandmothers birth certificate from the Bronx. Does that get an apostille in NY or can I do it NJ with the rest of my documents? Would I still need that letter if I get the seal in NJ?

Alicia

[mler]

You will need to get his bc apostilled in NY, and since his birth was in NYC, the letter of examplification is necessary.

When you request the certificate, ask for "long-form suitable for apostille Italy." Then you need a notarization from the Bronx County Clerk. Once this is done, you can obtain the apostille. Addresses should be listed online.

[DeFilippis78]

Is it best to request a certificate right from vital records in NYC or can I use one of the services like VitalChek online that do expedited services? I know they are linked up with NJ but I dont know about NY. This is the only relative I need document for from NYC so Im not familiar with the process or where to even request it

Alicia

[mler]

Try here:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/vr/vr- ... rder.shtml